Liberty Or Security

The Psychonaut · 03-03-2010, 03:52 PM

i hope this thread does better here the it did in my beloved home forum...where it had a grand total of 3 posts, all but one of which were posted by me...

There is an issue in society that has been fought over for longer than anyone could truly know. It has been argued and debated from the campfires and cafes to the senates and the streetcorners, this issue is the one of Liberty or Security. Now, dont misinterpret what i am saying, you can have both, but one will always outweigh the other. The reason one will always outweigh the other is that sometimes Liberty leads to danger to life and property (Example: Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows us to own and operate firearms, and firearms can be used to kill people) and also that Security sometimes leads to infringement on freedom and personal rights (Example: Drug Prohibition takes away a persons right to decide what they want to do with their own bodies and lives because they are hurting themselves and society)

So, just a quick note, you can have both, just not an equal amount of both because they have some contradicting features.

I would like to know what you people think of this ancient social problem, what side you support, and of course WHY you support it.

**MisterNi** · 03-03-2010, 04:54 PM

Liberty, with an understanding that some security measures are necessary. This probably means something different to people living in different countries/regions but taking away civil liberties is usually nothing more than increasing a perceived sense of security. In recent history this is evidenced by the attempted Christmas "crotchbomber" (in all seriousness), the Obama party crashers, anonymous Air Marshalls saying their agency is facing enormous difficulties due to intra-agency politicking.

As for exactly what balance, I'm not sure.

Azrael · 03-03-2010, 05:28 PM

I would definitely favor liberty over security. Not only does it inspire more progress, but to me it is the quintessence of the human condition, and should be protected at all costs.

kizoxef · 03-03-2010, 06:43 PM

Oftentimes government security is just simply.. ineffective. Look at the war on drugs.. it has been a failure, and crime has only increased due to greater policing..

Government regulation is oftentimes not the most effective solution, while continuing to be an expensive one.

android654 · 03-03-2010, 07:44 PM

I'll make it simple for you, Security is illusory, Liberty is identity.

**Slider** · 03-03-2010, 08:06 PM

I always choose liberty.

SilverScorpio17 · 03-03-2010, 09:13 PM

I'd rather have liberty. It's what many countries were built upon and personally, I think it leads to more happiness. Having someone else make most of your decisions for you seems inefficient because not everyone is going to have the same circumstances.

Even if we have security (which is probably just going to be preventive security anyway), a lot of people are going to be miserable, which kind of defeats the purpose of living in a republic. I think if the judicial branch does its job right, we can still have liberty and be able to enforce security though. But if we couldn't, I'd still pick liberty and just be responsible for my own security.

(By the way, it's kind of amusing how no one has picked security yet.)

**agokcen** · 03-03-2010, 09:39 PM

I'm quite libertarian, which is pretty much self-explanatory. I'll probably come back here and post some of my wonderful opinions (which I know everyone cares about) when I'm in a more political-rant-y mood...

**MisterNi** · 03-04-2010, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agokcen

I'm quite libertarian, which is pretty much self-explanatory.

Except libertarianism rarely lines up with reality. Major world governments -- especially the US, can't expect to revert back to Isolationism and not expect further destabilization in an already destabilized world.

Quote:

I'll probably come back here and post some of my wonderful opinions (which I know everyone cares about) when I'm in a more political-rant-y mood...

Just do it, this isn't brain surgery or anything sheesh. :P

**agokcen** · 03-04-2010, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MisterNi

Except libertarianism rarely lines up with reality. Major world governments -- especially the US, can't expect to revert back to Isolationism and not expect further destabilization in an already destabilized world.

Just do it, this isn't brain surgery or anything sheesh. :P

Ah, don't misunderstand me; I say "quite libertarian," but that's somewhat of a lie. I'm pretty moderate. I just ultimately don't like government interference because it never seems to amount to anything except for, well, larger government.

I suppose my admittedly complex views boil down to my issues with the ideal world versus the real world. In an ideal world, anarchy would rule, but I'm still working on how to deal with the real world, and so far libertarianism (not the official party, though, mind you) is the only thing that doesn't make me cringe.