| It's a tough balance. If the government does things a little shady, in the name of security, and people find out about it, they freak out and begin shouting about liberty and privacy. But then when an attack actually happens, those same people are marching down the streets waving signs and crying about how the government fails to protect them.
It's virtually impossible for everyone to be happy. Does the government do anything it can to save lives or does it do the minimum and put lives at greater risk? But, if we begin giving away all our rights and freedoms in the name of security, where does that even lead us? At what point do we stop being free?
In my opinion, I believe in the unalienable rights and that the government's job is to protect them. And I believe Life is the single most important - the right to Life supersedes the others, and the government's ultimate goal is to ensure the safety of its citizens. While I cannot condone illegal wiretapping or 'secret' prisons, at the same time, how harsh can you criticize such acts if they have the ability to stop another 9/11 from occuring?
In this day and age, there are things that must be done to ensure safety. I do not advocate giving the government a free pass to do whatever they want, but at the same time you have to keep in mind the things they do are genuinely for the greater good (supposedly, at least). I won't sit here and try to draw the lines of what I think should or should not be allowed, but there are concessions that we might not be entirely comfortable with (see: "omg 3 hour wait at the airport!") needing to be made to make sure we aren't at risk.
Anyway, I know I didn't answer the question and pretty much stated the obvious, but people need to understand this isn't an open and shut kind of thing. It's really situational, almost. But two things I can say without question to be "essential" would be Life and Freedom of Speech. If you lose either of those (and there are some others), you cannot call yourself a free man.
I for one do not like big government at all, but I hate seeing people die when they could have been saved even more.
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Originally Posted by garshu1 but hink about this CAN God make a boulder so big that he cant lift it? or could he make that than the infinity gauntlets from zelda and move it then or maybe im just crazy but would someone make a golem out of that rock and conquor te world knowing that God couldnt move it. the point is you wither believe or not end of discussion end of flaming just be friends. and the universe is likea marble only movies can explain it roflmao. | |