How Does Society Protect American Safety
Throughout history, Americans have always valued their freedom above all else. This has been repeatedly shown, from the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror. Patrick Henry declared to the Virginia Congress in 1775 “Give me liberty or give me death!”, and this attitude is still held proudly by many in American society today. Men and women from across the country enlist in the military to protect American freedom, despite the threats to their well being that military service may present. There are some however, such as social critic H.L. Mencken, who argue that society only wants safety, and is willing to sacrifice freedom for it. This statement is true in some respects: society supports laws on trespassing on private property. Society also
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When Edward Snowden leaked internal National Security Agency documents to the American public, the result was outrage. This outrage was caused by the discovery that Americans were not free to have privacy on the internet and on mobile devices. Although the monitoring of communications undeniably created a higher level of safety, it was still widely opposed on the basis that the freedom of privacy was being violated. Society was presented with an unprecedented level of security that would make them safer, but it was thoroughly rejected because of the freedoms that were subsequently denied. In a clear chance to create a safer society, Americans viewed their individual liberties as being more important. This choice is not just made at a federal level however, Americans also make this choice locally. Policies that are implemented for police officers are rejected by Americans if they take away “too much” freedom. An example is stop and frisk policy, which is in theory supposed to make streets safer. With the idea being that suspicious people can be stopped and searched by the police to determine if they are in fact dangerous, the policy was passed in many cities. It has received opposition from many different groups however for, among other things, taking away freedoms. Part of the “suspicious” profile is what the person is wearing. Americans, wanting the freedom to dress as they choose without being searched by the police, reject the possibility of safer streets. It is not that society does not want to be safe, but instead it consistently shows that it prefers freedom and safety to absolute safety with a cost of all
When Edward Snowden leaked internal National Security Agency documents to the American public, the result was outrage. This outrage was caused by the discovery that Americans were not free to have privacy on the internet and on mobile devices. Although the monitoring of communications undeniably created a higher level of safety, it was still widely opposed on the basis that the freedom of privacy was being violated. Society was presented with an unprecedented level of security that would make them safer, but it was thoroughly rejected because of the freedoms that were subsequently denied. In a clear chance to create a safer society, Americans viewed their individual liberties as being more important. This choice is not just made at a federal level however, Americans also make this choice locally. Policies that are implemented for police officers are rejected by Americans if they take away “too much” freedom. An example is stop and frisk policy, which is in theory supposed to make streets safer. With the idea being that suspicious people can be stopped and searched by the police to determine if they are in fact dangerous, the policy was passed in many cities. It has received opposition from many different groups however for, among other things, taking away freedoms. Part of the “suspicious” profile is what the person is wearing. Americans, wanting the freedom to dress as they choose without being searched by the police, reject the possibility of safer streets. It is not that society does not want to be safe, but instead it consistently shows that it prefers freedom and safety to absolute safety with a cost of all