Gadfly's assertion that "freedom is bad for human beings" is inherently flawed due to his usage of a faulty analogy which compares two disparate relationships based on the assumption that freedom naturally leads to anarchy in the absence of an omnipotent ruler. The crux of Gadfly’s analogy is the presence of two distinct classes of people; the superior leader and inferior citizens, thus excluding systems of government like democracies which allow the citizenry to elect a leader, choosing a fellow citizen, equal under the law, to govern. Gadfly’s statements are more characteristic of a tyrannical state in which leaders act hypocritically, using their elevated status to create laws that they never intend to apply to themselves just as parents
Alex Storozynski says, “Tyranny anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere.” He is saying tyranny can affect other countries not only your own. Tyranny is harsh absolute power by one, a few, or many. The constitution guarded against tyranny by Separating Powers, using Checks and Balances, and using the system of Federalism.
“The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.” by H.L. Mencken. I do agree with what H.L. Mencken is saying that an average man does want to be safe but I would also have to disagree. People need to feel as if they are free at a certain extent. Countries tend to have cults and gang related violence. This is probably how dictatorship had come about and how other people would argue that as Americans , we don’t care much for our freedom.
Safety and freedom are both essential components of society and many argue over which component holds the most desirability in modern civilization. Many, like H.L. Mencken, believe that humanity’s desire to be safe trumps the want to be free. This view may hold true for some but there are varying interpretations of what is means to be safe and have freedoms.
As American essayist and social critic H.L. Mencken wrote, “The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.” To be free is to have the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without restraint. This type of freedom can be offered in many places whether it be home, school, or work. Safety is the condition of being protected from or unlikely to because risk, danger, or injury. Safety should be seen as an advantage to have because it’s never truly guaranteed. Most people claim they are proud of the freedoms their nations offer, though many people manifest the willingness to give up these freedoms to secure personal safety.
True freedom is the ability for each person to live as they desire; such a place is described as a utopia. Unfortunately in the dystopian novel, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the novel portrays a completely controlled society that has absolutely no freedom. Although you do have the few dissatisfied individuals who set out for a form of change. These individuals represent the optimistic part of the novel, despite conditioning, drugs and biological engineering; the human naturally wants more to life than just following orders.
Passage: He lived on the streets with bums, tramps, and winos for several weeks. Vegas would not be the end of the story, however. On May 10, itchy feet returned and Alex left his job in Vegas, retrieved his backpack, and hit the road again, though he found that if you are stupid enough to bury a camera underground you won’t be taking many pictures with it afterwards. Thus the story has no picture book for the period May 10, 1991-January 7, 1992. But this is not important. It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found. God it’s great to be alive! Thank you. Thank you (Krakauer 37).
A free society is a good society. A free society allows for citizens to make decisions for themselves and make certain decisions in the best interest of the society’s people, something political authority figures neglect to do. ‘Letter From Birmingham Jail’ is a good example of certain laws and restrictions put on a society by political authority that had a major negative impact. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, (King.)” Too much power creates injustice, as I mentioned before those in power seem to ignore those who don’t hold the same power they do, believing at times they are greater and the people below them don’t matter. Along with that, one could argue that allowing people to rely too much on power creates fear. As
Right now, the society that we all live in secretly oppresses the people and is slowly taking away our freedoms, yet we do not notice it. In a controlled environment, the one who holds power is usually the most corrupt and conceitful one of the group. Power and authority may seem like an easy stick to wield, but unfortunately, that is not the case. With great power comes great responsibility is a quote that echoes this predicament. Though power and authority may seem like it is an almighty power to behold, only a minute amount of people carry it, while the majority live under it. If a majority gets upset or aggravated over the misuse of power and authority, a rebellion is bound to happen. Freedom is the sweet nectar that many throughout history
In the novel “Anthem” by Ayn Rand, the character Equality 7-2521 comes to his individual and personal conclusion of what freedom is. “But what is freedom? Freedom from what? There is nothing to take a man's freedom away from him, save other men. To be free, a man must be free of his brothers. That is freedom. That and nothing else.” (Rand, 101). In the world of “Anthem”, independent thoughts and freedom are forbidden and are looked upon as the greatest evil. Humans became a mindless horde in this depiction of the future and no longer have a choice of what they say or do-- and what’s worse is that everyone just goes along with this way of doing things. Despite this, Equality 7-2521 stood out among the others, even
It is true our society must strive to bring good to as many people as possible; yet it is unfair to restrict freedom if failed to do so. For example, if someone tries to start a city clean up because of the amount of littering that is made. Is it really under their control if more people go out and liter? Should they be the ones punished? Of course not, a restriction in freedom violates our first amendment and cannot be enforced. It's true that freedom is the most valuable thing that us Americans have and sometimes restricting it may help but make a person feel like they're being held back from doing something. With this, people may get a sense of wanting to rebel. Ultimately, this can lead to problems with the law. This however is very unpredictable
The freedom of every individual human comes by its liberty first to be safe. Being unrestricted gives each human their rights of living in peace because the rights of freedom is better to have to be able to live life with no fear in the world. like once Patrick Henry said “Give me liberty or give me death”, this can be seen from the Civil Right Movement, “The boy in the striped pajamas” and the Holocaust prove the struggles faced to be in liberty.
A majority of people that chose to accept freedom believing it would give them better opportunities in life soon realised that life as a free person wasn’t as positive as they initially thought.
The concept of negative liberty is hard, as one may see it as “for the protection of people’s health and concern for the public majority”, but maybe not everything is negative as she puts it? Katherine Mangu-ward, asserts this by giving examples of simple delights most people enjoy like ice-cream or soda, but why use food, isn’t it good to stop people from becoming unhealthy? Her reasoning for these is that it’s “negative liberty”. Smoking’s bad, but the government putting restrictions on it seems good as it would limit people to smoke. The only thing that seems off in her writing is comparing the Taliban, to Brooklyn parents, both with a hatred of ice-cream. It’s hard to agree with her, when her logic is “to Hell with it, if I want to drive
For all of history there has existed the struggle between the strong and the weak. The establishment of government gives the power to a particular group to decide the amount of freedom the majority is allowed, however, though not ideal it provides necessary order. The benefits of security that limitations on freedom provides must be balanced with the individual's pursuit of happiness for citizens to be content. To prevent the governed majority from destabilizing the rulers and seeking power, the government will oppress political and personal freedom of thought. In result, the majority will live under the illusion of contentment and not wish to revolt; those enlightened to the idea that the government should be ruled by the governed, would associate happiness only with ignorance and consequently seek freedom.
With complete control, a government is capable of committing acts against their citizens, which can be perceived as “something good” from the government’s point of view. Winston Smith feels