This is a very interesting response. On one hand you desire freedom, on the other hand you don't seem to trust people enough to have their own freedom. You seem (correct me if I'm wrong) to trust the government more than other people in a society. And you're willing to allow them to take away your freedoms in order to protect you from those in society whom you do not trust. How am I doing so far?wbrycew wrote: I believe that any limitation of freedom is an evil thing. There is nothing worse in the world to me than the idea that I can't just do what I want to do. I should be allowed to live how I want, assuming that I won't screw with anybody else's freedoms. I don't bother people, and I don't want people to bother me. The problem is, people can't be trusted to play by the honor code and not bother each other. Some people can, but not all.
"Just enough freedom... so that we can tolerate living"... whoa. I could probably tolerate living with no limbs. I could probably tolerate living without 3 out of my 5 senses. I could probably tolerate living in a jail cell the size of a bathroom for the rest of my life. What about having enough freedom to enjoy living?That's where government steps in. Government is the necessary evil that has to limit our freedoms in order to make sure the asshats of the world don't mess things up for the people minding their own business. If we didn't have governments in the world, then the rapists and murderers would basically take over. The government's role is to take away some freedom to protect the people, but leave just enough freedom behind that we can still tolerate living.
I understand why you think that limiting freedoms are necessary in order to preserve your safety as well as your basic needs. It is definitely important for a civilization to keep it's self in check somehow. Laws, governed by a constitution (the law of the land) classically work very well. These laws begin to fail in serving their purpose, however, when establishments inside or outside the government make special deals that blur the lines drawn by the constitution. Here's something you need to understand: The same people you don't trust in a civilization will do everything they can to get into the government, or work with the government in order to cut themselves special deals. This is classic corruption. And it's happening all around you all the time. This corruption, which happens at the expense of your liberties and your freedom, is perpetuated by the government. It's cyclical and symbiotic. And your role in this corruption is to be docile and complacent. Both entities want you to allow them to manipulate you, and the only way they can do that is by indoctrinating you into thinking that the government, and only the government, can or should provide you with your needs and safety -- which is clearly what you believe.So that's what I mean. And our government actually does a particularly good job at it. I'm not scared of my government, and I know I'm not one of the guys they're interested in. I go about my partially free life and usually enjoy myself.
Let me reiterate. All laws are evil to me, in every way. If civilization hadn't developed, and humans were still just another animal roaming the planet (albeit a bit smarter than the rest), then we would all just be living our day to day lives in any manner that we saw fit. That is the definition of good and freedom to me; just living life without constraints of society. Civilization has taken us far from that point though, and now there's no going back. So, at this point, government is definitely a necessary evil to help us maintain what freedoms we can still hold on to.
The constitution is very clear on how to preserve our liberties as well as our safety. We do it ourselves and we do it together in our communities. It's not too difficult, despite what your government wants you to believe. This corruption by the government is practically written into law right over the words of the constitution. If you were allowed to protect yourself from harm or theft without getting sued or thrown in jail, people wouldn't think they could get away with hurting you or taking your belongings (this goes especially for the government but it also applies to other civilians). The government has your sense of self preservation hog tied, tortured, and imprisoned. You make their job really easy because you thank them for taking your freedoms away.
I apologize, but this needs to be repeated:
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty
to purchase a little Temporary Safety,
deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
-Benjamin Franklin
What is the opposite of "LIBERTY?" The answer is: SLAVERY.
