Janis Joplin once said that “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Most of us, even those of us with modest means, are not free because we have plenty to lose.
Living in a society means we live with other people and we have to give up certain freedoms and make concessions in order to be able to live with our fellow citizens.
Janis Joplin once said that “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Most of us, even those of us with modest means, are not free because we have plenty to lose.
Living in a society means we live with other people and we have to give up certain freedoms and make concessions in order to be able to live with our fellow citizens.
For example, we pay taxes, wear clothes and wait in line to co-exist with other people because society has decided that this is the accepted way of doing things.
We often accept rather grudgingly that we have to give up personal rights, and so sometimes we break laws imposed by the society we live in. In some countries, governments stipulate dress codes that might offend people in other countries. We think here of the French government banning Muslim head scarves in their state schools.
In other countries, women are obliged by law to wear the same scarves that are banned in French schools. These laws might seem somewhat arbitrary, but they show that if a woman wants to visit certain cities, or frequent certain schools, she has to give up the right to choose what she wants to put on her head.
On pages Four and Five of this newspaper, there is a topical discussion about the rights of journalists. Do journalists have special rights that are different from the rights of other citizens?
Does a journalist have the right to withhold information from the police even if this information could lead to the arrest of criminals? Is it ethically correct for a journalist to hold on to information if he or she could prevent a crime? What if that crime leads to loss of life?
Modern technology is putting many civil libertarian rights under siege right now. There are security cameras invading your privacy almost everywhere you turn. If you walk down the street, proceed down the aisle in the supermarket or pop into the bank – Big Brother is watching you. Have we quietly acquiesced in the loss of yet more civil rights?
The counter argument is that by conceding certain rights to privacy we have significantly reduced the crime rate so if we weigh the crime index against the privacy index – where lies the greater good?
