Our Personal Liberties
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By Aaron J. Biterman. September, 2000. Question: Evaluate the extent to which personal liberties have been infringed in the United States. My Response: Despite the fact that the Constitution of the United States was created to protect the civil liberties of all Americans, many people feel that the Constitution is outdated and that liberties are of less value than other perceived needs. For instance, author William Rasberry writes a column in which he reveals that Americans are "obsessed" with their personal liberties. He believes the lawsuits should stop now. He believes Americans should be grateful for the liberties that they do have, definitely not seeking out more liberties. From the need to more environmental protection to the campaign for human rights around the world, many citizens have forgotten the immense importance of civil liberties. So what liberties am I talking about? The Bill of Rights has long been under attack for providing too much freedom to people. For instance, Robert Bidinotto argued that the solution to curtailing crime was as simple as repealing the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution in his 1990 article, "Crime and Consequences". The founding fathers and the American people of the 1700s were not naive. They knew that the procedural safeguards in the Bill of Rights would result in the release of many guilty people. But they were willing to accept that price in order to ensure that innocent people were never, or rarely, convicted. They fully recognized that which freedom devotees on the Right recognized -- that those who violate the rights of others need to be punished. But what they also recognized is what those on the Right so often do not: that sometimes people are wrongly accused of violating the rights of others. So what other liberties are being infringed upon? Privacy. Rarely will you not be asked for your Social Security number to take a test or to register anywhere. Social Security fraud has been increasing at an immense rate, but Americans seem to show little concern for the invasion of privacy, many condoning the behavior as necessary. Another infringement is the United States Census, which, like Social Security, was never meant to be an identifier, but is now rapidly being recognized as an identification system to pry into the personal effects of innocent individuals. From asking the size of your toilet to the color of your skin, the U.S. Census has become a hot spot for privacy invasions. There is now a large push for firearms registration or even firearms restrictions. Some are even pushing for confiscation. Then there are those who believe that toy guns should be federally banned, like Alderman Cynthia Carter (D-MD). Officials like Carter want to ban everything is bad, which begs the question, what will politicians do next if they pass legislation to ban toy guns? But the problem with banning firearms is that it puts an average citizen like you and I at a disadvantage to an armed criminal. You see, armed criminals don’t care about laws in the first place, which means they will find a way to retrieve a gun and they will find a way to use it against innocent people who have turned in their guns when asked. But it doesn’t end there. Senator Sessions (R-AL) is pushing for a video game restrictions as a means to help reduce violence. He claims it is psychologically proven that video games create monsters out of children. So if anything bad for you is banned, wouldn’t fatty foods qualify? Actually, yes, because the National Nutrition Summit declared a war on fat earlier this year (May, 2000). Rights are essential to survival. We as human beings are not all equal and were not made to be equal in every capacity, and that is why collectivist policies which violate individual liberty are becoming a pertinent issue to many Americans around the country. The only way to fend off the policies is to stand up for your right to eat what you want, own what you want and do what you want so long as you don’t effect another person negatively. |
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