How Important Is Individual Freedom To You?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

There have been lots of debates on this board about what folks are willing to die for. If I had to die for anything it would be for your freedom or mine...

[TheUniverse]

1. After ending the war in Iraq, it is the defining issue for me.

Unfortunately, not many politicians agree with me.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. Unfortunately , You Are Correct

eom

[MiniMe]

3. While ending the war and bringing our troops home is important to me

Restoring our rights is a top priority. How many of us could be declared an enemy combatant and denied our rights, just because some yahoo says we are enemy terrorists? And then be tortured becuse of same Yahoo? That is happening right now. War or no war, it is a top priority. Even when we get out of Iraq, there is still the so-called GWOT. IF you can get word out of where you are, and get it to a courtroom, and even if the judge rules in your favor, *co's reponse is "we're condiderint our options". NOT acceptable. He is not a dictator, nor is he the law on constitutionality. Our rights and 3 co-equal branches of government are what make this country great, and that is not what is happening right now. We have turned into a 3rd world dictatorship in 7 years.

[jody]

4. "Individual Freedom" however posts on DU show that we disagree on what is a freedom, e.g. abortion,

same-sex marriage, right to keep and bear arms, health care.

The founders recognized that certain rights were natural, inherent, inalienable and enumerated some of them in the Bill Of Rights and protected others with the Ninth Amendment. Our government is obligated to protect those rights for a minority of citizens even though the majority of citizens want to abolish those rights.

Ben Franklin said, "you have a democracy, if you can keep it" but our democracy recognizes the rights or freedoms of the minority.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. Small Point

Ben said "you have a republic, if you can keep it"... The Founding Fathers , in which I'll include Franklin were small r republicans... They were suspicious of democracies and the tyranny of the majority... That's why they wrote a Constitution and added a Bill Of Rights to protect individual freedoms...

The government we have now is a liberal democracy, a democratic republic, or a republican democracy... It's not a pure democracy and I don't think I would like to live in one...

[jody]

7. Thanks for the correction, Bartleby.com says the following

http://www.bartleby.com/73/1593.html

McHenry’s notes were first published in The American Historical Review, vol. 11, 1906, and the anecdote on p. 618 reads: “A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy. A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.” When McHenry’s notes were included in The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, ed. Max Farrand, vol. 3, appendix A, p. 85 (1911, reprinted 1934), a footnote stated that the date this anecdote was written is uncertain.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

15. Ha

One of the first times I heard the quote was in 1998 when Fritz Hollings won a hotly contested re-election campaign in uber red South Carolina... He said "I'm giving you a Democratic party if you can keep it." Too bad he wasn't prophetic...

DSB

[TahitiNut]

8. A little book by Henry Steele Commager titled "Majority Rule; Minority Rights" ...

... does a very good job of addressing the necessity of preventing the rights and freedoms of minorities from being infringed upon by the majority through the mechanism of government. Tyrannies come in all shapes and the tyranny of a majority in a democracy is most easily seen today in "Nanny State" positions, imho. Sadly, the structural mechanisms of such systemic inhibitions have been hijacked to the degree we now have, to some great degree, a tyranny of the minority (through established privilege) over a majority. It could not have been done without ignoring some Constitutional safeguards, but it's been done and it's getting worse.

[H2O Man]

6. Freedom

(Ritchie Havens)


Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long way from my home

Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom

Sometimes I feel like I’m almost gone
Sometimes I feel like I’m almost gone
Sometimes I feel like I’m almost gone
A long, long, long, way, way from my home

Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Hey…yeah

I got a telephone in my bosom
And I can call him up from my heart
I got a telephone in my bosom
And I can call him up from my heart

When I need my brother…brother
When I need my mother…mother
Hey…yeah…etc.

[Swamp Rat]

9. Freedom

(Jimi Hendrix)

You got my pride
hanging out of my bed
You're messin' around with my life
So I bought my lead
You even mess with my children
And you're screamin' at my wife, baby
Get off my back,
if you wanna get outta here alive

Freedom, give it to me
That's what I want now
Freedom, that's what I need now
Freedom to live
Freedom, so I can give

You got my heart
Speak electric water
You got my soul
Screamin' and howlin'
You know you hook my girlfriend
You know the drugstore man
But I don't need it now
I was trying to slap it out of her head

Freedom, so I can give
Freedom, yeah
Freedom, that's what I need

You don't have to say that you love
If you don't mean it
You'd better believe
If you need me
Or you just wanna bleed me
You'd better stickin' your dagger in someone else
So I can leave
Set me free

(Yeah)

Right on, straight ahead
Stay up and straight ahead
Freedom

[Uncle Joe]

10. I would be willing to die for mine or your's as well.

The ironic thing is, up until the selection of 2000, I thought I was free.

[Jed Dilligan]

11. Poll should be framed as tradeoffs

-More important than life

-Not as important as life, but more important than economic well-being

-Not as important as life or economic well-being

[porphyrian]

12. It's one of the most important things to me.

So is my life, though.

[uppityperson]

13. Individual freedom is very important to me, as is good for the world and society.

Sometimes societal good, or world good outweighs individual freedom. For instance, I cannot steal, or an individual company cannot pollute. Barring harm to society, harm to humanity, harm to the world, individual freedom rants very very high for me.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

16. Exactly

Your "proverbial" right to swing your fist ends at my "proverbial" nose. I just think folks can define acts that affect others so broadly as to take away most of our freedom.

[treestar]

14. Very high. I don't seriously believe I'll ever be spied on by the

government myself, yet it still really bothers me that the right is pushing all this warrantless spying crap. Also don't seriously believe I'll ever be labeled an enemy combatant, but am really freaked at the right trying to create an accusation where no defense is allowed. They could throw it at anybody once they have that power and I hate that so many average Americans cannot see that.

[BlooInBloo]

17. Hah. Freedom for me, not for thee, as often as not.