I chose article three because of its title “Security Versus Civil Liberties”, this title appealed to me since I have an interest in law. Richard Posner feels we should sacrifice some of our civil liberties in times of crisis. However, he comes from a standpoint that he is an average citizen and feels if you are doing nothing wrong you have nothing to hide. Yet, he fails to take in account that most people are hiding something; people cheat and steal as a way to get ahead in life. He does not see that poor people, whether they are junkies or have disabilities have to take short cuts in life to make a living. He does not address people who are below middle class, which I take as his disregard of how the lower class feels. We may have a caste system, but we should never treat anyone as a second-class citizen. I did not like this article simply because if it were up to him he would give the power to choose our rights to the government. What he suggests is we trust our government. The key principle of the Constitution is never trust a government and to never let anyone boss you around. Republicans are better than him when it comes to his ideas on were power should lie. At least you know where the Republicans stand, but he wants things to shift with the times instead of having a set plan. We have a document that does that already and it is the Constitution.
Posner believes that we need to give up our civil liberties in times of risk. To me this is exactly what he mentioned before it is nothing but hindsight. If we had known we were at risk, we would have done something about it. The NSA (National Security Agency) already handles national security and they can step on whatever rights they want to get their job done. However, they are careful and go slow to make sure they are not seen. Therefore, as far as Posner wanting to give up civil liberties for national security it seems his point is moot. We have NSA working internally for our country. Then internationally the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) that works on making sure terrorists stop before they hit our soil. He seems to think we just lie down and take these beatings. Yet, we spend billions a year paying these agencies to find our enemies before they find us.
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I do not agree with Posner, I believe that if we are so concerned with national security, then the government should create a little more awareness amongst themselves and do their job correctly. Citizens should not have to sacrifice their liberties because it would make matters rather much more simpler for the government. I completely agree with that is why we have these special agencies to protect us and worry about our security, having our liberties limited would not work out so well, especially when we have a written doctrine that protects our rights as citizens.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with you at all. We elect our government officials to make decision for us. That is why we all have the right to vote, and if an official is making bad decisions in office we can impeach him. Also you talked about the Constitution. Have you read the Constitution, in Article one under the powers of congress it states "To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof." Our fore fathers new America would change as time went on and that certain laws would have to be pushed aside so new ones can take place. As history shows sometimes the government needs to put their foot down, Posner talks about what Lincoln did, he put aside civil liberties and if he didn't, well then America could be two separate nations right now.
ReplyDeleteI don`t agree with Posner, yes we elect our government officials to make the final decision, and i don`t think he wanted us to sacrifice civil liberties and citizens should not be asked to do so. Also, i dont agree with the fact that "most" people steal and cheat their way through life either. Now, there is probably a good amount of people that do that, but saying that "most" people do this is absurd.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember a time when people have had less trust in the government (and by this time, I mean during the end of the Bush administration and now the start of the Obama term).
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