A true free society is one in which the citizens can experience autonomy. The United States can proudly boast that while it is not a completely free nation by this definition, there are certain rights guaranteed to the people that are unparalleled in most nations. Founded on the idea that tyrannical or monarchical regime is unjust and discriminatory. During the creation of the Constitution, our Founding Fathers faced great difficulty in passing the document. The argument posed by Anti-Federalists was that without the Bill of Rights, the indisputable freedoms of the people would be infringed upon, replicating the regime of King George III. Many times, these unalienable rights have been challenged, whether it be by our own people, or the government,
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From our earliest years of life, we are expected to obey the word of virtually any adult, or else endure the consequences. It is inferred that the adult has the upper hand in most situations. However, applying this mentality to a government-citizen relationship simply does not work.To assume the government always has the upper hand allows for the government to abuse its power and as a result, strip the people of their natural-born rights. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “To speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it,” (Civil Disobedience). While the lack of a government would theoretically be chaotic, we as a society can learn to model this to some extent. Respect is a two way street and should be demanded from the government just as it is from …show more content…
Edward Snowden, best known for leaking government secrets to the public. Many view him to be un-American, considering his distrust in the government. However, do the people not have the right to be aware of when their government oversteps its boundaries? The government has been known to monitor its people in ways many deem to be an infringement of privacy. Snowden has merely, “uncovered questionable activities that those in power would rather have kept secret (The New Yorker). While it is important for the American people to have trust in their government, it should be acceptable to be skeptical at
From our earliest years of life, we are expected to obey the word of virtually any adult, or else endure the consequences. It is inferred that the adult has the upper hand in most situations. However, applying this mentality to a government-citizen relationship simply does not work.To assume the government always has the upper hand allows for the government to abuse its power and as a result, strip the people of their natural-born rights. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “To speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it,” (Civil Disobedience). While the lack of a government would theoretically be chaotic, we as a society can learn to model this to some extent. Respect is a two way street and should be demanded from the government just as it is from …show more content…
Edward Snowden, best known for leaking government secrets to the public. Many view him to be un-American, considering his distrust in the government. However, do the people not have the right to be aware of when their government oversteps its boundaries? The government has been known to monitor its people in ways many deem to be an infringement of privacy. Snowden has merely, “uncovered questionable activities that those in power would rather have kept secret (The New Yorker). While it is important for the American people to have trust in their government, it should be acceptable to be skeptical at