Freedom Vs Safety

Nicholas Chouljian 3-5

Freedom vs Safety

In today’s contemporary society with new technology, being free and safe isn’t an option anymore.  With new phones and high tech tracking systems, it’s hard to honestly say “I am free”.  H.L Mencken claims that man would rather be safe than free.  In this fast moving world I have to say he is right.

In H.L Mencken’s life, technology and other scientific advancements have not been made to the point where it can be used to hurt people.  Mencken was alive in the time when America was still developing and the biggest threat to them was European immigrants and foreign countries.  Although his situation is different than modern American society, his statement, “The average man does not want to be free, he simply want to be safe”, still continues to work.

Currently, the government is in charge of keeping its nation safe.  Whether that includes a breach in privacy is ultimately worth it if it meant stopping an act of terror.  The TSA, airport security, recently started taking new measures to ensure safe travel on flights.  The TSA has implemented new X-ray machines for people that ends up showing the TSA employee everything about the person which many consider an extreme breach of personal privacy.  But, what if a person on your flight was stopped from getting on the plane because of these high tech machines.  These type of situations is why the government issues security measure like this.

Freedom and safety are both extreme luxury that many people around the world don’t even have, The American government choose safety over freedom which in the long run was a reasonable choice considering that new threats to the nation and its people are inevitable.