Thesis
Every American value everything from their freedom of the press to the right to defend their home and interesting enough, there was never a problem that America or Americans could not solve on their own. There are a lot of things worth sacrificing, a person’s life to save another life if the situation called for it, time with the family if you are a doctor and you are needed to help another person out. However, when safety on a grand scale is practically threatened then people feel that it is their right to give up whatever it takes for them to be safe and that is what this paper will discuss whether I agree or disagree with the statement “Safety is paramount; if citizens must sacrifice rights or freedoms to be protected from national and international threats, then they should gladly do so.
Introduction
Safety for United States citizens is the ultimate and absolute truth the world over, there is very little room for doubt in the aspect that if America’s freedom is threatened in any way then there is a lot of governmental action to be taken that would assure that Americans will continue loving the concept of what it means to be a part of this great land. Sacrificing rights and freedoms to make safety for a few thousand or a million is completely absurd and ridiculous. A person has every right to be safe no matter what the situation is or what they are doing at that particular time of the day, there is no point to living in a country where sacrificial altars are made for the sole purpose of enjoying the freedom that people are already enjoy today.
Body
Personally, I disagree with the statement Safety is paramount; if citizens must sacrifice rights or freedoms to be protected from national and international threats, then they should gladly do so. One of the reasons why I disagree with that statement is because this country was founded on the ideology of freedom granted to us by our forefathers, this clearly means that people have a right to be free from whatever threat is looming on the horizon and since people are entitled to their opinion as well as their right to not care about certain things, some would feel that it is their right as Americans to not live in a country where the freedoms of speech, expression and press are threatened and ultimately eliminated. People have the right to be protected against any threat in the country in which they live because since privacy, and protection for every mortal girl and boy is the goal of the government as well as the protection of their own family (ies) then they will work to ensure their own is protected against these threats. Plus, as it stands right now, there is no constitutional law that states that we have to sacrifice life as we know it in order to remain safe and secure in not just our own homes but also as we are walking the streets, going to work in our cars or bus or even while we’re in our home showering before we go to bed. People have a right to live their lives uninterrupted by the next big threat, that is the key reason behind why people pay taxes so as to fund the military with the absolute power that their artillery gives them plus, it can also be said that the reason why the government has the Army or the Air Force is so they can protect the homeland they love and adore. A person’s right to breathe clean air or a person’s right to say what is on their mind should not be threatened or eliminated because of the fact that some other third world country does not have it, it is not fair to the people of the United States of America to pay for another country’s lack of communication or lack of universal freedoms like speech or to practice whatever religion that they want.
Another reason why I disagree with the statement Safety is paramount; if citizens must sacrifice rights or freedoms to be protected from national and international threats, then they should gladly do so is because of the simple fact that people enjoy the choices of what school to go to in their neighborhood or what to do on their day off from work. These are personal freedoms that people enjoy and do not want to part with; these freedoms are what make being an American citizen pure joy. People have the right to choose the college that they want to go to when they graduate from high school instead of having their post high school choice predestined, people have the freedom to not go to college if that is what they want to do, people have the freedom to turn their backs to any international threat that they do not feel is worth the energy. What makes the concept of sacrificing rights and freedoms to be protected from any, and all threats false is that people have the means to protect themselves. Case in point, a person is spending a quiet night at home with their family or by themselves if they do not have a family and their home is invaded by a small terrorist group of 3 guys. Right off the bat, he has the right to protect his home and himself which in turn gives him the freedom to live another day and protect what is rightfully his; even if the group were planning on taking him alive. The homeowner exercised his given right to protect his home from invaders, that is a freedom that people enjoy living in this country vs. living in another country where everything is based on a dictatorship where everything the leader of that country says is law. If he or she says that you are going to be a factory worker after you graduate from college then you are going to be a factory worker, in the U.S. if a person is told that they are going to be a factory worker after graduating from high school or college then that person can say “no, I am going to college and after I graduate I plan on getting a job as a desk receptionist at a Fortune 500 company”. Whether or not people understand that person’s intentions is irrelevant, the point is that the person has the freedom to be what he wants instead of what he is told to be. In general, sacrificing the right to do whatever you want just so you can be completely protected from international threats is completely unnecessary because life is not life if you have to sacrifice your time to ensure that your country is safe from the slightest possible threat. People should have the freedom to live their life worry free and danger free from any danger that they might more or less be in, so do I agree with the statement that principal safety at the cost of our personal freedoms and rights to life so we can be protected from anything that can hurt or kill us; no I do not agree. People cannot live in a country where their every move is being dictated and made for them; there is no freedom behind living in such a world especially since people have the means to protect themselves. A general rule about living in the United States is that freedoms and personal rights are automatically guaranteed, they are not something that a person has to fight and practically die for just to obtain or lose a limb or two just to be able to feel proud to live in the world they fought for. There is nothing to be gained from sacrificing your personal freedoms to be safe from international attacks because in my opinion, it is not a person’s responsibility to care about that when the U.S. military is already on it. A person has enough going on in their life and has the right to just worry about that instead of being told to worry about a potential virus that can wipe the country out in one fell swoop or worrying about the concept of another world invasion.
Conclusion
This country was built on the personal freedoms and rights that we enjoy today, which makes sacrificing any of those right as well as freedoms unnecessary and wrong. There is no greater love than the right to be able to take a sick day, or take a vacation, or even take some time off from work to be able to enjoy life because that is what it means to live in the land of the free and to enjoy the freedoms that give every human being’s life meaning.
