Big Government wants to make you safe and give you liberty. But Benjamin Franklin said “They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety”. He lived under a big government that said they could give both. You know how that went.
Many people today say we can have both. That people are good and will not take advantage of others. Look around you do you feel safe and free. We should feel “safe” we have more people in prison than any other country in the world. We have police almost on every corner; very “strong” airport security. We are “free” and safe, “very safe’. The amount of crime has gone down in the U.S. and imprisonment has gone up. We are protected from big business. Douglas, Amy Professor of Politics.www.governmentisgood.com.Web.2007. said “Big government as the only thing that could counter-balance the power of big business.” The government has stop business many times before. In 1911 Standard Oil was broken up because it was too big. Robert Reich. Big Government' Isn't the Problem, Big Money Is. March 21, 2012. The Nation said, “77 percent of respondents said too much power is in the hands of a few rich people and corporations.” So we are safe from big business, fear, and need, and welfare to protect us from need. Welfare take care of people gives them what they need. It helps though bad times and the time you become old. It helps the children and their parent. Big government protects you from dangerous things you do not any way. Things they should only have to protect us. Big government is a big brother to the environment. It cleans our cities and gives us good food. It does not let companies populate the earth and keeps us all safe from things that may harm us or ki...
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Daniels, Eric. Why “Big Government” is Not the Problem. The Objective Stranded. Spring of
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Brown, Matthew. America’s big-government problem. The Washington Times. Wednesday,
December 5, 2012. The Washington Times. 2/20/14. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/5/americas-big-government-problem.
Herman, Arthur. Mr. Obama, it's not the software that's the problem, it's Big Government liberalism. FowNews.com. October 24, 2013. Fox News. 2/20/14. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/10/24/mr-obama-it-not-software-that-problem-it-big-government-liberalism/.
Amy, Douglas. Why We Need to Stand Up for Government. Government Is Good. Unknown.
Government Is Good. 2/20/14. http://www.governmentisgood.com/articles.php?aid=6&p=1.
Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” Revolutionary Thomas Paine describes the government, which may seem evil at times, as a necessity for becoming a functioning society. A lot of responsibility is entrusted onto today’s government to create a safe, law based environment in which everyone can live and prosper. Although without the structure of a government to create laws and have the authority to enforce them, society itself would become chaotic. If a strong government ever became corrupt, it would have the ability to keep control on society by creating laws that limit people’s free-will. This creates a dystopian society for every person living under that government.
A system that manipulates its people into thinking they have freedom creates a stronger government.
Undeniably, there is reasoning behind a watchful government. After 9/11, anti-terrorism acts were in high gear and legislators passed the Patriot Act, which increased the amount of surveillance powers that the government held (Savage para 1). It makes sense; a country shaken by terrorism would live fearfully without the comfort of the government eavesdropping on other possibly dangerous plots; the same goes for countries that are often affected by terrorism. The surveillance can deny criminals access to communication and prevent terrorist plots (Eijkman 139), This explains why after 9/11, Americans were practically begging for more surveillance (Savage para 1). Now that America is in a state of recovery and relaxation, there is absolute uproar over the NSA and other government surveillance agencies.
It is being shown as if big brother is a Godly figure, when he is truly not. There was no such thing as individuality, because if you had any individual thoughts then the thought police knew what those thoughts were and they would persecute you in many torturous ways. Individuality is deemed as a threat to big brother and the government, because thinking on your own, and doing activities on your own can lead to the demise of the abusive government. In america, everything is based off of individuality. We have many freedoms thanks to the bill of rights. On a day to day basis, we can have our own opinions without being torn down. Everything that we do in work and school involves us using our individual minds. Unlike 1984 and Anthem, we are not assigned to do specific tasks to accomplish everyday for the entirety of our lives. A world of collectivism arises from a fictional society of brainwashed human beings ruled by the World Council and Big Brother. In today’s society we have the power to choose what we want and to do whatever we want as long as it stands within a legal
...t came out, and now there are times that I believe Orwell was right. We have not been completely overrun by the government, but there are instances that we might have to fear Big Brother in our own society. Oppression is not something I have faced in my lifetime, but fear of what could be is also its own form of oppression.
The fear of government control is a leitmotif in many dystopian literature stories; therefore, strong, oppressive central governments feature prominently in this genre. Both Brave New World and 1984 provide examples of this type of government, which superficially appear to be quite different. Although the outward aspects of these governments appear to be in opposition, they both use conditioning and societal manipulation to maintain control of their citizens in worlds affected by industrialization.
Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Americans fear that another attack is imminent. To ease these fears, lawmakers created the USA Patriot Act which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. This lengthy bill allows the justice department a great deal of power in criminal cases especially in those dealing with terrorism. While, according to lawmakers, the Patriot Act is aimed at ending terrorism, it is arguable that the Patriot Act is aimed at beginning a Big Brother-type society. For the government of the United States to enforce a law that encourages the obstruction of the 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments and other civil liberties is highly hypocritical and quite un-American.
It was very alarming when you read the statistics about Americans view toward the government. A shocking 82 percent fear the government and 49 percent view the government has an immediate threat to their rights. This was very surprising to me. Although I do not necessarily trust the government, I do not fear the government. In “Dangerous Anti-Government Revolutionaries”, Milo Nickels shed light as to why many people have an anti-government sentiment. He had a very fascinating interpretation of the government; he believed that government was not created to be trusted. “They [our founding fathers] expected people to rise up against the government whenever that happens. Indeed, our government was founded on the expectation that it couldn’t be trusted”. This quote challenged everything I had previously believed about the role of the government. I had always believed that the government was created to be liked. I assumed we were supposed to love our government and appreciate all it does. It was strange to hear the government was created to be
Although government watches, and protects citizens it often creates conflict because it violates the Fourth Amendment, Liberty, and Security.
The role of the government in our country is defined in our Constitution as to, "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" (the United States Constitution). In essences this is still true today although I feel our government has gotten out of hand. It is not as harsh as Machiavelli's ideas of government where he believes in striking fear in the people and never wavering from thoughts of war. Our government does protect us in many ways. Just as Machiavelli's government, we have a military that is ready to protect and serve us. We are always ready for war. So this is not to say that I believe that our government has completely forgotten its role.
The attacks on American soil that solemn day of September 11, 2001, ignited a quarrel that the grade of singular privacy, need not be given away in the hunt of grander security. The security measures in place were planned to protect our democracy and its liberties yet, they are merely eroding the very existence with the start of a socialistic paradigm. Benjamin Franklin (1759), warned more than two centuries ago: “they that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Implementing security measures comes at a cost both economically and socially. Government bureaucrats can and will utilize information for personal political objectives. The Supreme Court is the final arbitrator of what the ‘law is”, causing a lack of circulated rule. The actual leaders with political purposes jeopardize our individual privacy rights, liberties, and freedoms.
Tension between freedom and security has been prevalent in America since its founding. In 1798, President Adams responded to the threat of war with France with the Sedition Act, which made opposition to the government practically illegal. During the Civil War, President Lincoln suspended the writ of Habeas Corpus to prevent disputes regarding the legality of arrests. President Roosevelt authorized Japanese internment during World War II. Clearly, our government has often felt at liberty to put personal freedoms on hold for safety and control.
The states are losing trust and confidence in the national government because of this coercive government. According to www.usatoday.com, a Pew Poll back in 2013 showed that just about half of the voters, stated that the government has become a bigger threat to their freedom. Why do they feel this way? They feel this way because the national government is trying so hard to control our everyday lives, and individuals want their privacy. The national government is trying to put in place several things such as; TSA scanners, Homeland Security, gun control laws, and even gun confiscation. These are just a few items that www.usatoday.com list as reasons of why people are beginning to view the government as an actual threat. In fact, Nate Silver, a New York Time blogger, believes that the American people don’t like the “insurance broker”. Nate Sliver noticed that there was a decline of trust in the government when there was an increase in the government spending.
The welfare of the people in America is put in the hands of the public administrators and political leaders of the United States. These public administrators and political leaders are voted into office to promote new bills and come up with solutions that will be in the best interest of the public’s welfare. When the subject of welfare is debated the first thought that comes to mind is giving underprivileged and disadvantaged people money to help them get out of a financial predicament and/or temporary unemployment. The welfare of the middle and upper class is not as common because the fact that people collect financial support from their employment. There are several biased assumptions about the welfare program in America that leave the subject open for discussion. Such as food stamps, and how low-income Americans are given our taxpaying money to provide food for their households. I’m against the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and what toll it’s putting on the taxpayers of America.
Our Government dictates who we can marry, what we can smoke, what we can put in our body, drugs, food, etc. They dictate what we can make at home; for example, alcohol or drugs. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is even trying to ban fireplaces and certain wood stoves because of the smoke created by it. Dictating our lives started with the busing of children in the name of racial equality. Then came mandatory seat belt usage followed by the prohibition of Trans fats. Now we are dictated to purchase health insurance with features we may not need or want. Slowly but surely the Government is taking away our personal liberties. It is sad to say that the biggest threat to freedom and the American way of life comes from our own government. They listen to our phone calls, read our email, read everything we do online, and place cameras in public areas.. They dictate which guns we can have, what kind of ammo we can use, and how much ammo we are allowed to buy. I believe they should enforce the laws that are already on record for guns instead of continuing to add new ones.