So Appropriate Today

[Grits]

This caught my eye in a reading today.

"those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Benjamin Franklin, 1759.

 

[jonnyl]

I agree with the sentiment in the quote, but I don't think it fits the situation we're in today with the 2A fight. It seems to concede the point that giving up some freedom WILL get you some incremental safety. That further perpetuates the incorrect assumption that today's gun control debate is "safety vs freedom". When the facts are that the laws being proposed, and unfortunately passed in some cases, do not provide any increased safety at all.

I think that our biggest hurdle is correcting the mistaken impression that we're weighing safety against "gun rights".

 

[Grits]

I read it as, if you give up a little of your freedom, to gain a little safety, you will end up with neither. Giving up just a small part of our 2nd Amend. Rights for a perceived safer country, will give us neither. Maybe I am reading ole Ben's quote to fit my frustration. I will trust we are on the same page anyhow.

 

[BondJamesBond]

This caught my eye in a reading today.

"those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Benjamin Franklin, 1759.

A lot of the Founding Fathers said a lot of things.

Was he correct?

 

[jrumann59]

This quote can cut across many things in world today. Would you give up your 4th and 5th if you knew it would get rid of terrorism in the USA? Would you give up the 2nd if you knew that the police would protect you 100% of the time and be there for you when you need them the most? Would you give up your first if it would stop groups like Westboro or the KKK from spewing their hatred? Would you give up the 6th thru 8th to keep a criminal off the street even with circumstantial evidence?

 

[elwojo]

This caught my eye in a reading today.

"those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Benjamin Franklin, 1759.

I'm pretty sure that's my signature...

 

[BigToe]

The key word in that statement is "temporary".

 

[aireyc]

I'm quite honestly tired of Constitutional debates focusing around the intent of the Founding Fathers. It's not like the COTUS is the Bible and we can't logically deduce the same principles here in 2013. The reality is that the same logic of Natural Law that the FF used in writing the Declaration and Constitution applies today, and guess what? *GASP* You can understand the intent of the documents without applying any historical context.

In other words, the Second Amendment rights we all support (even unregulated full autos) can be determined not just by giving a rat's rear what the Founding Fathers thought, but instead using our own brains and applying basic principles of logical deduction and reasoning, with the basis being the simple fact that nothing naturally exists that grants one individual authority over another.

If we really want to win the 2A debate (and many others) over the coming years, we need to educate ourselves on the philosophy that led to our founding documents.

So while Franklin's oft-cited quote may make some of us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, it's not helping push the intellectual discussion that led Franklin to make the quote in the first place.

 

[BigToe]

So while Franklin's oft-cited quote may make some of us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, it's not helping push the intellectual discussion that led Franklin to make the quote in the first place.

The problem is, there is a discussion in this country regarding the rights of American citizens that does not include the constitution, other than calling said constitution an "inconvenience". The majority of voters have put a progressive in the White House, who blatantly disregards the constitution. The man even won a second term. The whole point of the constitution is to have a set of rules to fall back on when we find ourselves, as a nation, in the exact position that we are now....being governed under an agenda that is eroding our rights.