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Sep 25 2008
Quoting Poetically: Ben Franklin
This week Statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin expresses his ultra libertarian views on civilian liberty
In this era of terrorism, does Franklin’s statement still hold true? Some place limits on privacy in a self-imposed way by telling no secrets nor opposing the recent Freedom of Information Act and the scandalized phone tapping by the Bush Administration that seems a bit too Orwellian for some. Personally, I’ve always believed that if I have nothing to hide, I should care less who knows what about my life for that fact that if any terror should occur, the United States Government is exceeding more apt to tackle such a problem than I. Anyway… I’ll cross that proverbial bridge upon coming to it. With all that said, where is the cut-off between privacy and civilian liberty and personal privacy and moreover where do the two intersect?
Discuss and wax poetically!
In my field we are doing quite a bit of work on what has been described as conflicted public v. private sphere. The “private sphere” which really came into socio-political ‘being’ in the early 18th century has never been so threatened. In a current study of Max Weber, Franklin’s writings have been most helpful for me. I personally believe Franklin had a better perspective on “liberties” given his proximity to the French and American Revolutions. Those “individualist thinkers” were raging in that time, and today, not so much… Today we struggle with globalization, invisible enemies, regional soverignties through trade which nullify geographical boundaries in most cases. Franklin, along with Adams, Jefferson, Madison et al. knew fundamentally the challenges to liberty. They knew when the “going gets tough” people might give up what they fought so valiantly for, in order to squelch their own fear. As mankind came to value the individual, we also came to value our (own) individual life over the needs of future generational liberties. Personally, I am heart-sick re: the state of personal liberty today. I don’t know what can be done, if we the people, do not see a clear and present danger and turn this around. In my opinion, Post 9/11, we stopped being American. We did it to ourselves. Many say the intersection can be found at the boundary between the conflation of liberty and freedom. Harvey Mansfield I believe… Sorry this was so long ~k
Holey Swiss CHEEEESE THAT WAS LONG! What Do you do, K?
Anthropology… we dig deep! Smile. ~k