"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Benjamin Franklin
this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2025
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There's major "edgy thirteen year old" vibes to this quote.
Trading liberty for security is something everyone who lives in a society does to some extent, and while I'm sure there is more nuance to the full statement, just that one quote gives a very smug vibe.
But it's specifically essential liberty for temporary security. We're not talking about, say, giving up shooting rifles in the air for the safety of the surrounding area, we're talking giving up, for example, basic privacy in return for making sure kids don't accidentally see a tiddie.
I do realise that, but it sounds very silly without the appropriate context.
As the person you're replying to pointed out, the context is in the statement. Essential liberty. Temporary security.
Can someone help me with this one please? I presume the message is not to side with an aggressor à la the leopards who eat people's faces party. But am I over-analysing the picture? Is liberty trying to constrain/detain security? Can the liberty avatar in this image choose a different avatar for security or is the message that freedom is inherently unsafe and wanting security is folly?
Politicians often argue that we need to increase security to protect our liberties, but it's a scam. Ever-growing security policies quickly turn to suppress all liberty.
Liberté means "liberty" and securité means "security". /s
Liberty is one of the three pillars of the French model for democracy, as indicated by the French Revolution cap. Security is used to enforce and protect it but security mechanisms such as secret agencies can outgrow the system they're supposed to serve and harm liberty with censorship etc.
I am struggling, too