Would you rather be free or safe? And you can't have it both ways.?

Question

Would you rather be free or safe? And you can't have it both ways.?

Answer 1

Free, always.

With freedom you have choices and responsibility.

Safety always leads to dependence and self-destruction.

Answer 2

free most definatly

Answer 3

Since the question says you can't have it both ways, it would be dodging the question for me to say I'd take freedom and provide my own security, as some have stated.

For purposes of this question, I'll assume you mean physically safe.

Certain freedoms are worth more than physical safety, some are not.  If, as this hypothetical implies, I must accept a constant physical threat, with no possibility of defending myself from it, then I would accept that for certain things.  Worshiping God would certainly be worth it.  Telling a group of gang bangers what I really think of their falling-down-pants and women's-stockings-as-hats doesn't rank as important enough for me to go tell them.  So, I subjugate my freedom of speech in favor of continued life when passing these children with big guns, but if one demanded I renounce God, I would die with an affirmation of my faith upon my lips.

However, It is important to realize that not ALL freedoms can be protected at the same time.  If a religious group wants to carry out a human sacrifice, you must choose between the rights of that group and the rights of their victims, you cannot protect both entirely.  Similarly, you cannot protect the 'right to choice' while protecting the 'right to life'.  At some point you have to prioritize which freedoms you will protect, because some are mutually exclusive. 'Free' can't mean anarchy.  True freedom requires some freedoms to be protected from others.

Answer 4

I'd say free.  The Constitution says I can own firearms...which I do.  That in itself helps on the safety issue.

Answer 5

Free. Absolutely.

Answer 6

Free, although it is possible to have both.  I think that you are talking about what is going on right now.  The Constitution is being ignored in the name of keeping us safe from terrorists.  We are losing our rights, while we are being told that our freedoms are being protected, and it is not making us any safer.  There is no indication that giving up our rights will keep us safe.  Rendition and torture just make people confess to whatever they think will make it stop.  Spying on people to see what they read at the library is ludicrous.  Witch hunts are never productive.  They were not in Salem, they were not during the McCarthy hearings, and they are not now.

Answer 7

Free is better than being safe.  Anyone who rather be safe doesn't deserve to be free,

Answer 8

Free, which in actuality then begets safety

Answer 9

If I am free, I can take care of my own safety, thank you.

Answer 10

Was the second part of the sentence a question or a qualification of the first part?  Because if it is a question the answer would be yes of course, i can have it both ways because I can be free and at the same time safe  now if you are saying that for purposes of this question i cannot have it both ways and i must have to make a choice, i would choose being free because if i am free there is a very good chance nd opportunity for me to ensure and work out that i am also safwhile if i am safe but not free, well, i might continue to exist but in bondage and there's nopthing else i can do to improve my lot so being safe and not free is not at all desirable

Answer 11

Free. You can't live forever anyway, you might as well enjoy your time on Earth.

Answer 12

Sure I can.  I choose both.

fs

Answer 13

I would rather be safe.

What good is it to be free if my kids will be killed tomorrow?

You are twisting Franklin's words:

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Notice Franklin said "essential" and "a little temporary."  He knew there were times when freedom need to be trumped by safety.