COLUMN: Where at least I know I’m … safe
At the American University in Cairo where I studied this past summer, the faculty placed a poster on which we were to write our experiences. Someone wrote that she feels safer walking around Cairo than in her small town in the United States. I agree.
Interpersonal violence is rare in Cairo. This is attributable to ubiquitous soldiers and the authoritarianism of President Mubarak. So, Egypt is safe, but what a price to pay for safety! Some argue that we in the United States are safer than ever and the current administration has made its raison d’être our well-being. They want to guarantee our freedom by protecting us from dangers. Protecting national integrity has always been a primary role of government, but at what cost? The author who praised Cairo would probably never want soldiers on every street, yet I fear America is moving that way.
In some sense, we may never be truly free, just as one is not free to jump off a cliff and walk away without injuries. Despite the clamoring for freedom, what many really want is security. Freedom is frightening and dangerous. Freedom is the opportunity to face up to the consequences of your own actions. We must work for freedom and we must risk freedom. To be free to succeed, we must be free to fail. Freedom means that I can make poor choices, but it also means I must live with the consequences. We cannot be free to face the consequences of our own actions and still be completely secure.
Some people today, at both ends of the political spectrum, wish to curtail freedom in the name of security. Some want broad investigative powers to secure us against our enemies. At the other end, some want vast social programs to protect us from our consequences. Though I side with those who want to enforce social justice, I find fault at either extreme.
If we choose poorly, we will find ourselves running out of options. However, we can’t undo what we’ve done. Too many people in America wish to escape their consequences. They want the government to pay for their medicine when they have destroyed their health. They want welfare and abortions and “emotional damages.” They want bankruptcy court and solvency. They want to be bailed out. This is not to say that we must abandon those who need help. Nor should we abandon those who have trapped themselves. We must dedicate our efforts to those who suffer because of others. However, we should not be so secure that we are not free to take full responsibility for our choices. Individuals need to awake to a sense of their own responsibility toward themselves and others.
If we truly accept the dangers of freedom and are willing to face our own weaknesses, then we must be tolerant of others who are on a similar journey. Freedom requires that for me to be free, you must likewise be free. We must tolerate, within certain limits, the weaknesses of others. As Voltaire said, “I wholly disagree with what you say, but will fight to the death for your right to say it.” This means compromise and understanding.
Yet, we fear life without a safety net. Those who bear the standard of homeland security are expressing the fear of failure all of us share. However, in pursuing their goal, they will in reality curtail freedom. What they do not realize is that the tighter the grip, the more likely what they are trying to control will slip away from them. Look to Israel for an example, where the harder the government tries to suppress opposition, the more the oppressed rebel.
I suppose my friend in Cairo did not think all these thoughts, and if she did, she probably would prefer her small, but dangerous town, to the stifling safety of security. If we are free, we may stumble and fall. We may be hated and shunned by others, both individuals and by whole groups. This is the danger, for you cannot spread freedom and then control the consequences. We can and should try to ameliorate those feelings, but we should never suppress them. Let us, in America, therefore assume greater personal responsibility and accept the risks that freedom entails. Let us call upon our representatives and tell them that freedom is more important than security and personal growth more important than mere survival.
Jonathan Barney is a senior majoring in history. Comments can be sent to jfbarney@cc.usu.edu