Recently
a quote by a social critic from the early 1900’s was brought to my attention.
H.L. Mencken once wrote “The average man does not want to be free. He simply
wants to be safe.” I have thought a lot about this concept. Because I feel
freedom is something that is so innately important to every person everywhere.
But it is true, that at times we give up a measure of our freedom in order to
feel some measure of safety, no matter how small.
Just
think about it. Sometimes we do give up freedom in order to feel safe. This
happens all the time in modern America. We give up some freedom, the freedom of
speech, or the freedom to have all our money to ourselves, in order to gain
something from our government, such as government programs who help those who
can’t help themselves. In a more extreme
example, those who lived within Soviet Russia gave up a full measure of their
freedom, for the safety of the government providing them with pretty much
everything.
An
even more current example of this would be modern Egypt. 3 years ago when the Arab
spring set in all over the Middle East, Egypt overthrew its dictatorial regime
and put in place a more democratic government. Muhammad Morsi was the
democratically elected president of this country and they seemed to be moving
toward for democratization. However, throughout his presidency Morsi slowly
began to take some powers for himself, and the government was looking to turn
more dictatorial again. The Egyptian people did not like that and rose up once
again, throwing Morsi out of office and instead put in place a Militaristic
regime. This Militaristic regime is a little more restricting of freedom, but
they are the safe choice for the Egyptian people. So to some small extent,
people do tend to favor safety over freedom, and the Egyptians seem to feel
this is the best course of action.
But
for the large majority of the world, at least in my observations, people tend
to value freedom over their own safety.
The
United States has seen this most poignantly in the National Security Agency
scandal. It was revealed in just the last year that the NSA is gathering metadata
from cellphones and other wireless devices. Through this metadata they have the
ability to look at texts, and emails. The great majority of the collected data
isn’t even looked at. The NSA scans for target words that could show terrorist
activities. Through this method the NSA has been able to stop over 50 terrorist
attacks, that we know of. But the American people are very much opposed to
this. Although it leads to their safety, they don’t really care, they want
their freedom. Many say this violates their fourth amendment rights, those of
safety from unwarranted searches and seizures. So in the case of so many Americans,
they value their sense of freedom far above the safety that could be afforded
them.
On
a global basis there are other things going on that show people value freedom
over safety. In Thailand there are major protests going on right now.
Opposition forces have all but stalled the capital of Bangkok. They’ve halted
government workings, and the streets of Bangkok are quiet. The Prime Minster,
Yingluck Shinawatra, had to issue a state of emergency for the city just so
they could get protestors off the streets. What is at the root of this?
Yingluck’s older brother Thaksin, who served as Prime Minister previously. They
do not approve of him, or his ways of running the country, and although they
have driven him out, they want every last vestige of his legacy gone. That
includes Yingluck, and she’s not backing down. These men and women are putting
their safety on the line to fight for their freedom.
Ukraine
is in a similar situation. There are protesting their government as well. Their
prime Minister has also fled, although he still claims to be prime Minister of
the country. Russia stands on the sidelines like a cat ready to pounce upon the
poor country. All these people want is freedom to live their lives without too
much government intrusion. The death toll is approaching 100 people, and the
main city center of Kiev is in ruins. These people have thrown aside their
safety for something they feel is more important, Freedom.
So
is H.L. Mencken correct? Does the average man want to be safe more than he
wants to be free? Who is this average man of which he speaks? There is no
average man, unless he makes himself average by lack of education or because he
does not try anything new. Every man is unique and every man thinks
differently. We are unique and different human beings. We do not live to be the
same or average. Average is a nebulous term, one that does not mean what we
think it means when extended to everyone. No one is ordinary, no one is average.
We simply think we are.
To
some extent Mr. Mencken may be correct. In today’s society there may be a few
that favor safety over freedom. However, the vast majority seem to value their
freedom over their own safety.
In
Philadelphia there is a square called Washington square, a monument that is
place in the center of that square says this: “Freedom is a light for which
many men have died in darkness.” How true this is though. So many men and women
worldwide have given up their safety and even their lives simply so they themselves
or their posterity can be free. Safety is one of the basics of Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs, but Maslow may not have accounted for the need for freedom
in his pyramid. Because for many Freedom comes before personal safety.
Here
in America we sometimes don’t realize this because we do live such blessed
lives. Many of us don’t have to worry about where the next meal will come from.
We don’t have to worry that the next time we step outside our front doors we
will be caught in the crossfire of two opposing forces. We have freedom and
safety in nearly equal measures. But for those outside of those countries we
might label “First World” They do have to worry about those things. For these
individuals often freedom ranks above safety.
Freedom
to those individuals is worth fighting for. It’s worth dying for. It’s worth
the pain, and the anguish. Freedom is worth it all, because in the end what
else really matters? The fight for freedom has existed since the beginning of
time. It’s something people cherish, and work for.
It’s
something worth fighting for.
