Accountability+Self Responsibilty= Individual Liberties pt 1

Today I awoke and my thoughts turned towards something that has been upon my mind as of late, the slow glacial movement towards restrictions upon individual liberties. Before you rise up in protest, I am not touting any specific ideologies or blowing "dog whistles." I mean to discuss what I see as a growing willingness to trade away the freedoms I fought to defend for a false sense of security. We should first visit the ideals that gave birth to our unique system and beliefs, the enlightenment.

We owe much of our philosophical reasoning as a nation to the works of a collective group of thinkers in 17th century Europe. At this time we began to see the rise of the ideals that "man" or humanity was capable of self determination and this was our greatest claim to divinity.  We have been inculcated since our birth as a nation that the rights of the individual are paramount. Yet we allow this to be restricted, the natural question to ask is why? If we are based upon the foundation of the individual is the central figure in our worldview.

There is always a conflict between the individual and the larger society from which we come. The needs of many can and sometimes do supersede the natural rights of the individual. But we draw our greatest strength as a people from those rights of the individual.  It was durning  the 11 year period of the Articles of Confederation and the ratification of the United States Constiution in 1789 . Yet the document was not ratified until the Bill of Rights was penned and thus a physical manifestation of the rights of the individual. Thus strengthening those precious rights of the individual against the "Tyranny of the Majority" as highlighted in the Federalist Papers.
 (See http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm for more information)

The citizens of the United States have long benefited from this emphasis upon the rights of the individual. The bill of rights is a lynch pin of those individual liberties, without them we would be at the mercies of a strong central government and the whims of a majority. Before you say well doesn't the larger group deserve more protection, I ask you to think of something. If we were to remove all aspects of the rights of the individual. We then lose those protections that prevent domination and subjugation of the minorities of any category.

The loss of those protections would permit and signal destruction of our beloved nation. Before we permit any loss or restrictions to be placed upon our individual rights. Please think for yourselves of what you are truly giving away...because the minority that will be oppressed could be you and your family.