Is Freedom More Important Than Safety?
In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue and crash-landed on the shores of an unknown and untamed continent.
Almost immediately, settlers from all around the globe took to the sea. They searched not only for unconquered territory and new economic opportunities, but to escape from oppressive taxes, religious restrictions, and their corrupt governments.
By traveling to wild America, pioneers were asking one of the most important questions that anyone can ever face: is freedom more important than safety?
Fast forward to present day, and Americans have a small fraction of the freedom their adventurous ancestors once had.
The problems people faced back then aren’t so different from the problems we face today. The same question that’s been asked for hundreds of years is the same question I’ll address in this article: is freedom more important than safety?
Define “Safety”
If you’re like most Americans, you wake up on a Monday morning and sleepily drive to work, sipping on your thermos full of coffee as you rub the sleep from your eyes. You don’t always realize it, but you’re taking a risk. Every time you get in your car, you run the risk of getting into an accident.
After work, you might go to the gym or play in a sports league, which also adds risk. Not only are you driving on the road longer, but there’s a risk you injure yourself.
When you eat at a restaurant, you don’t see exactly how your food is prepared or cooked. You take a risk eating food that may not have been properly prepared in a sanitized kitchen.
The CDC estimates that 3,000 people die from foodborne illnesses every year. Over 38,000 people die from car accidents in the US every year.
If you get down to it, there’s no such thing as “safety,” only “risk management.”
But there’s one big difference.
People who live freely don’t just know this- they lovingly embrace it. They take the opportunity to live the only life they have, while they have it.
When you take responsibility for your risky choices, whether or not they actually pay off, you gain a sense of control over your life.
You become responsible for your own happiness. You become human again.
Fearlessly pursuing what you love most about life is what gives you purpose.
Where Does “Safety” Come From?
People who prefer safety over liberty must ask themselves two essential questions:
Who gives you safety?
How far does safety go?
As of now, the government fills the position of “protector of society.” They enforce laws, licenses, registrations and regulations in the name of safety.
To provide “safety” they’ve infiltrated every aspect of your life, and they know more about you than you do!
But why stop there? If some safety is good, surely more safety is better, right?
If you prefer safety over freedom, then you’d agree it’s essential to give up your personal privacy for the common good. After all, it’s the only way the government, as protectors, can have a crystal-clear view of everything going on in order to protect you best. This includes, but is not limited to your banking information, physical location, political beliefs, any property you own, and your personal health information.
Safety in Australia at an All-Time High
When everything you do is monitored, and when you can’t freely move around or shop for essential items you need, where do you draw the line between safety and control?
The events going on in Australia are a prime example of the government making its population as safe as possible, namely from a spicy cold named COVID.
Curfews are in place, lockdowns are enforced, and privacy is no more.
If you’re caught outdoors during stay-at-home orders, you’ll be fined $3,700 on the spot.
As you may have guessed, this does not make some people happy. Protests are erupting over vaccine mandates and lockdowns, but the government doesn’t care. They want everyone to “stay inside” and “stay safe.”
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Ben Franklin
Politicians Want to Keep You "Safe"
Some people view the government as a safety net or a comforting parent willing to help you out when things go wrong. Politicians accept this responsibility with open arms, because the world runs off of incentives. Politicians are incentivized (paid) to control people’s lives to gain more money and power.
When you don’t accept responsibility for the consequences of your actions, your quality of life declines. You blame everyone else for how your life turns out. Politicians take this as permission to control the things you do, the places you go, and things you can buy.
Politicians feed off this energy and use it to pass exploitative laws and regulations. When the government preaches “safety” they actually mean control over you, your actions, and your money.
The Cat is Out of the Bag
Rising taxes.
“Two weeks days to flatten the curve”
Mask mandates and vaccine passports.
Spending bills twice as big as the ones passed a year before.
The list goes on and on.
Politicians pass more and more laws on to you. They get let off on laws that they’re caught breaking.
Yet they want to know the transaction history of everyone’s bank account.
“Rules for thee, but not for me” they say to each other behind closed doors.
More cases of corruption are discovered every other week. You may not like to hear it, but the “conspiracies” of yesterday are the realities of today.
The gap between us and them is wider than ever before.
Whatever you think the solution may be, one thing is clear: what we have going on now is not the solution to our problems.
As the government continues to grow and restrict people’s liberties, it shrinks community values and quality of life with it. Government is simply not conducive to peaceful living.
“Anarchy is no guarantee that some people won't kill, injure, kidnap, defraud, or steal from others. Government is a guarantee that some will.”
Gustave de Molinari
Wrap Up
Safety is without a doubt a huge luxury we’ve all become accustomed to. Searching for safety and being safe is wired within our primitive brains. Otherwise, humans would have died out long ago.
But the truth is we all die eventually. Those who want safety and those who want freedom all end up in the same place at the end of the day.
That said, the biggest risk you could possibly take is living an unfulfilling life.
Life is supposed to be spent embracing freedom and pursuing happiness. Spreading love and making life easier for everyone.
Freedom to do what you want, however you want, as safely as you want to do it, is what brings you happiness. Freedom will provide the spark that ignites the burning fire in your heart. The fire that gives you the passion to live the way you were born to live.
(Sometimes this responsibility can be overwhelming. That’s why you need to do this.)
