Who is the biggest threat to your liberty?

[Anarchon]

What is the biggest threat to your liberty? Please feel free to elaborate why below, particularly if you chose "other."

 

[Hawkeye10]

All of the idiots who line up to give freedom away, usually for shoddy promises of security but also for the dream of UTOPIA.

 

[Brochacholomigo]

Economics. Everything else that threatens my liberty, be it bad actors on the international scene or restless millennials throwing temper tantrums, is the result of stagnating wages and resources pooling at the top. Among many other things related to money, of course.

 

[PoS]

The gubmint. The more laws they put out, the more power they get.

 

[PleasantValley]

OTHER:

The biggest threat to my liberty is my own personal behavior.
If I break laws, they can take away my liberty.

None of those other choices have every affected my liberty in any way.

 

[PeteEU]

Religion.. is and always has been the biggest threat.

Religion is used by almost all the other possible answers on the list, as an excuse to gain and maintain power in some way.

1) Most terrorists use religion in one form or another to justify their acts.
2) Economics.. yes even here religion has its fingers in. One could claim that capitalism is a religion in itself and is abused like mad.
3) Identity politics and so on.. well duh. This is solely based on religious dogma.
4) The Government.. depends on the country and government.. but it is used by religion to promote its agenda. In Ireland, government was used for centuries to promote anti-abortion views for example.
5) The Deep State..right wing fantasy so not worth the argument.
6) Conservatives.. American conservatism has been linked with religion for centuries... which is ironic since quite a few of their supposedly basic beliefs are the opposite of what religion is about but also what they preach.
7) Liberals.. well define liberals first.
8) State Actors... all those on the list use religion of some sort to keep the masses in check.

 

[1751Texan]

Other> None.

None should have been an option.

None of those actors is a real threat to my liberty.

 

[HK.227]

What is the biggest threat to your liberty?

Well intentioned naivety.

 

[Cameron]

Those people who are paid for divisive messaging. They exist in both parties, in the media, in foreign countries, and in the presidency.

 

[Abbazorkzog]

Uh... what about corporations?

 

[Kal'Stang]

Religion.. is and always has been the biggest threat.

Religion is used by almost all the other possible answers on the list, as an excuse to gain and maintain power in some way.

1) Most terrorists use religion in one form or another to justify their acts.
2) Economics.. yes even here religion has its fingers in. One could claim that capitalism is a religion in itself and is abused like mad.
3) Identity politics and so on.. well duh. This is solely based on religious dogma.
4) The Government.. depends on the country and government.. but it is used by religion to promote its agenda. In Ireland, government was used for centuries to promote anti-abortion views for example.
5) The Deep State..right wing fantasy so not worth the argument.
6) Conservatives.. American conservatism has been linked with religion for centuries... which is ironic since quite a few of their supposedly basic beliefs are the opposite of what religion is about but also what they preach.
7) Liberals.. well define liberals first.
8) State Actors... all those on the list use religion of some sort to keep the masses in check.

Just because a lot of terrorists use religion as an excuse does not mean that religion is the actual motive.

No, economics is NOT a religion. That's just you trying to justify your bigotry against religion.

Identity politics = religious dogma? Seriously? :lamo

I'll agree that government is certainly a threat to our Rights. And yes, religious folks use it whenever/however they can. But so does any other interest group out there.

Funny how you are so sure of what Conservatives are linked to but for liberals you equivocate asking for it to be defined.

As for State Actors: same as what I said above about government.

As for the poll....I'll choose "other". It is not any one specific thing listed in the poll options. Though government would come closest. The real worry comes from people en mass. Tyranny of the majority is not just a saying, but a very real and dangerous possibility. Doesn't matter what group, how that group thinks or anything else. Any group that gets a big enough majority can take away peoples Rights. Be it through legislation or war or any other possible way. Get enough people together and all thinking the same thing and there could be trouble. Just ask any minority people that have been conquered over the last 10,000 years or so that mankind has been around.

 

[wellwisher]

How about big government, since it is the only entity that has the power to legally take away liberties. All the rest cannot legislate and make changes to the law, that can be used to take away liberties. The rest can create an environment, where people take away each others liberties. However, this is not permanent or cast into stone.

Fake news and political leaders can induce people to harass others while they have dinner. This takes way liberties. This is not permanent but a fad. But if these same people get into power and use that power to change the law, it can become permanent. We can protect liberties by making the government smaller.

 

[TheParser]

The government, of course.

It is the only actor that can pass laws.

Throughout history, governments have passed laws that have destroyed the lives of millions of harmless people.

I believe that there is a Spanish saying that goes something like this: "Everything for our friends; the law for our enemies."

 

[OrphanSlug]

The government always has been and always will be the biggest threat to liberty.

On a long enough timeline just about every government model ends with people facing little liberty and even less options. More often than not it becomes a matter of centralization of power, wealth, and influence that tends to marginalize an increasing number of those without any of the three. Governments that tend to lean towards freedoms just extend the timeline outward slightly, but the core of governance is still control and what you see is ideology becoming the means to control. In the end control is adversarial to liberty.

 

[jonny5]

What is the biggest threat to your liberty? Please feel free to elaborate why below, particularly if you chose "other."

The general public is the biggest threat. They choose to be lazy, ignorant, apathetic, self absorbed and obsessed with shallow culture. This results in dependence on govt and election of corrupt politicians who enable them, which has to be paid for with my liberty.

 

[jonny5]

Uh... what about corporations?

Like the ones who built the internet, cars, live saving drugs, and all manner of entertainment? What liberty we have left is because of corporations (peoeple) creating ways to get around limitations.

 

[PeteEU]

Just because a lot of terrorists use religion as an excuse does not mean that religion is the actual motive.

Well.. excuse or motive... these terrorists use religious text and their interpretation of said religious text as an excuse/motive.

No, economics is NOT a religion. That's just you trying to justify your bigotry against religion.

For some it is..

Identity politics = religious dogma? Seriously? :lamo

Most certainly. Religious dogma bans homosexuality which is at the core of identity politics.

I'll agree that government is certainly a threat to our Rights. And yes, religious folks use it whenever/however they can. But so does any other interest group out there.

There would be no rights without government. Take places without government.. what rights do the average man (let alone woman) have? None.

Funny how you are so sure of what Conservatives are linked to but for liberals you equivocate asking for it to be defined.

I am very sure of the current crop of GOP conservatives.. why? It is the policies they push and the acts of discrimination and hatred they promote. The current GOP has nothing to do with rights.. only rights for themselves. They are the party of gay bashing, religious dogma and racism... even though they say they are against it. Actions speak louder than words.

 

[Renae]

What is the biggest threat to your liberty? Please feel free to elaborate why below, particularly if you chose "other."

Government will always be the biggest threat.

 

[Kreton]

Donald Trump.

I chose not to vote for government since at this time government is the only check we have against stopping him.

 

[<alt>doxygen]

All of the above (except the deep state - that's a strawman). What is the "biggest" at a given moment probably tracks pretty closely with whatever has the most power.

 

[Spartacus FPV]

People opposed to either the 1st of 2nd Amendments to the Constitution.

 

[beancounter]

Religion - simply because it can and is used to control peoples behaviors.

And if your behaviors are controlled, then you don't have liberty.

 

[Phys251]

What is the biggest threat to your liberty? Please feel free to elaborate why below, particularly if you chose "other."

Reactionaries, who are fueled by right-wing propaganda.

 

[Anarchon]

There would be no rights without government. Take places without government.. what rights do the average man (let alone woman) have? None.

Do you gulp the Kool-Aid in a funnel, or just have it fed intravenously? Government is force. They do not create what you perceive as rights. They can only diminish them. Also, there are no populated places left on Earth without government. People love to mention Somalia as an example of a place with no government. This is simply not true. Somalia has both "official" governments and government via tribal warlords. And, it is precisely the failures of government that are responsible for the state it is in.

 

[Kal'Stang]

Well.. excuse or motive... these terrorists use religious text and their interpretation of said religious text as an excuse/motive.

While others do not in the same religion. Put the blame where it belongs, on terrorists.

For some it is..

Only for a Ferengi.

Most certainly. Religious dogma bans homosexuality which is at the core of identity politics.

You should learn what identity politics is. Identity politics is a movement that started around the 1960's-70's. For example: Feminism is an identity politic. It is about minorities that are oppressed fighting about against that oppression.

Identity Politics

The laden phrase “identity politics” has come to signify a wide range of political activity and theorizing founded in the shared experiences of injustice of members of certain social groups. Rather than organizing solely around belief systems, programmatic manifestos, or party affiliation, identity political formations typically aim to secure the political freedom of a specific constituency marginalized within its larger context. Members of that constituency assert or reclaim ways of understanding their distinctiveness that challenge dominant oppressive characterizations, with the goal of greater self-determination.

There would be no rights without government. Take places without government.. what rights do the average man (let alone woman) have? None.

Government is a two edged sword. You are right, but so is this statement: with government there is oppression.

I am very sure of the current crop of GOP conservatives.. why? It is the policies they push and the acts of discrimination and hatred they promote. The current GOP has nothing to do with rights.. only rights for themselves. They are the party of gay bashing, religious dogma and racism... even though they say they are against it. Actions speak louder than words.

"Current crop"? You've thought this way about conservatives ever since 2009 from what I have seen. And no doubt long before you ever came here.