OPINION:
Andrew Napolitano’s championing of freedom over security is mostly proper and admirable (“All government domestic spying is a violation of personal freedom,” Web, Feb. 2). Freedom is an inalienable right for everyone. But it always has consequences, and nature’s design does not allow us the freedom to avoid those consequences when we abuse it.
When our freedoms affect the health, wealth or survival of other people or things we all depend on, individuals will not always act wisely, logically or peacefully. Thus, we need a just and effective government to resolve tensions without violence. But what if one party feels their grievance has not been adjudicated? I’m certain the former judge would know the answer to this.
However, he may have forgotten the other primary and primal human right: our desire to survive and thrive. Most animals will do anything to protect their offspring. Just the fear of losing a child is the most terrifying of all human experiences. Most parents would sacrifice their own life for their child.
Given the lack of justice and accountability in the Constitution for the collateral damage of innocent lives anywhere, we should not be surprised when we experience violent blowback. Given the exponential growth and power of technology — and its unstoppable capacity for mass murder anywhere/anytime — our Constitution’s Fourth Amendment has become a suicide clause.
Privacy is not an inalienable human right. We certainly want it, but it protects those who undermine our national security, and thus our freedoms. It enables corruption of our economy (10% of our GDP is stashed in offshore accounts) and our government (we don’t know the number of classified documents that protect government errors instead of us and our rights). These privacies undermine our trust in government, setting the stage for increasing domestic and international chaos.
Until “We the People” amend the Constitution to protect every inalienable right of everyone sharing this planet with us, we will increasingly lose our freedoms and our security.
Thomas Paine, in his pamphlet “Common Sense,” summarized that the only legitimate purpose of government is to protect the “freedom and security” of people. Swearing an oath to only protect the U.S. Constitution as it is written makes it a national suicide pact.
CHUCK WOOLERY
Rockville, Md.
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