Stossel to present solution to maintain American freedom

The American credo is more than just life. It is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Thus, it is hard to say whether Islamic terrorism or the Transportation Safety Administration is more dangerous to American freedom in the long run.

Undoubtedly, in the short run, extremists who are ready to kill and die for their cause pose a threat, but the TSA will likely live on to limit our freedom long after the terrorists are terminated.

Libertarian guru John Stossel is giving a talk called “Freedom and Its Enemies” at Syracuse University on Monday, Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. For freedom lovers, Grant Auditorium on that night is the ideal destination.

To be sure, without life, one can have neither liberty nor engage in the pursuit of happiness because he or she is dead. However, individuals living with reduced liberty and a limited right to make choices in their own interests suffer a lower quality of life, and if enough liberty is taken from individuals, life becomes suffering.

The TSA is just one example of the liberty-for-security trade that members of both political parties often expect Americans to make. Surrender some more of your liberties, and we will keep you alive.

Stossel has the solution: Americans should reject the trade off.

The statists among Republicans, with the PATRIOT Act, want government agents to hear Americans’ phone calls and see what Americans read. The statists among Democrats, with various central planning schemes, want government bureaucrats to make more of Americans’ choices. Edward Snowden and Obamacare revealed that the current administration is a horrible mixture of both.

Stossel will likely assert that Americans should take none of it from either party, meaning his message is for Democrats and Republicans. He will likely argue that Americans can have their liberty back without risking their lives and more importantly, that increasing liberty improves life.

During a speech, Senator Rand Paul assumed the TSA-full-body-scanner stance. With his hands in the air and legs apart, he asked, “Is this the pose of a free man?” Stossel would say absolutely not.

Michael C. Stikkel
Senior Computer Engineering Major and MBA Candidate in Martin J. Whitman School of Management