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I'm not sure that follows from the circumstances. There are plenty of instances of the government restricting individual freedoms for the safety of others. Exam

I'm not sure that follows from the circumstances. There are plenty of instances of the government restricting individual freedoms for the safety of others. Examples include everything from speed limits to prohibitions against developing my own nuclear weapons. The balancing test is which freedoms for what degree of protection. We collectively make that determination through a system of government.

aww_dang 6y ago
It depends upon the premise which you extrapolate from. You could start with the premise of natural rights as described in the founding documents. Alternatively you could proceed from a realpolitik perspective of what has been possible for the US gov historically and in the present. The government does many things and without exception these actions are construed as being for the public good. Despite this, we have witnessed countless abuses of authority. Simply observing that an action is possible for government or that a precedent exists for a particular government action, is not the same as rationalizing it as just. Of course there's still room for moderation and pragmatism. It would be impossible to exist in the real world without some measure of pragmatism, but we should also strive for our ideals.