[Gllug] Editors

[Tom Gilbert]

* Mike Brodbelt (mike at coruscant.demon.co.uk) wrote:
> Living in a free society requires responsibility from citizens - a
> willingness to accept the consequences of their actions, and to accept
> that it is their duty to discharge their own responsibilities, and not
> the duty of society to nanny those who are unwilling or unable to take
> responsibility for their own actions. 
> 
> If you want your children to be safe, then it is your job as a parent to
> monitor their environment, and protect them from harm. It is not your
> place to suggest that the rest of the society you live in should
> sacrifice freedoms so that you don't have to bother putting in the
> effort to look after your kids properly. The same goes for censorship,
> and all the other "special cases". As Jefferson(?) said, the price of
> freedom is eternal vigilance. If you are not happy with that, find a
> dictatorship where the ruling caste has an ideology that matches your
> own, and enjoy....

Your argument can also be taken to an extreme. After all, a totally free
society is one where you are truly free to do what you want. E.g. blow
someone's head off because their loud hawiian shirt offends you, or
steal someone's car because it looks nice or rape someone because they
look nice. I would not want to live in such a society and I strongly
believe that giving away some _small_ amount of personal freedom is
justified when the benefit is safety, security and peace of mind.

But it's pointless arguing, you feel what you feel :)

Tom.
-- 
   .^.    .-------------------------------------------------------.
   /V\    | Tom Gilbert, London, England | http://linuxbrit.co.uk |
 /(   )\  | Open Source/UNIX consultant  | tom at linuxbrit.co.uk    |
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