Can we trade freedom for security?
#264
My Dear Friend of Democracy,
I recently discussed the war in Ukraine with a friend of my son.
This smart, friendly and politically interested young person is against supplying weapons to the Eastern European country to defend itself against the invasion war of Russia. He believes that this would only prolong the war, and more people would die.
I asked him what he would think if he were Ukrainian himself. Whether he wouldn't be happy if his country were supported by other states in its fight for self-determination and freedom.
The young man answered something that I have thought about since then: He said that he would rather live safely in an oppressive state than fight for freedom in a democracy and risk his life.
What do you think about this?
I was astonished about the answer, and, to be honest, even disappointed. How can a young person live without ideals? Prefer a life of timidity, silence, and suppression of his opinions to one of fighting for freedom and democracy?
When I considered the answer a second time, I realised that it was actually a pretty understandable way of thinking. Without life, everything is nothing. Better to have a roof over your head and be alive than to be free and dead on the field of honour.
I realised that our debate was, at heart, about an old topic: freedom versus security.
If my young friend had to choose, he would choose security over freedom.
Understandable, right?
Maybe not.
Maybe the question is not about "security OR freedom". Because without freedom there can be no security, at least in the long run.
What do I mean by that?
At heart, freedom means following your wishes. Being able to move wherever you want. Being able to say what you want. Taking up a job that you want. Things like that. Freedom also means that those who value security can choose it. Such people might not become globetrotters but build their own homes. Or become civil servants. Or whatever. There are many ways to lead a reasonably secure life.
But here is the point: If you choose security and you have to give up freedom, then you put your fate in other hands. Into the hands of authoritarian leaders.
What if their security is their primary concern? When they think their security is at risk? When those in power feel that it is time to fight for their security? Then, the people will be deprived of their security. Because they will have to risk their lives to secure the lives of the oppressor. They will then have to go to war and possibly die there. Like Russian men in Ukraine.
So, whoever gives up freedom to gain security will ultimately lose everything.
So why do people choose security over freedom anyway?
Because the loss of freedom will only be experienced in the future, the need for security on the other hand is met in the present. The short run dominates the long run.
That is why so many people choose supposed security over freedom. That is why the freedom movement in Georgia is having such a hard time against the pro-Russian regime. That is why my young friend wants a quick end to the war, even if people then have to live under Putin's rule.
But this view is short-sighted.
✊ Instead, we should all support the pursuit of freedom. Even those who strive for security. Because only those who are free have the chance of a secure life.
See you in Democracy,
Johannes
📸 Žabljak, Montenegro / 26 July 2024
Your argument is solid.
Yet I believe there is another aspect to be considered: It is not easy to appreciate the value of freedom if you have not experienced the absence of it. This young man, probably like most of us, has never lived in a system of "unfreedom".
If I could add a picture I would add a photo of tree roots that break through concrete they have been covered with.
My question would be: "Why do you think that, I believe without exception, every unfree system has to deal with individuals, who try to break the chains? Breaking the chains comes in all forms, from secret discussions circles all the way up to open revolution, going to war or, as in our German case, trying to jump the wall (Republikflucht) at risk of being shot.
Thank you, Johannes.
The young man is alas fairly typical of many Germans. I have met many like him myself. The uncomfortable truth is that Germans do not (perhaps cannot) appreciate freedom because they have never had to fight for it nor fully secure it themselves. Sure, Germans enjoy the fruits of freedom but they are used to the historical reality that others have done the bloodletting on their behalf.
It is time for the Germans to wake up to the fact that 400'000 mostly young American men gave their lives between the beaches of Normandy and the Elbe River so that millions of Germans could live in freedom -- and not really appreciate it, philosophizing instead about "pacifism" and how preferable it would be to live under a dictatorship (again). Well, well. Germans who think like that have a scary fondness for authoritarian rule whether it be of the current form seen in Russia and Belarus or for of the kind of their own lurid past -- which exposes them to the charge that they have not ever really left their darkest period of their history behind.
Please tell the young man that there would be no peace nor security under authoritarian rule and that very likely he would be called to arms whether he liked it or not in the name of some half baked ideology and it would not be to fight for freedom but the subjugation of yet other people. Authoritarian regimes are by their very nature imperialistic and care not one whit about freedom, be it individual or collective in nature. The young man is a fool; he would not attain peace and security at the expenxe of freedom as these qualities would be contingent on one another and require both vigilence and often sacrifice to keep up. Look, my wife grew up in East Germany, not too far from a political prison where women were killed for opposing the regime. They were killed in the most cruel manner (with a man named V.V. Putin in Dresden in charge of state sponsored cruelty). To accept their sacrifice as inevitable while shirking your own responsibility is not only cynical but cowardly.
Is that what many Germans have become? An undisciplined mob of cowards that think nothing of sacrificing others while taking their own freedom for granted? Well, granted by whom?
I know that Weidel and Wagenknecht would just as soon deliver the entire German nation (and possibly the rest of Europe) at the feet of the aforementioned dictator. The two W's are mealy mouthed Pied Pipers of the worst kind, feigning patriotism and idle talk of peace while banking on what has become widespread German angst and, worse, inertia to the point where Germans will give themselves up in bondage again.
I have nothing but loathing for the Germans, especially the intellectual elite, who insist on enjoying the benefits of human rights they have not earned while deprecating the same privilges as a more moral pittance subject to the most despicable compromise. Pfui! Pfui! Pfui!