Stances & Statements
FREEDOM / RIGHTS - Part 1
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Democracy
Democracy can operate on a spectrum from highly functional to highly dysfunctional. I believe the key to a successful democracy is to have an educated populace, and a form of meritocracy integrated into the system so that representatives of the people are qualified based on merit and not because of superficial reasons. A potential threat to democracy is that of domestic espionage, as seen in many nations, with an example being the CIA in the United States. One can imagine that secretive interference in the democratic system against the interest of the collective citizens undermines the whole notion of democracy, preventing a true democracy from existing.
Privacy
The USF supports an individual's right to privacy. Privacy is something that everyone wants to some degree. In some cultures, privacy is considered more important such as in western culture. People are curious in nature and want to know about the people around them. That is understandable, but it’s important to respect people's wishes in regard to privacy. Even if you are alright with not having any privacy, others might feel differently. The main concern is that corporations get access to personal identifying data and governments utilize invasive spying and collection of vast amounts of data related primarily to phone use, personal computers, personal relationships, and online activity. There are legitimate reasons to know what people within a society are doing, but this power can and has been abused. Privacy is a freedom that can be misused from either side, from the individual hiding illegal activity to the government committing unethical acts either by actively skirting the law or directly breaking the law.
Law
Law has many definitions. It’s the reason we have the level of society we have today. When done properly law can bring order and stability. Law is meant to provide rules for everyone within a given society. When people don’t follow the law (reasonable common-sense laws), and there are no consequences, it emboldens them to continue disobeying the rules of law; they feel that the law does not matter, and that is a problem. Another issue is when people don’t respect the law due to the law itself being flawed. We have witnessed in history and at present that a law can be made about anything, even when it is grossly ignorant or the result of hate. For example, laws that prevent a woman from having an abortion, or segregation laws that made it illegal for a black person to use a “white only” restroom.
Justice System
The Justice System ranges from country to country and state to state. The main want of the general population of any justice system is simply that justice is being served. An individual having a sense of justice being served varies from culture to culture, and as a result is inherently subjective. An individual might feel that justice was served when someone was stoned to death for adultery. However, another person might feel a great injustice was committed as a reaction to the same event. Regardless of how justice is viewed, without justice we would have anarchy. Law and order are key to societal stability and overall success. What needs to happen in the justice system is a greater knowledge of our world and human beings to better provide a more objective form of universal justice on a global level, as well as making sure when people commit crimes they don’t get away without consequence. This scenario is all too common and creates a lack of confidence in the system.