The Devil's Dichotomy
Courtesy of David Brin, the Devil's Dichotomy is the idea that we have to choose between security and freedom. This false choice gets perpetrated by many, this time by EU President Charles Clarke from Britian who is claiming that EU citizens have to give up civil liberties to to gain security.
What Clarke is talking about is not freedom, but privacy. Unfortunately in the recent past, advocacy groups have tried to equate the two but as I've argued, one can have limited privacy while enjoying complete freedom. Clarke should be reassuring people that they can have both freedom and security even if that means a little less privacy in public interactions, a trend that would have occurred with or without the terrorist threat.
What Clarke is talking about is not freedom, but privacy. Unfortunately in the recent past, advocacy groups have tried to equate the two but as I've argued, one can have limited privacy while enjoying complete freedom. Clarke should be reassuring people that they can have both freedom and security even if that means a little less privacy in public interactions, a trend that would have occurred with or without the terrorist threat.
Comments