While the government may be charged with protecting certain individual rights, there is no escaping the fact that an individual who agrees to any democratic majoritarian system is to some extent giving up their individual freedoms. In other words, they accept the reality that they might not always be on the majority side of an argument and therefore have to abide by a law that restricts their individual liberty.
The examples I used included the restrictions on the use of property in a residential area and the restrictions on access to medical service in a universal health care system. In the former, an individual would not be allowed to use the property for industrial purposes. In the latter, an individual could be prohibited from "jumping the queue" because of their ability to pay for a particular medical procedure. In both cases, freedom of choice is restricted because a larger social good or responsibility has been deemed to take precedence over the individual right.
Here's another example from American headlines... it's the case of "It's My Lawnmower and I Can Shoot it If I Want To"...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,391522,00.html
The classic struggle between rights and responsibilities is not limited to the labor that gives birth to a new government. Rather, it endures in an unremitting set of challenges fermenting the public discourse that ultimately shapes the character of the nation. And in that discourse, Lady Liberty has been sculpted in an image which consistently gives shelter to individual rights.
Read the Mayflower Compact. Note how the Pilgrims specifically recognize their need to "promise all due Submission and Obedience..." in abiding by the laws created for the good of the colony. The November 11, 1620 document cements America's preference for a government based on the consent of the governed.
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/amerdoc/mayflower.htm
We also started listening to presentations today from the Presidential Primer exercise. The first question discussed was:
How is the presidency of the United States different in responsibility and jurisdiction than the job of prime minister?
In the discussion of this answer, we considered the way a bill becomes a law in Canada vs. the United States.
The following is a chart that helps describe how a bill becomes a law in the U.S.
The following is a chart that describes how a bill becomes law in Canada.
http://www.filibustercartoons.com/law.gif
Friday will see us carry on with presentations....
Check out the new link to the Smithsonian web site about the Star Spangled Banner. Go to the hyperlink on the left hand side of the page entitled,"You Solve the Mystery". Choose a question and, using the primary sources provided, try to explain some of the mysteries surrounding the flag. After you decide what you think, take a look at what Smithsonian historians discovered after examining the same primary sources.
