Pro or cons of personal freedom such as public smoking or talking on Essay

Pro or cons of personal freedom such as public smoking or talking on the phone while drving - Essay Example In the U.S., laws preventing gambling and gay marriage fall into this category as well. There is, of course, a line drawn within this opinion regarding laws that include children. Consensual adults, however, should be free to choose how to live their lives as they please if it does not interfere with the personal welfare or property of others. Denying personal freedom is often justified and accepted as necessary but in the greater scope of human endeavour the acceptance of these ‘no harm’ laws leads the public to accept other such laws which slowly but steadily lead to further reductions of free will decisions by free peoples. The country was founded by people who believed this concept and wrote the Constitution to forever protect personal freedoms. This discussion will examine the history of how the concept of guaranteed personal freedoms became an American invention and offers a constitutional analysis of two hotly debated issues, euthanasia and abortion. To what extent personal freedom should be permitted is not the issue. Personal freedoms are an American birthright that is slowly but surely eroding over time. Whether or not the American people have the courage to protect and restore these freedoms is the real issue. The Founding Fathers displayed courage when they broke away from a tyrannical, oppressive King of England who ruled over the most powerful military at that time to establish a country where personal autonomy was considered the most precious commodity in a society. The seeds of the Founders’ concept of law and freedom emanated from Britain. The Constitution was inspired by the Magna Charta and British philosopher John Locke helped to lay the foundation for the Founders’ deep belief in personal freedoms. Locke defined each individual as having the right to â€Å"life, liberty and estate† (Locke, 1960 p. 448). These words have an almost identical mirror in the beginning paragraphs of the

Call of the Wild Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Call of the Wild - Essay Example Curly was the victim who was set upon by the rest of the pack when she could not get up on her feet. Buck learned one of the most valuable lessons in his life which the narrator records as; ‘The scene often came back to Buck to trouble him in his sleep. So that was the way. No fair play. Once down, that was the end of you. Well, he would see to it that he never went down.’ (London 13). This is an allegory on Social Darwinism. Buck’s survival depends on himself as his environment practices a system of laissez faire. He transforms to survive. Buck learns to steal food to compensate for his meager rations. The narration says; ‘ It marked his adaptability, his capacity to adjust himself to changing conditions, the lack of which would have meant swift and terrible death. It marked, further, the decay or going to pieces of his moral nature, a vain thing and a handicap in the ruthless struggle for existence.’(London 16). Buck steals food from his species and man alike. It is his competition for survival. When Buck steals food from his fellow compatriots, he is competing within his society of dogs. Buck competes with the different society of man too. This illustrates Social Darwinism. Buck retains his inherent genes which are unchanged with the passage of timeless generations. This is evidence that London supports neo-Darwinism. The narration says; ‘They (the ancestors) quickened the old life within him, and the old tricks which they had stamped into the heredity of the breed were his tricks.’ (London 17). However, London contradicts himself when he writes that; ‘His (Buck’s) newborn cunning gave him poise and control.’(London 17). Buck’s newborn cunning has evolved by the process of Social Darwinism in responses to his social environment. Buck shows his hereditary traits in the hunt for the snowshoe rabbit. The narration says; ‘All that stirring of old instincts which at stated periods drives men out from the