Blog 15: Minority Report response

Minority Report is a movie that really challenges the idea of freedom and safety in society and which one should be top priority. I believe that society should worry about security above all because I rather know I’m safe even if it affects my freedom. In class we talked about the Patriot Act and I am 100% on board with it because I have nothing to hide and if it is going to keep me safe then that is fine with me. Especially in the world we live in today, safety should top priority because of how much fear we live in. After 9/11 the whole world changed and our freedom took a hit because of the threat of more attacks on our country. Reading our e-mails and listening to our phone conversations does sound extremely but if you have nothing to hide then why should one worry. If it is going possibly save lives then I agree with the policy. I understand how someone would argue that the price of security is too high because freedom is the basis of our country. However, this is a scary place right now and freedom should take a back seat right now if it benefits the country. Minority Report goes to the extreme to show the differences in safety and freedom. The retina scans and invading spiders can compare to the way that the government tap our phones and e-mails. The government is only listening for a “trigger” word and as long as you don’t say or write one of those words then your freedom is still there. In a very sensitive world, even joking about bombs or terrorists will get you in trouble. I agree with this because there is a point where a joke goes too far and will trigger the government to look into it. The idea that you can live in a world with complete freedom with or without the Patriot Act is just ridiculous. In the article “Free Will and Determinism in the World of Minority Report”, having free will is thought to require two things: alternate possibilities and self-control. The idea of free will could cause threat to free will. In the movie John Anderson was told he was going to kill Leo Crow. John still ends up holding up a gun to him debating to kill him or not. Even though he knew he was going to kill him, he still chose to be in the position to kill him. He had the chance to not kill him and he still put his freedom in danger. This shows that you can be safe with free will and still have your freedom in danger.