The NSA collects data on billions of phone calls and internet
communications per day. Are these surveillance programs legal? Do they
keep us safe? If not for the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, most
Americans would be unaware of the vast amounts of information their
government is secretly collecting, all in the name of national security.
But whether you believe leakers are heroes or traitors, an important
public conversation has finally begun, and we should ask ourselves: What
tradeoffs are we willing to make between security and privacy?
As
Benjamin Franklin might have asked, "Are we giving up essential liberty
to purchase temporary safety, and thus deserving of neither?"
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Thursday, November 21, 2013
IQ2US: The Constitutional Right To Bear Arms Has Outlived Its Usefulness
“A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be
infringed.” –2nd Amendment
Recent mass shooting tragedies have renewed the national debate over the 2nd Amendment. Gun ownership and homicide rates are higher in the U.S. than in any other developed nation, but gun violence has decreased over the last two decades even as gun ownership may be increasing. Over 200 years have passed since James Madison introduced the Bill of Rights, the country has changed, and so have its guns. Is the right to bear arms now at odds with the common good, or is it as necessary today as it was in 1789?
Recent mass shooting tragedies have renewed the national debate over the 2nd Amendment. Gun ownership and homicide rates are higher in the U.S. than in any other developed nation, but gun violence has decreased over the last two decades even as gun ownership may be increasing. Over 200 years have passed since James Madison introduced the Bill of Rights, the country has changed, and so have its guns. Is the right to bear arms now at odds with the common good, or is it as necessary today as it was in 1789?
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
IQ2US: Let Anyone Take A Job Anywhere
If we value a free market in goods and free movement of capital,
should we embrace the free movement of labor? Reciprocal treaties would
allow citizens of the U.S. and other countries to work legally across
borders. Would the elimination of barriers in the labor market depress
wages and flood the marketplace with workers? Or would the benefits of a
flexible labor supply be a boon to our economy, all while raising the
standard of living for anyone willing to work?
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