First Round Excerpts From 1998-99 Essay
Contest
The Role Of Personal Responsibility In
Balancing
Individual Liberty And The Common Good
Camden
Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
1st
2nd
3rd
"It
is evident that many feel the balance of individual rights and the welfare of
our communities should be the concern of the police and the court systems.
I do not agree with this ideal. It
is my opinion that the chosen few cannot decide what is in the best interest
of a large faction of people. Everyone
must work together to maintain the balance of rights.
We cannot allow our rights to be put into the hands of those who do not
even know who we are. The
communities must decide how to balance what is good for the community and for
the individual."
Jacqueline Denise Wheatley, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
"I
believe that every person plays a role in balancing individual liberty and the
common good. The common good
refers to what is best for a community as a whole.
It is the personal responsibility of each person to balance their
economic, educational and personal interests to promote the common good.
Each individual pursuing his or her own economic interest serves the
common good; this is due to the fact that each would be contributing to the
general prosperity."
Tiffany Rose Prater, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
"It
is not easy to balance individual rights with the common good.
There seems to be no easy way to guarantee such things as the rights to
freedom and property and the pursuit of happiness and provide for the common
good of the majority. Smokers
have the right to smoke, but nonsmokers may not want to be exposed to
secondhand smoke. People are
given the right to bear arms, but they murder with the guns that they carry.
Pornography can be easily obtained, but many parents do not want their
children to be exposed to it. There
seems to be no solution that will please everyone.
Today we must stand together to protect the interests of our
communities. We must focus on the
issues that are important to us. We
should care for our fellow citizens' well-being and respect their beliefs.
If we would do this, then balancing individual liberty and the common
good would not be so difficult. Even
the smallest actions we make can make a difference in the lives of others.
We must be responsible for ourselves.
When we do, we take a role in the balancing of individual liberty and
the common good."
Tracy Bell, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
"I
would like to expand upon my idea of everyone at the present time having
different opinions and add to this the responsibility of balancing educational
interests in order to promote the common good.
People now have many different educational and professional interests.
From medical technology to marketing strategies, all of these interests
combined increase the common good. Medical
advances promote the general health and well-being of the American people
while people involved in business and accounting help the economy.
Universities today have many areas of interest.
Combining every individual's talents promotes the common good.
This indirectly fosters personal responsibility, in this case choosing
which educational pathway to take. In
every aspect of life every person, either directly or indirectly, influences
the common good. When everyone
sees that they play a significant role in balancing their rights with the
rights of others, that will contribute to the common good.
For it is only when we realize our weaknesses that we become
stronger."
Tiffany Rose Prater, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
"When
the Constitution was written, society as a whole worked for the common good,
therefore an emphasis was placed on that instead of individual liberties.
Our founding fathers favored the civic virtue of the classical models
of republican government. Civic
virtue is the commitment of citizens to provide for the common good, even at
the cost of their own individual interests.
The American Founders also shaped their ideas around the natural rights
philosophy of John Locke. The
natural rights of philosophy is based on conceiving mentally what life would
be like if there were no government. This
imaginary condition is known as a state of nature.
The natural rights involved life, liberty, and property.
In respect to life, people want their lives to be as free as possible
from threats to their security. Involving
liberty, people want to be as free as possible from the control of others, to
be able to make their own choices, and to live as they so please.
As far as property is concerned, people want the liberty to work and
obtain economic goods such as land, houses, tools, and money.
The Founders felt that they had to modify this classic definition of
civic virtue to make it practical in the ever-changing circumstances in
America. They acknowledged the
natural rights philosophers' view of human nature, that is to say that people
are motivated mainly by their own interests.
One of the main Framers, James Madison, held the belief that the
pursuit of self-interest could in its own way further the common good.
Tiffany Rose Prater, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
"I
believe that, had the founders of our country known what would happen in the
future, they would have 'put more emphasis on the protection of the
community.' The times they lived
in were full of God-fearing people. And
let's face it. The twentieth
century is full of independent, free-willed individuals who don't depend on
other people (or the supernatural). The
founding fathers didn't have to worry about nuclear weapons or genocide.
The enemies of our founders had never seen a shotgun until the whites
arrived. Therefore, the fathers
believed in individual liberty because they were so afraid of God and His
retribution that they were trusted to make the right decisions."
Anna Herrin, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
"The
dawn of a new age and millennium are becoming ever more closely related to
reality. What does the future
hold? Perhaps new trends, music,
lifestyles? In light of this
information there is one thing that not even the hands of time can ever
change. The personal obligation
to insure individual liberty and contribution to the common good will always
be in high regard. As we pause to
reflect on past years, let us look forward to a new dawn of promise for all
Americans."
Jessie Burkhart, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
"The
Act would be imposing on individual personal liberties contrary to the
Constitution. Although these acts
are designed to discourage gun usage among school-age children, they re not
always effective. They often have
just the opposite effect on the youth of today."
Jessie Burkhart, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
"Suppose
a person who owned a handgun lived within a thousand feet of the school.
Or prime hunting grounds were located nine hundred and ninety-nine feet
away from the school. There I
could understand. What I don't
understand is how the very system which protects our rights can condone the
senseless deaths of teenagers at school.
So much to the right of life. How
can saving the lives of thousands be considered unconstitutional?
Is one thousand feet too much to ask for when it comes to saving the
lives of innocent children and teenagers?
Teens like me. People who
don't ask to be involved but are anyway, and whose lives do not even seem to
be being considered. I know that
if this law could save my life, I would definitely want it enacted
immediately. Who knows?
It may save my life and that of countless other students who attend
school in fear.
I have written this essay hoping to influence the minds of the people
who protect me. Those who hold
the lives of millions in their hands. If
only a few of these words are listened to, then maybe I have--or can--save the
lives of countless Americans who depend on their government to keep them safe.
Maybe it will take the people who will soon be 'promoting the general
welfare' of the future to change some minds."
Anna Herrin, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
"When
the government of the newly formed United States of America was being
established, there were many conflicts as to what type of government it should
be. Classical Republicans were a
group of people whose definition of a well functioning government was 'one
that focused on the common good rather than the interests of only one class of
citizens.' Members of this group
thought a republican government would only work in a small community.
Although, they also thought the members of the community should all fit
into the same mold. Diversity was
not tolerated.
The Founders had a different idea on the organizational methods of a
government that would promote individual liberties and the common good.
Baron de Montesquieu, a French writer, was widely admired for his
beliefs. He felt a system should be balanced among the classes.
Monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy should be evenly combined to form
a strong, representative government.
As time dragged on and the government became what the people called a
republican government, there were still many debates on balancing the rights
of the people and the common good. A set of laws needed to be written and
followed. The Articles of
Confederation were drafted. Many
problems surfaced in this document. The
people were afraid the government that would be created under the Articles
would be too strong. They feared
that their rights would suffer or be taken away.
Also, the voices of the citizens would be drowned out because each
state was only given one vote. This
system failed because there was not a proper balance in the rights of the
government and the rights of the people.
The Philadelphia Constitutional Convention was held and two plans were
proposed: the Virginia Plan and
the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan was favored by large states because the
number of representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate would
be 'based on the size of the state's population or the amount of its
contribution to the federal treasury.' The
New Jersey Plan was established around equal representation.
To help balance the rights of both the large and the small states, the
Framers drafted the Connecticut Compromise of the Great Compromise.
It was stated that the representation of the states in the Senate would
be based on equal representation and the members of the House of
Representatives would be based on proportional representation.
The people were beginning to feel that the balance of individual rights
and the common good was corrected under the government formed by the
Constitution. The powers of the
government were limited and the people gained more delegation.
The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution after many arguments
made by the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.
The Anti-Federalists argued that the rights of the people would be
violated if not specifically noted in the Constitution.
They were scared that individuals' rights would be taken away in the
struggle to conform the government to fit the needs of the common good.
When we look back in time at the forming of our government, it is easy
to see how the Framers placed 'emphasis on the protection of the community
over individual liberty.' Many of
the men did not think it was necessary to include the Bill of Rights in the
Constitution. These men believed
that the Constitution as is would work for the community as a whole.
Two hundred years later, our society still find itself trying to locate
the fine line that separates the rights of the individual and those of the
common good."
Jacqueline Denise Wheatley, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
"Too
many people today are getting by with things that they should be punished for.
There is a problem when people can blame their mistakes on heredity.
We must be accountable for our actions to the point that we are able to
deal with the mistakes that we make and the obstacles we face without
attributing them to the fact that we might have been abused as a child or our
spouse beats us. These excuses
are not sufficient. We are who we
choose to be.
Tracy Bell, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
"The
people have always had great influence over the government.
Everyone should be active in our government because laws can be changed
and liberties can be given and taken away without a voice. to speak against
them.
Justin Kane, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
Tyler King, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
"Our
mayor, who recently spoke at a Veteran's Day celebration and who is a veteran
himself, made a strong and focal point to the young people and the crowd who
listened. He told us that we had
no idea of the meaning of true sacrifice.
We did not understand what it was like to be in a war and know that our
lives ere being justified by fighting. He
told us that we did not understand what it was like to watch people die and
struggle to live. All these
points are correct. We as young
Americans today do not know how to deal with the term 'true sacrifice'.
We are lucky to be living in an era in which we have very few wars and
trauma. This focal point that the
mayor gave touched many who sat in the audience.
It lead us to realize that we have our own individual liberty because
of those brave men and women who have fought or participated in so many
conflicts that made us the country that we are."
Kyle Jordan, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
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