History of Georgia, as the past of many other smaller or bigger nations around the world is marked with ceaseless struggle for liberty and independence. Even the United States of America, as big and powerful as it is today, had in its own time shed huge amount of tears and blood to acquire the independence and to enjoy the liberty it has heroically fought for throughout centuries. 

In America, the notions of liberty, rights and equality were elevated to the rank

of the most precious national values. Those values have always superseded the necessity of physical safety or economic security. But the world is changing fast, and certain bothering questions are popping up inadvertently: What if entertaining personal freedoms and administering universal liberty of an individual threaten national safety and curb the citizens’ security in the country? What if society feels and behaves so freely that its protection from wickedness becomes practically impossible for the state? What if some day democracy is rendered powerless – due to excessive freedom – to provide for a peaceful and qualitative life? Shall we in this case be faced with an option like – freedom or safety? And if we actually are, what are we going to do? Shall we opt for freedom or for safety? If we believe Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of America, preference should be given to freedom –‘Those who give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.’ These are the words which were written in stone up until now. Should we faithfully continue believing in the quarter-of-a-millennium wisdom, a crystal-clear Western political and philosophical value? I doubt it – let the soul of the great American forgive my temerity to contradict the genius. Ideally, we need to enjoy all those values fully and simultaneously – liberty, safety, rights, equality, consent, democracy, sense of eternal security, defeat of the evil and celebration of the good. If this is possible of course without any substantiated misgivings about our current life, fraught with scary occurrences and our future, loaded with raw sense of uncertainty. Personally, I prefer for my beloved Georgia all-rounded safety – economic, territorial, political, social, psychological, medical and ideological – even if the loss of individual freedoms become inevitable when the situation in the country is dictating so. If life is at stake and measures are to be taken for survival purposes, I would easily give up on personal liberty and broad democracy. The issue is being just as acute and incisive in the United States. What do we need more – liberty or safety when push comes to shove, when having both is no longer possible? I am not trying to justify any restriction of human rights. I know exactly what they mean. I am just giving a regular heads-up in case we are compelled to make the difficult choice. There is nothing wrong with getting ready for proper handling of a problem if the problem occurs, is there? And a problem might occur anytime!