Is it more important to have rights or preserve the democracy you have?

Last week in class, we analyzed what some of the drawbacks were to a democracy. A large setback to having an efficient democracy is to have EDUCATED citizens. One of the things that John Locke really focused on was the accountability of your government. If people are not active participants who are informed and engaged in the democratic process, it becomes extremely easy for the government to do things that are not always what the people want; hence, they are not accountable. (Go back a couple weeks ago and watch the Ukraine video if you haven't yet - that unaccountable government led to MONTHS of protest). When people think of democracy, the cornerstones that most frequently come to mind are voting and rights and freedoms. We've looked at voting. Now, we will be looking at rights and freedoms. This brings us (sort of) back to Mill's ideas of balancing rights and freedoms for the good of society. Democracies limit individual freedoms in the name of the greater good. But WHAT IF that limitation is unjustifiable? Is preserving that democracy in a time of crisis more important than preserving the ideals of that society? What if you are in a time of crisis? Does that change anything? 

Look at 9/11:

The US has legislation that was passed after 9/11, following the terrorist attacks, that allowed the government to have increased power of surveillance and gave authorities more power to determine if Americans or others were threats to the security of the nation. To preserve the democracy, rights need to be limited, which makes sense. If you can't protect the very institution that will preserve your rights and freedoms, then you risk losing it. But is that right? Or is there limitation?

SO how will we look at that this week?

Monday: 

• Writing your rough copy in the computer lab. You can go directly to the computer lab to write. YOU MUST COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENT IN THE TIME GIVEN.
• If you are absent TIME YOUR SELF - no more than 90 minutes and bring in your rough draft the day after.

Tuesday: 

• Rights
• Individual Rights
• Universal declaration of Human Rights
• Should there be limitations in Canada?
• Father Michael will be with us for the last 30 minutes of class for discussion

Wednesday:

• Collective Rights
• History behind them
• Do we still need them?
• Are they unfair?

• Are collective rights against the ideas of democracy?

Thursday: 

• Rants by Darian, Quintin and Crystal 
• Safety and security vs. Rights and freedoms - which is more important?
• A look at the life of Omar Khadr
• Look at our legislation - what can our government do?
• Look at Bill C-51 and where it came from
• Start watching video on Patriot Act rights restrictions

Friday

• Finish watching the video
• Computer lab - Rights restrictions in democracies in times of crisis