Living and Dying by the Sword (or) The Autonomy and Responsibility of P

Living and Dying by the Sword (or) The Autonomy and Responsibility of Paranoia Introduction The question is a common one. "Does an individual have the right to yell, ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater?" The implications are not as simple. If one answers, "no," then one is, in effect saying that the constitutional right to free speech is not entirely correct. If one answers, "yes," then one is saying that is perfectly O.K. to an individual to be delegated the power to create mass hysteria. However, there is another side to this question. If an individual is permitted to yell fire, as perhaps one would be in a Lockian state of nature, one is as likely to be trampled in the ensuing hysteria as everyone else is. This situation, while quaint and hypothetical, does have its counterparts in history. The question of how much power ought an individual be allowed has been one that has been addressed by governments throughout the ages. The result of this power being abused has also been addressed throughout history, but not by governments, by the fates of those individuals who have abused that power. One result of power being abused is the creation of a kind of hysteria in a society that revolves around that individual who has created it. That hysteria also has the potential to turn on its progenitor and crush him in the ensuing stampede. Historically, this is the case of Maximilien Robespierre and Joseph McCarthy. Both men, in their own rights, created a sort of social hysteria, a hysteria that for each resulted in a social stampede. These stampedes ended up crushing these men who created them in the chaos and confusion that ensued. The question of these two men faced ... ...s, The Life and Times of Joe McCarthy 6. Buckley, et al., McCarthy and His Enemies 7. Eagan, Maximilien Robespierre: Nationalist Dictator 8. Buckley, et al., McCarthy and His Enemies 9. Feuerlicht, Joe McCarthy and McCarthyism, The Hate That Haunts America Bibliography - Belloc, Hilaire. Robespierre, A Study. G.P. Putnam and Sons. New York. 1927. - Buckley, William F. and Bozell, L. Brent. McCarthy and His Enemies: The Record and its Meaning. Henry Regnery Company. Chicago. 1954. - Eagan, James Michael. Maximilien Robespierre, Nationalist Dictator. AMS Press. New York. 1983. - Feuerlicht, Roberta Strauss. McCarthy and McCarthism, The Hate that Haunts America. McGraw-Hill Book Company. New York. 1972. - Reeves, Thomas C. The Life and Times of Joe McCarthy. Stein and Day Publishers. New York. 1982.