Question

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, "Your rights end when your fist makes contact with my face." Answer: What do you think he meant by this? How does this analogy explain the importance of balancing civil liberties with individual rights and protections? What civic responsibilities are important in balancing civil liberties and individual rights? What would society look like without an understanding of civic responsibility?

Answer 1

Hi there!

Your answer is

He means that you have the right to protect yourself. If you are threatening someone else's rights, in this case they're right to live, then you forfeit your own rights. Your victim has the right to defend themselves in whatever way they be necessary.

It explains the importance of balancing civil liberties with individual rights because it balances the laws for the good of the community with someone's personal rights. The laws for the good of the community is the right to defend oneself from someone seeking to do harm. However, the presence of these civil liberties can cause another person to lose their individual rights.

The most important civic responsibility when balancing individual rights and civil liberties is that you have the good of the community at heart. For example going out into the community, getting someone to attack you, and then attacking/killing them is going against a civic responsibility.

Without an understanding of civic responsibility, society would be rampant with violence and danger. People would be finding loopholes in laws that would allow them to purposefully harm others, while getting away with it because the other person struck first.

I hope this helps!