READ and RESPOND to EACH post. (6 total) 150 words each (no more than 175 each) POST ONE The primary focus of  On Liberty  is to stress the importance for self preservation. Because of the time of his writing, a time which was producing more republics throughout Europe, Mill's concern is less about an all-too powerful sovereign and more about the "tyranny of the majority." Mill's "civil liberty" gets at the power/authority/control of the sovereign over the people. In other words, the creation and passing of laws that protect us from harming one another, in a physical sense or the taking of another's property. His meaning of "social liberty," however, seems to mean how people (majority)  prefer  others to behave in civilization. This seems almost like "social norms" to me and that Mill is concerned that a majority preference could suppress a member of the minority from speaking his/her views. Later in  On Liberty , Mill expresses that citizens do not need to be held accountable for any action they do so long as the action only pertains to or "harms" only them. Any actions against another individual(s) are subject to punishment (Mill, 178). It seems that this tyranny of the majority indicates that we are all subject to what most of society wishes, whether majority is literally understood as fifty percent plus one of the entire population, or the majority of the  active  segment of the population (excluding non-participants in decision making), or whomever makes themselves the most  accepted part of society (Mill, 8). I find these explanations of the meaning of majority to be interesting, particularly the latter. Certainly, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was not a blessing of either the majority of the American public, nor those who are active in taking part in government. Instead, the ACA was lobbied for, and signed into law by those groups who have been accepted as the majority. One of the aspects of democracy that I try to impress on students in my classroom is the principle of "majority rules, minority rights." In essence, although the majority rule needs to prevail, those citizens who have not aligned with the views of the majority shall not lose their rights. This seems to be what Mill was preferring, or at least desiring to demonstrate the need for when he cautioned of the "tyranny of the majority." Mill's perspectives apply very much to current events in America. The recent permissions of same sex marriage and the legalization of the use of and allowance of small possessions of marijuana seem to be in line with Mill's thinkings of "let the individual do what they want so long as they do not harm others." Heydt, Colin. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873).  The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy , ISSN 2161-0002. August 18, 2015.  http://www.iep.utm.edu/. Mill, John Stuart.  On Liberty . August 18, 2015.  http://www.gutenberg.org/files/34901/34901-h/34901-h.htm POST TWO . S. Mill's On Liberty is a perfect title for the content of the writing..

1. READ and RESPOND to EACH post. (6 total) 150 words each
(no more than 175 each)
POST ONE
The primary focus of
On Liberty
is to stress the importance for self preservation. Because of the
time of his writing, a time which was producing more republics
throughout Europe, Mill's concern is less about an all-too
powerful sovereign and more about the "tyranny of the
majority."
Mill's "civil liberty" gets at the power/authority/control of the
sovereign over the people. In other words, the creation and
passing of laws that protect us from harming one another, in a
physical sense or the taking of another's property. His meaning
of "social liberty," however, seems to mean how people
(majority)
prefer
others to behave in civilization. This seems almost like "social
norms" to me and that Mill is concerned that a majority
preference could suppress a member of the minority from
speaking his/her views.
Later in
On Liberty
, Mill expresses that citizens do not need to be held accountable
for any action they do so long as the action only pertains to or
"harms" only them. Any actions against another individual(s)
are subject to punishment (Mill, 178).
It seems that this tyranny of the majority indicates that we are
all subject to what most of society wishes, whether majority is
literally understood as fifty percent plus one of the entire
population, or the majority of the
active
segment of the population (excluding non-participants in
decision making), or whomever makes themselves the most

2. accepted
part of society (Mill, 8).
I find these explanations of the meaning of majority to be
interesting, particularly the latter. Certainly, the Affordable
Care Act (ACA) was not a blessing of either the majority of the
American public, nor those who are active in taking part in
government. Instead, the ACA was lobbied for, and signed into
law by those groups who have been accepted as the majority.
One of the aspects of democracy that I try to impress on
students in my classroom is the principle of "majority rules,
minority rights." In essence, although the majority rule needs to
prevail, those citizens who have not aligned with the views of
the majority shall not lose their rights. This seems to be what
Mill was preferring, or at least desiring to demonstrate the need
for when he cautioned of the "tyranny of the majority." Mill's
perspectives apply very much to current events in America. The
recent permissions of same sex marriage and the legalization of
the use of and allowance of small possessions of marijuana
seem to be in line with Mill's thinkings of "let the individual do
what they want so long as they do not harm others."
Heydt, Colin. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873).
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
, ISSN 2161-0002. August 18, 2015. http://www.iep.utm.edu/.
Mill, John Stuart.
On Liberty
. August 18, 2015.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/34901/34901-h/34901-h.htm
POST TWO
.
S. Mill's On Liberty is a perfect title for the content of the
writing. Mill believes in liberty for the individual person, which
he believes will aid to human advancement.
Freedoms and liberties have always been discussed by

3. philosophers, and "By liberty, was meant protection against the
tyranny of the political rulers." (Mill 3). Mill takes a spin on
this idea and brings in De Tocqueville's "tyranny of the
majority." This is very similar to the Ancient Greeks thoughts
on democracies, but he differs in the fact that he is not merely
worried the poor making poor decision. Mill is worried about
the very soul of society. On page eight of On liberty, he says
that "Society can and does execute its own mandates..." This is
more dangerous than some sort of political leader for many
reasons. The most obvious reason is that if the majority of the
people believe in a decision, than the majority of the people
will think it is the right decision.
Mill uses an interesting example explain the lost of originality
in On Liberty. He addresses how countries in the East used to
be the greatest world powers. He says that they fell into custom,
and they stopped progressing. Mill then asks the question of
when does progression stop. He answers is with "When it ceases
to possess individuality." (Mill 133). Individuality and
progression should not be confused though. It seems that social
liberty is progression while civil liberty is the individuality.
Our society is always progressing, but this is a conforming
progression. When it comes to civil liberty "The best sort of
person is one who individually is responsible for his or her
beliefs and actions." (Wilson).
The threat of the "tyranny of the majority" may be more
dangerous today than it ever has. One reason is because there
are more people. This makes the majority bigger, which makes
it more dangerous. Another reason is our society is more
connected. One persons' idea can reach millions of people
within seconds, through social or regular media. Lastly, this
societal ideas A.D.D. There seems to be a new belief every day,
that really should not matter. Does saying God in the pledge of
allegiance constitute as harm? Is a person changing their sex
considered harm? "The reason for accepting the freedom of
individuals to act as they choose, so long as they cause minimal
or no harm to others." (Heydt). Right or wrong, these issues

4. take focus away things that can actually harm us like terrorist.
References
Heydt, Colin, "John Stuart Mill (1806—1873)"
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Mill, John, "On Liberty,"
The Project Gutenberg EBook of On Liberty
Wilson, Fred, "John Stuart Mill",
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(Spring 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.),
POST THREE
The core rejection of social contract proposals for Mill is
that "interest" of each person who engages in a social contract
will have their own interest in this contract suffer significantly.
“no good purpose is answered by inventing a contract in
order to deduce social obligations from it" (stanford.edu)."
Mill believes in absolute liberty that every individual has their
own individual rights or interests & should have the opportunity
to pursue however he or she see fits, therefore a contract is not
necessary for absolute Utilitarianism. Which is at it is core
"reject moral codes or systems that consist of commands or
taboos that are based on customs, traditions, or orders given by
leaders or supernatural beings (iep.utm.edu)." And as we
discovered throughout the course the social contract origins
center from many Philosophers such as Locke & Rousseau’s
who believed that, natural rights or interests where given to
individuals by God for all man. For Mill rights & individual
interests is not given by laws or super natural being but rather
are established by human convention or tacit understanding.
Mill rightful limit to the sovereignty of the individual over
himself is to receive its proper share, if each has that which
more particularly concerns it. (Mill) In others words an
individual has as much rightful limit to sovereignty that will
make him or her the happiest, which is ideal to America's life

5. liberty & pursuit of happiness.
Authority of society begins according to Mill at a point when
"one who receives the protection of society owes a return for
the benefit, and the fact of living in society renders it
indispensable that each should be bound to[Pg. 141] observe a
certain line of conduct towards the rest (Mill)." This is to mean
that a person who willing engages into society in benefits from
this engagement owes society something in return, either by
behaving a certain way or by being a willing participant in
certain activities that is required for society to be successful.
"To individuality should belong the part of life in which it is
chiefly the individual that is interested; to society, the part
which chiefly interests society (Mill)." This is very simple at
the core of everything Mill is that an individual has right to do
what makes them happy therefore, a person can do more or less
of individuality or society as they chose. My view of between
individual obligation, sovereignty, and government resonate to
an extent with Mill because life is very difficult to live in a
complete utopia because it is not be possible for every
individual. Just as Mill feel that a social contract is impossible
because everyone has their own interest as heart which, will
than impede on someone else course to happiness. So to think
everyone should do what makes them happy will eventually lead
to making someone else quite unhappy.
Reference
http://www.iep.utm.edu/util-a-r/
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mill/
Mill Stuart J., On Liberty. 2011 January EBook

6. POST FOUR
IGO's and NGO's play a pivotal role with each other. One
current could be either United Nations (UN) or the European
Union (EU) and their reliability on NGOs such as Amnesty
International. Amnesty International has been associated with
the UN since 1964 and with current trends of groups such as
ISIS the demand of incite from Amnesty has grown with not
only the UN continuing their consultative stance with Amnesty
but also with the EU and other regions asking for their
assistance.
Amnesty has proved the UN with consultations on what to adopt
regarding "torture, arm trade and disappearances.
“Establishment of Special Procedure mandates on issues such as
human rights defenders, the elimination of discrimination
against woman, counter-terrorism and human rights and
business and human rights" (Amnesty International 2015). By
allowing Amnesty in as a consultant this allows the UN to reach
a local level and see more what is going on from people who are
there on the ground and interacting with those seeking help or
in need thus allowing the UN proper planning for what they
need and who need to be involved.
While looking up information regarding Amnesty International
and the UN ties I came across an article “Deadly Force: Police
Use of Lethal Force in the United States”. I want to take
nothing away from the good that Amnesty has done and their
noble cause. However, it appears that they may take a very
liberal side and almost a strictly pro-civilian stance. This
article gives officers little force options stating “‘less lethal’
weapons and other tools available for use in law enforcement
which carry less risk of death and injury…it should be
recognized that these so-called ‘less lethal’ weapons can also
result in serious injury and death”…”what is urgently needed is
nationwide review and reform of existing laws, policies,
training and practices…” (Deadly Force: Police Use of Lethal
Force in the United States 2015)

7. I know that the police report is not in line with the NGO and
IGO topic but it made me start wondering what their influence
is with UN and if all their viewpoints are like that. There is
much more to the article and like I mentioned I want to take
nothing away from the good they have done, just got me
wondering.
Works Cited
Amnesty International.
2015. https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/united-nations/
(accessed August 18, 2015).
Deadly Force: Police Use of Lethal Force in the United States.
June 18, 2015.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/research/reports/deadly-force-
police-use-of-lethal-force-in-the-united-states?page=show
(accessed August 19, 2015).
POST FIVE
To what extent do IGOs have to rely on and partner with NGOs
to effectively fulfill their missions and operational tasks?
International government organizations rely very heavily on
non-government organizations to accomplish their mission.
NGOs provide IGOs very valuable information and ideas, they
also do a good job lobbying political and social change in areas
that are afflicted and help to secure the validity of the global
governance system. (Global Policy, 2009)
The Secretary-General of the United Nations has confirmed the
importance of NGOs contributing to international organization
such as the UN on numerous occasions. The Secretary-General
said that “NGOs that help the United Nations are indispensable
partners and that they assist in the process of deliberation and
policy formation as well as the execution of policies”. (Global
Policy, 2009) In a situation where the United Nations would
not be able to provide resources or economic policies NGO’s
can fulfill that role and effectively communicate with the UN to

8. establish a rules and regulations. NGOs also can give voice to
people who do not have representation on the international
scale, and therefore can ensure that a minority group is not
being overlooked by the global aspect, and represented on an
international scale.
Give an example of an IGO relying on an NGO to complete a
task. What was the outcome?
The international community often relies on nongovernment
organizations to address economic and social rights violations.
One example of the NGO that is relied on by the international
community is the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria. (Human Rights, 2013) This fund allows the ability to
mobilize a significant amount of resources beyond regular
budgets of the United Nations and other government
organizations. The fund receives its contributions from a variety
of areas including the UN, the private sector, Philanthropists
groups and many donations from private citizens. The benefit
when the UN can rely on this fund to provide assistance where
needed the UN can focus its other resources in areas of the
world affected by situations where NGOs are not
available.(Bamidele-Izu, Barbara, 2011) The Global Fund to
Fight AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria has been a successful
endeavor.
References
NGO's and the United Nations. (1999, June 1). Retrieved
August 19, 2015, from
https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/176/31
44.html
The Global Human Rights Regime. (2013, June 19). Retrieved
August 19, 2015, from http://www.cfr.org/human-rights/global-
human-rights-regime/p27450
Bamidele-Izu, A., & Barbara, G. (2011.). The Role of NGOs
and Civil Society in Global Environmental Governance.

9. POST SIX
Looking at an IGO just like any government and its quick to
see that large organizations can't be effective from the
international stage to the ground roots. Enter the realm of
NGOs bringing the expertise and ground level experience of the
subject of interest. For the UNHCR, they leverage more than 75
percent of their NGO support at the local level (UNHCR). The
UN covers many different issues across the world from
peacekeeping, human rights, and everything in between. Many
IGOs like the UN are working from a strategic level on policy
and laws and don't have the resources to properly observe and
effectively track issues.
With an overarching IGO publishing policy and NGOs
working in coordination down to the ground level partnerships
and coalitions are made. The Ebola crisis saw UN working
local and international NGOs like MSF. With law and policy
building it can take a local NGO to advocate and bring to light
on social media a certain plight. In the case of Anti-Personnel
mine ban, successful lobbying and advocacy from various NGOs
brought signatures from many countries (CFR). To date there
have been a total of 122 governments that have signed the treaty
with a total of 40 countries that have ratified the ban (UNOG).
Regardless of how big an organization becomes, the real
battle or mission is always decided at the ground level. The
policies and laws presented and passed by IGOs like the UN
must rely on the experience, expertise and support from NGOs
at all levels. Who knows, the next major law the UN passes
could come from your local concerned citizens organized into
their own NGO.