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John Stuart Mills and David Miller

In their respective works, John Stuart Mills and David Miller offer contrasting perspectives on this issue of content restrictions on Canadian television. Mills' work, On Liberty, celebrates the principle of freedom and individuality. On the other hand, Miller's work, On Nationality, highlights the importance of protecting national culture, even at the expense of individual liberties. Thus, Mills would regard the requirement that Canadian broadcasters restrict their amount of foreign programs to 65 percent as a gross invasion of individual freedom. In contrast, Miller would agree that this regulation is necessary to prevent further erosion of the Canadian culture through American programming.

The basic premise of Mills' position is that individuals should have the freedom to think and act as they wish, as long as they do not hurt others. Society has no other right to intervene with the activities of individuals: "His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrantà Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign" (9). In its effort to regulate television content, the Canadian government has infringed on the liberties of three groups of individuals: 1) Sellers of American programs, 2) Canadian broadcasters who purchase programs and 3) Canadian consumers of television programs.

First, Miller would argue that the principle of free trade between the sellers and the buyers is violated. In his opinion, the market is an ideal mechanism for regulating all trade: "àboth the cheapness and the good quality of commodities are most effectually provided for by leaving the producers and sellers perfectly free" (94). Second, the capacity of the Canadian people, both the broadcasters and the consumers, to develop their own thinking and determine their own choices is undermined by the government's self-righteous belief that it is infallibly correct (Mills 21, 32).

However, from Miller's point of view, n...

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John Stuart Mills and David Miller. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:32, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1687700.html