C.S. Lewis warned that “of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.” Lewis’s insights are captured in The Winter Soldier (2014), which offers a critique of the American surveillance state. Rogers, now working for the counter-terrorism agency S.H.I.E.L.D., discovers Project Insight: a program employing predictive algorithms and weapons designed to eliminate potential terrorists before they act, thus eliminating the messy unpredictability of human choice. While Nick Fury insists that the project is a preventative measure to ensure global security, Rogers identifies it as a power grab that would “hold a gun to everyone on Earth and call it protection.”
This is an example of the classic dichotomy between freedom and security. Fury’s plan is of the same kind of thinking that led to the PATRIOT Act, drone surveillance, and the NSA spying on American citizens without a warrant. While traditional security measures may seem inadequate for a world with super soldiers and alien invasions, Rogers recognizes that ‘preemptive action’ that would put the ‘punishment before the crime’ undermines the right to due process that free societies require. Security purchased at the expense of freedom protects nothing worth preserving.
Such power existing means that it could easily be put in the wrong hands and be used to justify killing anyone deemed a ‘threat.’ As Rogers says, “This isn’t freedom, this is fear.” Rogers’ concerns are vindicated when he learns from renegade scientist Arnim Zola that HYDRA, the fascist organization he purportedly “died” to defeat, infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. after World War II. Over several decades, HYDRA astroturfed geopolitical and economic crises across the world to condition humanity to “sacrifice its freedom to gain its security.” Project Insight was its final step to achieving world domination.
HYDRA and Project Insight may seem like comic book exaggerations, but preemptive strikes, mass surveillance, and erosion of individual liberty today for a promised security tomorrow are anything but fictional, and have been the mantra for every power grab and foreign intervention in our post-9/11 world. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s corruption was the inevitable consequence of placing unchecked authority in any singular institution. Rogers saw that the very tools S.H.I.E.L.D. developed for good were just as easily co-opted for evil.
Winter Soldier’s insight is that the problem of power isn’t as simple as ensuring that power remains in the “right” hands, but that certain powers are inherently corrupting regardless of who wields them. The fictitious dilemma between freedom and security is one presented by both Fury and HYDRA, and it’s a lie that authoritarians always tell, regardless of their intentions. Captain America, however, shows us a third option: Freedom inherently involves uncertainty, but that is preferable to the false certainty that comes with attempting to eliminate risk by eliminating freedom as well.
“We May Not Be Perfect, But the Safest Hands Are Still Our Own”
When the Founding Fathers wrote about the dangers of unchecked power and the crucial importance of checks and balances within the American system, they didn’t specify which “side” needed accountability. They knew that “power tends to corrupt”, no matter how well-intentioned the powerful are. As Frederic Bastiat wrote in The Law, the government is force, and checks and balances must govern the use of force.
Steve Rogers believes that individual agency and freedom are bulwarks against tyranny. In Civil War (2016), Rogers’ convictions are tested when he refuses to sign the Sokovia Accords to regulate the Avengers, which would have taken away their agency and put them under U.N. oversight. When Colonel Rhodes remarks that the 117 countries backed by the United Nations have ratified it, Rogers, in classic public choice fashion, answers: “But it’s run by people with agendas, and agendas change.”
Civil War’s treatment of the Sokovia Accords avoids easy answers. Tony Stark’s support for the accords is a response to legitimate concerns about accountability, remarking that “if we can’t accept limitations, we’re no better than the bad guys.” Rogers, however, emphasizes that true accountability comes with the freedom to make choices and take responsibility when tragic mistakes occur as a consequence of their actions. The Accords would strip away that agency and simply “shift the blame” from the Avengers to a faceless panel of bureaucrats. Echoing Thomas Jefferson’s maxim that “I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it,” Rogers recognizes the fragile but irreplaceable value of individual agency, stating that “we may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own.” While it is in freedom that people can err, it is also in freedom that they can correct them.
However, Sam Wilson, who replaces Rogers as Captain America in Brave New World (2025), takes a different approach by being more willing to work with the government. He even stands up for President Ross, saying that he has a good side to him despite his history of abusing power. This presents an interesting contrast to Roger’s character.
Wilson’s recluse friend, Isaiah Bradley, who was wrongfully imprisoned and subjected to medical experiments by the U.S Army after serving in Korea, says, “It just doesn’t sit right with me. Captain America answering to the President.” This tension between cooperating with the government and holding the government accountable runs throughout the movie. Should we trust the government with more power if the leaders are “on our side”?
No matter how much we may like the person in power and no matter how sympathetic their motives may seem, we must remember that the state has significantly more power than an individual and should be held to a higher standard of accountability. Empathy is for individuals, not for global powers with standing armies. Wilson’s willingness to compromise with President Ross, however, led to chaos and betrayal when Ross transformed into Red Hulk and destroyed the White House before being defeated, forced to resign, and imprisoned.
“No, You Move.”
It’s common to see people take their political convictions from their preferred political party rather than base their beliefs on principles. For example, Republican and Democrat attitudes towards foreign policy, free trade, and presidential power fluctuate based on whether it’s “their man” advocating the policy. Steve Rogers, however, combats authoritarianism, regardless of the color of the flag it’s wrapped in.
Before he even enlisted in the army, Rogers demonstrated this unwavering moral foundation. In The First Avenger (2011), when Dr. Erskine asks Rogers, “So, you want to kill Nazis?” he replies, “I don’t like bullies; I don’t care where they’re from.” Rogers' principled heroism drove him to fight bullies across the MCU movies, including Nazis, HYDRA, extraterrestrials, and his own government when it attempted to launch a preemptive strike system based on unconstitutional surveillance tactics, even if it meant becoming a fugitive.
At Agent Carter’s funeral, she’s quoted as living by the words, “Compromise where you can. Where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say ‘No, you move.’” This is how Rogers also chooses to live. He refused to sign the Sokovia Accords, even at the cost of causing a schism within the Avengers, losing friendships, and incurring increased personal risk, because he would not sacrifice moral clarity for political convenience.
While Wilson’s more empathetic personality made him a trusted counselor, it also made him vulnerable to compromise when tough choices needed to be made. Rogers’ Captain America rarely struggled with that tension. Whether it’s the United Nations, fellow Avengers, or the U.S government, Rogers used his principles to evaluate people based on their actions, not on their status, allies, or backstory.
“The Price of Freedom is High…”
Across all the Captain America films, a few common themes emerge: that the supposed tension between freedom and security is a false dilemma, that all individuals have a duty to demand transparency and accountability from their governments, and that compromising one’s moral responsibility and principles is the surest path to tyranny.
Freedom is a right that must be defended by principled citizens, not a privilege granted by governments. While many modern politicians sympathize with HYDRA’s belief that humanity cannot be trusted with its own freedom, Steve Rogers teaches us: “The price of freedom is high, it always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it.”
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