Posted on 12/29/2003 9:18:12 AM PST by NorCoGOP
MESA, Ariz. -- There appears to be a trend emerging in modern Western society. It is something that has been noticeable in the past, but is something that I think has become more prominent and disturbing in recent years. It is the habit we have developed of sacrificing personal freedom and convenience in favor of increased security, almost always in reaction to an isolated incident which we are afraid to treat as such.
Periodically, and with alarming frequency, something tragic will happen that will be greatly publicized. Perhaps this event injures or kills a person or many people; and, whether it is the media-driven American people demanding a change or elected officials eager to look like they are making a difference, precautions are put in place which restrict those very American people to the point that such an event recurring is nearly impossible.
The most dramatic of these events, with the most far-reaching internal effects, has been the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. I recall when our leaders assured us that the best way to fight the terrorists ourselves was to continue to live our lives normally and enjoy the freedoms that our enemies would wish to take away from us.
But our fear became a far greater opponent to our freedoms than any band of calculating psychopaths could ever achieve. And so things began to change.
As if to protect us from the inevitable eventuality of further hijackings, soldiers with machine guns took the place of obnoxious airport metal detector attendants. All luggage needed to be unpacked, studied, and repacked before transport on a passenger jet. My small Swiss army knife was instantly transformed from a personal convenience to a deadly weapon for terrorist use. Racial profiling became a very real law enforcement technique. And I can't get on a plane without taking my shoes off at the terminal.
Is this our normal life? Am I safer in my flight because my family and friends can't come and meet me at the gate? How has America gotten through 70 years of commercial flight without needing machine guns at every terminal? Are someone's socks really a threat to the lives of everybody on that plane?
As if this wasn't enough, our leaders drafted and almost unanimously passed the USA Patriot Act, 342 pages of knee-jerk legislation which has been adequately covered by this publication. For our own good, they removed any privacy that we think we have in favor of allowing the government to take any measures it deems necessary to discern any malicious intent any of us may harbor. I believe that all who study this act will be stunned at the constitutional rights the act takes away.
I don't want to be that safe. And an event occurring doesn't necessarily make it any more likely to occur in the future. Someone blowing up a plane doesn't mean that "people blow up planes now." I don't expect it. I am not afraid of it. And no amount of gun-toting servicemen or phone-tapping FBI agents will make me less afraid.
No amount of security is worth my freedoms, nor is it worth my ability to lead a comfortable, normal life. We have no alternative but to build our world to accommodate normal people. We can and should take reasonable precautions to protect ourselves from the dangerously insane. I think metal detectors are a great idea. But at some point we have done all that we can reasonably be expected to do and can only hope for the best.
For over 200 years, people have been giving their lives to obtain and protect necessary freedoms for the people of this country; because freedom is possibly the only commodity more precious than life itself.
Then you won't mind if I club you on the head and steal your wallet?
Then you won't mind if I club you on the head and steal your wallet?
So long as you don't mind a .45 round in the forehead.
This idjit obviously wrote this before last Wednesday, when "flying planes into buildings now" were averted at the last minute.
If all alcohol is removed from planes, and all flyers are given a breathalyzer before boarding, I'll agree with you.
Drunks and guns don't mix.
Do you mind if me and my friends look through your your financial and medical information? Maybe sneak into your house, look under your bed and see where you went on your computer? My friend Roy thinks you look "suspicious".
Freedom is precious because it make life worth living. The national preoccupation with security is a national neurosis that is not doing the country any good and causes the very decisions that jeopardize our security.
This deserves to be repeated.
I agree. It would seem that the whole reason to write the article was to express some of the writers insecurities, namely:
And no amount of gun-toting servicemen or phone-tapping FBI agents will make me less afraid.
Its an anti Bush / Ashcroft screed, disguised as bravado.
Then you won't mind if I club you on the head and steal your wallet?
Those two activites usurp rights (freedoms) and therefore I'm guessing any thinking person would mind.
This is nonsensical. How does being more aware of preventing planes from flying into buildings jeopardize or threaten anybody's freedom?
I agree. The things the government does to instill fear in people destroy freedom. The IRS, the local politicions who attempt to rule every aspect of your life at gunpoint if necessary are only two such examples.
Consider that is not first or foremost, but one of three conditions, all of which must be present in the life of a man. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, all three, none first before the others.
This deserves to be dismissed.
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