"Freedom comes at a price" the old adage goes, that price has generally been war. Now however it seems that war isn't enough, it seems that after finally entering an age where people are treated equally, where communism has fallen, where most people in America have a car, TV and computer, it seems the price of freedom has actually gone up rather than down. A little perplexing don't you think?
9/11 was a horrible event, whether terrorists caused it or not is not the focus of this article but the Bush administration has been using it as some magical trump card for the past 6 years. Personally I think the only thing worse than all those people dying is all those people dying so that a corrupt government could do whatever they please and oppress their citizens. Now it seems any bill can be passed if it's in the interest of "national security". Are all these measures really necessary for our security? Do we require any of this extra secuirty to begin with?
It's a pretty well known fact that the government knew well in advance that 9/11 was going to happen - months in advance, perhaps even a year - but as I said I'm not here to discuss 9/11 (though I may in the future), the fact is all these new "security measures" that are being implemented are supposedly there so something like 9/11 won't happen again but If we could have prevented 9/11 to begin with using our older security measures why would we need more security measures? Because we're at war of course! One country we invaded to hunt the Al Qaeda even though most of them live in Saudi Arabia (our leading oil provider), the second country we invaded because the leader had Weapons of Mass Destruction which were never found - but no worries our government still has the receipts to prove it. Now what we have on our hands is a unique situation, not one but two wars and the possibility of another terrorist attack, surely that's enough to justify the loss of so many of our civil liberties?
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
Is he right? Throughout history governments have protected their citizens through their military rather than taking away their liberties, and he was after all one of America's founding fathers, perhaps he's on to something?
Recently I read an article about how the NSA is spying on people's internet traffic without any kind of warrant and I was outraged. The program being unconstitutional is one thing, the Bush administration has done their part to get rid of that annoying piece of paper, but If the government won't even acknowledge the existance of this program how could it possibly be for national security?
I'm sure alot of people know that all the excuses of "national security" they see on the news are bullshit but they just don't want to admit it to themselves or to anyone else. Accepting reality is hard, ignoring it is easy. I think it's time for someone to stand up an say "9/11 can happen again but I don't give a fuck! I am willing to take that risk and I can take care of myself. Give me my liberties back!". It's a shocking statement, it may even cause Bill O'Reilly to call me a Nazi but I can live with that because however bad that sentence may sound it is exactly what needs to be said to change our country.