The original post sites material things and security as evidence of our freedom in this country. We all live in this nice gated community and have very little sense of all the suffering that goes on elswhere in the world. But, one thing that has been overlooked by many, is that here, we can bitch about whatever we want, without fear of being thrown in jail, or otherwise punished... or can we?
After the 9/11 attacks, the government immediately began stripping away our freedom, and no one had the guts to bitch about it, because that would have been "unpatriotic". They began chipping away at our rights, and taking them away, one by one. It was months before anyone started to question any of this, and by that time, it was too late. I remember John Ashcroft getting questioned by the press about many of the things they were pushing through, related to the Patriot Act. He got seriously annoyed, and said something to the effect of "We need to stick together on this. Stop complaining, that's what the terrorists want." He actually had the nerve to insinuate that questioning the actions of our government was wrong, and that anyone who did so, was "just helping the terrorists". He was just playing right into the hand of those who attacked us in the first place. Bin Laden said something like "Freedom in the US will begin to erode". He was right.
Protesters at major political events have been corralled off in cages. People have been arrested at presidential appearances just for wearing teeshirts that have undesireable statements on them. The government is now allowed to spy on its own citzens. People have been thrown in jail for months or years, without any formal charges being brought against them, just for "suspicion of terrorist ties". Don't complain, don't say anything, we need to stick together on this, right? The terrorists want us to all fight amongst ourselves, we should be unified, right? No, those who attacked us wanted us to be so afraid of losing our money, and so afraid of being killed, that we would give up as much of our freedom as the government wants to take, without even objecting. And that's exactly what happened.
"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."
Many people have died, in order to preserve our freedom -- freedom to question the actions of our government, freedom to speak out about social injustices, freedom to have privacy from the prying eyes of those in charge, freedom from being thrown in a "re-education camp", without any legal proceedings whatsoever.
No, this isn't Nazi Germany. But if we continue to just sit back and give up our rights in the name of safety, we will lose everything. At the rate things are going, it's only a matter of time.
