Freedom’s Last Ring
Freedom’s Last Ring
by
James E. Smith
09/12/2001
From a Newsweek story on MSNBC:
“Security will require another type of sacrifice of freedoms. In the NEWSWEEK Poll, voters say they are willing to give up privacy in air travel, but they are more skeptical of other measures, such as surveillance of e-mail and phone conversations. By a 62-32 percent margin, they reject “special surveillance” of Arab-Americans. Yet even before last week’s attacks, the Senate intelligence committee had voted extra funds for Internet surveillance and “profiling” measures, and agitation for more is sure to mount.” (Emphasis Mine)
“Governments need enemies to justify their existence.” — Edward Abbey: The Monkey Wrench Gang
“Those who trade liberty for security will soon have neither.”– Benjamin Franklin
The most devastating effect (“impact” for those of you dedicated to the dumbing down of America) of this tragedy will be that the government will use this as an excuse to remove the last vestige of privacy and freedom from America. You may expect continual surveillance of personal movement. All travel, especially air travel, between regions or even states will be regulated and tracked. There will be a day when passports and permits will be required for internal movement in the US. “Ve must see your papers”
Before the fall of the Soviet Union, I stated that, in terms of freedom, they were becoming more like us and we more like them. Someday we would meet in the middle and cross. I did not expect it to be this soon.
The really terrible part about this is that it is unnecessary. It is all the result of our insatiable appetite for oil. Consider what we have spent to guarantee the constant flow of “black gold”. How much to support or suborn various countries in the region? How many lives have been sacrificed for this? How many more dollars/lives will we spend?
What if we had expended the same effort in resources and time to find and develop a substitute for oil as a fuel to move cars, boats and planes? There are many other demands for petroleum, of course. Almost everything we use, from paint to plastics is based in part on oil. Even so, by eliminating it as a fuel, the demand would be so much less that people would not have to die to ensure the supply.
Sure, the oil barons in this country and others would suffer. Many might have to trade their Mercedes for Buicks and their Lears for Cessnas. For one, that’s a sacrifice I would be willing to make. How about you, Mr. President?
Just as the universe has a natural inclination towards disorder, governments have a natural inclination to totalitarianism and paranoia. They’ll never stop trying to assert absolute control over the lives of their citizens. When that’s accomplished, those in the inner party will then turn their paranoia towards each other until the whole thing implodes, at which point people just start the same process over again.
Thanks for the thought. You are right, what government has ever discarded power when, by whatever means, they have taken it?
James, i was just reading a comment you wrote about another blog post, and you quoted your father about a saying he had ” Figures don’t lie, but liars can figure”. He must of been a smart man, and well read with a great sense of humor. He reminded of my grandfather who use to say the same quotes to me as a child. Thanks for the memory.
Shawn, I have reason to believe that was a very common saying then and now. I first heard it from my father, but have heard it many times since then.
Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.
The purpose of (those in) the government is to control you and tax you. It’s as simple as that and it has always been like that. They use intimidation and manipulation like nationalism, religion and scaremongering to achieve that. Even if someone entered politics for unselfish reasons, they will change once in power because as we know – power corrupts. There is no solution to this but we can reduce the damage by reducing the size and powers of the government. This obviously is easier said than done because those in power fought hard to be in that position, are good at intimidating and manipulating and are prepared to go further to keep themselves in power than most people are to remove them from the same.
John, thank you for your post. I agree both with your premise and the difficulty of changing it.
I like your derision of the word, ‘impact’. I can remember it coming into vogue in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Unfortunately, it’s our usage of words that define their meanings. Dictionary lexicographers merely record ‘accepted usage’ of words. It’s too late to stave off acceptance of this new usage for the word, ‘impact’. Even newspapers use it now.
I remember it, too. I also agree about it becoming common usage. I thinking is, robbery, rape, and murder are common, too. That doesn’t make them right. But even places like the BBC are using “impact” incorrectly. It seems that true journalism is mostly dead. I see other, far more egregious errors, in the BBC and other major media pages. Apparently, editing or even proof-reading is a lost art, too.
Thanks for your comment, though. It’s always nice to see someone alert enough to catch the subtleties and appreciate them.
James you are so wrong; Religion can be given credit for the University, Musical Notes, Various Arts to include concertos and paintings, modern science look up Genetics and you’ll see Gregor Mendel an Monk, heck the Big Bang is a theory given to us by a Catholic Priest/Physicist, let’s look at Architecture, the list is massive. Also Western Civilization was saved by Christianity by buffering Europe from Islam, which allows you today to be an anti-Christian bigot and troll. I could easily say that Mao, Hitler and Stalin and various other anti-religious people doomed their society and offered little, I hope you’re left speechless by me pointing out that extremists like that and yourself are dangerous. You are an extremist. Religion can be a muse for scientists and artists, so as an “intellectual” you have to accept that.
First of all, what does this have to do with Freedom’s Last Ring? Or are you just choosing a place at random for your rant?
I am not wrong. Are you saying that none of those things would have happened without religion? That’s ludicrous thinking.
You also bring up the old lie about Mao, Hitler, and Stalin. They were nothing more than ruthless dictators acting to protect their power. Their religious views had nothing to do with it. Ratzinger used his power as a cardinal and pope to protect child molesters. Are you saying his religious views had nothing to do with that?
I am not an anti-christian bigot. I simply tell the truth. I am left nearly speechless by how stupid your comments are. What is dangerous is your voluntary ignorance and determined stupidity. Religion has been the curse of humanity because it promotes ignorance such as yours.
You, like most theists, make accusations and ludicrous statements without the least attempt at proving anything you say is even remotely possible, much less true.
You are a danger to the world because you promote ignorance and stubborn stupidity over reality and verifiable evidence. You have to accept that, but you won’t because you prefer myths instead of the truth.
http://www.management-issues.com/2008/10/31/opinion/do-you-always-need-to-be-right.asp
No, I do not always have to be right. That’s why I so often invite people to prove I am wrong. That’s how we learn and grow. You instead, like to hide behind a fake ID and temp email so you can make insulting posts and then hide. That’s intellectual and ethi8cal cowardice ay its worst.en invite people to prove I am wrong.
Here’s the prof you used a fake email:
This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.
A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its recipients. This is a permanent error.
jimmy234@yahoo.com Error, ERROR_CODE :554, ERROR_CODE :delivery error: dd Sorry your message to jimmy234@yahoo.com cannot be delivered. This account has been disabled or discontinued [#102]. – mta1006.mail.bf1.yahoo.com
You sir, are a coward, a liar, and a fool if you think anyone is fooled by your craven actions. Keep hiding and using your phony IDs. All you are doing is showing your worst side and demonstrating that what I say about you is true.