One of the things that bothers me most about the United States in the year 2005 is the complete willingness most people show to trade their basic freedoms for the illusion of security.
I was reading an article discussing the likelihood of a terrorist attack during the upcoming Presidential inauguration and all I could think about was the list of banned items that was published by the Washington D.C. police.
“. . .any other items at the discretion of the security screeners that may pose a potential safety hazard.”
The attitude that security screeners can and should be able to take away any object they want at their discretion is a dangerous one. We’re spending millions of dollars to have an inaguration where the average citizen is treated like a cow. That makes no sense.
If the government is here to serve us, why does it feel like we’re here to serve it sometimes? I am an immigrant citizen of this country, and I have earned its trust by serving honorably in the military and contributing a fair amount of the fruits of my labor as a private employee. Why should I not be trusted to come see my new President carrying any items I think are appropriate?
If, God forbid, a terrorist attack is launched during the inaguration, I would imagine the best security possible would be private citizens armed to the teeth. They would vastly outnumber the security forces and the terrorists.
Well, I realize my fantasy isn’t realistic in a society where a great number of people are a) ignorant about self-defense b) completely dependant on specialist professions for their very surivival and c) perfectly content to be led around as long as they can have a large screen TV and the illusion of security.
I’m guess I am a living anachronism with my stubborn insistence that the citizen is the basic unit of any republic and that they should think of themselves as the building blocks upon which everything else stands. I guess I’m a fool for thinking that I should be allowed to move about freely carrying any tools I wish to carry, having already proved to society that I am a builder, not a destroyer.
When your government cannot trust you, you cannot trust your government.