We should listen to the founding fathers.

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.

Benjamin Franklin

***I am adding this picture to this blog post on 01-24-06 since it seems appropiate***




I sometimes wonder what the founding fathers would make of our country if they were alive today. I wonder if they would nod their heads and say, "See. Told you we had to put that in the Constitution, so that our descendants will not have to live through the same mistakes we did." Maybe they would be surprised at how things turned out. Maybe they would just grin at the explosive growth and influence of the press. I know one thing that would have them turning in their graves though; the gradual erosion of freedom that government has seized in the name of security. Did you know that when Social Security was first envisioned there was concern that a national social system would be abused and the government would use Social Security numbers to track citizens and we would slip into the style of facist governments and track our people's every move. Remind you of George Orwell and Big Brother? Maybe some people rest easy at night, safe in the knowledge that the government is only doing this to protect them from the big bad terrorists. Maybe we should just give the selfless people in Washington DC the ability to do whatever they want to protect us from the bad guys. Lets throw up cameras on every street corner and monitor the comings and goings of everyone. Lets create a national database with everybody's names in it so that we will know when a terrorist slips into the country. While we are at it lets outlaw the ability for everyone to make their own choices. Heaven knows the majority of the country is next to illiterate and shouldn't be trusted with the decision making ability of whether or not to have an abortion, or when they should be able to end their own life. I know I want the concerned bureaucracy in Washington to keep out all those darn foreigners who are stealing hard working American's jobs. I mean come on those illegal immigrant Mexican workers in California are worse than the Irish were in New York in the 19th century...

Ok maybe someone out there didn't realize that I had slipped into sarcasm and started to think that I am an outright bigot. What I really wanted to do is write a controversial blog, maybe to get some of the people who read this thinking about what we are giving up lately in our quest for safety. Maybe they will tell their friends, who will tell their friends... I have gotten extremely nervous about what is happening around the country lately, the Big Brother knows best attitude of the Federal Government, the feeling that it is right for the President or Congress to decide how everyone lives their lives. Its easy to give in a little bit and then wonder what happened when the inch you gave up has become a foot then a yard. Maybe someone out there reading this will become motivated to vote or to let their elected leaders know that we are not going to take their bullying any longer. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions...