as freedom is a breakfast food... (The War Against Terrorism - Post Afghanistan)

Member Name: mattygroves10

Product:	The War Against Terrorism - Post Afghanistan
Date:	26/07/05 (366 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: To increase security . . .

Disadvantages: . . . you decrease freedom

or truth can live with right and wrong/
or molehills are from mountains made..."

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Update & Explanation - 2005
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I originally wrote this in August of 2002 - the first time I'd been to the States following 9-11-2001. Things have moved on since then. The London Underground has been a terrorist target - twice. We have the terror on our doorstep, and we feel it personally.

Nevertheless, the concerns expressed here are perhaps even more relevant now in light of recent events. Ultimately, how far are you willing to go to feel safe, and how much freedom will you sacrifice for yourself and your children in the name of security?

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August 22, 2002
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FREEDOM. What do you think of when you hear that word? Are you free to say what you wish? Are you free to do as you wish? Can you act to preserve what you feel is right? Given certain limits (i.e., the classic "you can't cry fire in a crowded cinema"), you probably feel you do. But you don't.

As some of you may know, I am currently on holiday in the States. I am American. I live in England, and have done so most of my adult life.

Many of you may not like what I have to say. But I have to say it. Today, I went with a friend into Philadelphia. We thought we'd go into Independence Park. My friend had to fly back to the West Coast, so she had her luggage.

Last year, I went with my family to Independence Park. It was lovely. Historic America - historic US - open for all. Free. Kostenlos. Gratis. It is still Kostenlos. It still costs no money. It is, nevertheless, no longer free. No. There were queues to be SEARCHED. A FREE park. Not free. There were barricades around Independence Square. And men and women in natty hats. With guns. "Protecting me." From what??

What REALLY frightened me was the acceptance. I came home to my educated family, and expressed my horror at the 'security' arrangements. They thought it well and good. After all, there HAD been veiled threats. It IS a historic monument, of importance, both historically and emotionally to Americans. But tell me: could the 'security' arrangements REALLY have stopped a terrorist? Could a bunch of folks in natty hats REALLY have stopped a bomber? Would taking away a Swiss Army Knife REALLY make me, and those around me, safer from terrorism? I doubt it.

I think that they are not taking away the threat, but rather the freedoms. They are introducing a police state from the back door. EDUCATED people are accepting this. In the name of safety. In the name of an artificial safety. For I am not safer. My daughter is not safer. You are not safer as a result of these measures. Perhaps you FEEL safer. But you're not. A true, determined, organised terrorist would not find the natty hats a barrier.

However, should I be carrying a Swiss Army Knife (I have a tiny one on my keychain), or, heaven forfend, an ounce of an illegal substance (which I do not have on my keychain), would they ignore it, as it is not a 'terrorist' threat? I think not.

People here, in the US, are accepting of these measures. We, perhaps as a race (Homo sapiens), are sometimes willing to accept reduced freedom in exchange for increased security. In Britain, we've been willing to accept the proliferation of CCTV, supposedly to catch criminals. And how many criminals have been caught? More to the point, how many crimes has it prevented? How many SERIOUS crimes has it prevented? How many lives COULDN'T it save? How much are we willing to sacrifice in the name of safety?

Now this whole diatribe may strike some as odd, if you've read everything I've written here. After all, I'm PRO gun control. I'm ANTI gun. I don't think people should be allowed to carry guns as a matter of course. So am I pro-freedom. YES. Freedom DOESN'T mean the right to blow your neighbour away - or even to have the ability to do so. Oddly, however, in the US, they will search me for pocket knives to enter Independence Park, yet, so long as I have a licence, I can legally carry a heavy firearm. HELLO?!

Today, I am worried. Tomorrow - who knows? Maybe I'll buy into the police state by the back door. Maybe I'll turn a blind eye. Maybe I'll change who and what I am, so that I can remain an 'I am'. Maybe I'll sacrifice ME so that I can feel safe as part of an US or a WE or a MANY. Maybe. Many other people have.

"Olaf (upon what were once knees)
does almost ceaselessly repeat
"there is some shit I will not eat""

(Summary, introduction and conclusion are all poems by ee cummings. I highly recommend both the poet and the poems. The poems are: 'hate blows a bubble of despair into', 'as freedom is a breakfast food' and 'i sing of Olaf glad and big')

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Thoughts in 2005
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Not long ago, a Brazilian who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time wearing the wrong jacket was shot eight times by police at close range. They thought he was a suicide bomber. Everyone admits that the error is a tragedy. However, the general feeling in the press and on television and on the streets seems to be "it's unfortunate, but it's a price to pay to protect us from suicide bombers." If that is the case, though, the police have now been assigned judge, jury and executioner. Next time, it may not be a stranger from another land who is shot dead. Next time it might be your brother, your father, your son, or yourself. And, of course, we are in truth no safer because the police may shoot to kill. Are we REALLY willing to sacrifice real freedoms for illusory security? Are you really safer if the police shoot to kill? Are you sure?

Summary: hate blows a bubble of despair into...fear buries a tomorrow under woe