by Arlos » Wed Sep 27, 2006 12:18 pm
The argument of "Well, you shouldn't worry about the government having unfettered powers to watch over you if you have nothing to hide" is a specious one at best.
For one, it gives the government WAY too much power. The American Revolution happened because of a government with too much power, and not even 1700s England had that kind of unfettered power. Thus, I would argue quite strongly that such a status would be COMPLETELY counter to the very ideals upon which this nation was founded.
Two, the Founding Fathers made very certain to preserve civil liberties into the fabric of this nation. Largely it was Jefferson driving the effort, with his Bill of Rights, but there are numerous other protections within the document itself. You would cavalierly ignore the very document that defines us as a nation? If you wish to make changes to remove those liberties, you are free to attempt to do so, but you MUST do so via the process of Constitutional Amendment, not because the government at whim decides that it needs more power and the citizens less rights.
Three, it would institute a very real "reign by fear" status within this country, not that we aren't trending towards that already, much to my dismay. The problem is, what is one day OK may the next be considered to be against the state. The words of a German protestant pastor from the late 1930s in Germany resonate as true today on this as they did then: "First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me".
You have been very vocal in your "security above all else" rhetoric. But the very words of one of our founders contradicts your stance. Listen to Benjamin Franklin's famous quote of, "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." So, by the very rights the Founding Fathers fought for, you have the right to your belief, but since it so contradicts the precepts for which they fought, bled and died in order to found this nation, such a position as yours is clearly Un-American.
-Arlos