Yeah, it's that day.

[seawasp]

A horrid thing happened 9/11/2001. Unfortunately, despite many brave noises, after a relatively short time our quest to get the guys responsible fizzled out and we went after Iraq for some reason instead.

The terrorists have won, and are still winning more battles. Every additional law restricting us from doing something because A Terrorist Might Use That To... is another victory for them. They are TERRORists, remember. They want TERROR. They want fear. They want us to CHANGE because They Are Out There.

"But they COULD hurt us! Look at Israel! Look at the things that they already HAVE done!" you may say.

Yes. They could. AND THEY WILL.

Put bluntly, tough shit. No one said it was easy living in a world where there are psychos.

The question is simple: DO YOU WANT A FREE SOCIETY?

If you do, THEN YOU MUST ACCEPT THE RISKS THAT COME THEREWITH. You must accept that the more free your society, the more chance that someone will ABUSE that freedom. They may use it to bomb you, spread diseases, kill you, your family, your friends.

There it is. The blunt, honest, no-frills truth. FREEDOM COMES WITH A PRICE. The price is NOT just paid when you gain liberty from some particular oppressor. It is paid EACH and EVERY DAY by the RISK -- and sometimes, the CERTAINTY -- that the more free YOU are, the more free the BAD GUYS are.

That price is paid in blood sometimes. It may be MY blood. It may be my CHILDREN'S blood. It may be YOURS.

Only you can decide if that price is too high.

For me, there IS no price too high for my freedom. Run us back to before 9/11. Give us back our freedoms. The best memorial we could give to those who died is to not change at all.

Comments

[eacole72.livejournal.com]

Two men who helped found this country said it best:

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." - Thomas Jefferson

"Those who would trade Liberty for temporary Security deserve Neither." - Benjamin Franklin.

A third, much later, man had something else to say on the subject:

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty." -- Edward R Murrow, Tuesday, March 9, 1954

[burger-eater.livejournal.com]

Well said.

[melchar.livejournal.com]

Anything worth having is worth suffering for. Freedom's price is vigilance from enemies both external and internal. Unfortunately, craven politicans would rather react and posture than do anything that might make a real difference and expose the [in general] lazy electorate to perceived risk.

[dkaine.livejournal.com]

Hear hear, very well said. It's unfortunate what the higher ups will tell the general populace, and how much the general populace will just accept because they refuse to take the time to understand things better. I should rephrase that, they are unwilling to realize that things aren't always what they seem. People seem to believe whatever the media will tell them.... damn shame that.

[origamilady.livejournal.com]

The question is simple: DO YOU WANT A FREE SOCIETY?
If you do, THEN YOU MUST ACCEPT THE RISKS THAT COME THEREWITH. You must accept that the more free your society, the more chance that someone will ABUSE that freedom. They may use it to bomb you, spread diseases, kill you, your family, your friends.

Amen. Well said, Ryk.

[k-kinnison.livejournal.com]

FDR was right. Fear itself is the enemy. It makes you do stupid things. It makes you close your eyes because you think it'll make the monsters in the closet disappear, too. Wallowing in fear does nothing. Feeding that fear is a true crime. Lying about it to entertain the masses or make a political point, is the wrose thing you can possibly do

Fear is a great motivator.. but only those with a losing cause use it

[groblek.livejournal.com]

Very well said. I just wish that our politicians (or someone prominent in the news) would put it like that to the general public, rather than using the overall fear and panic to further their agendas.

[murstein.livejournal.com]

Fear is a great motivator.. but only those with a losing cause use it

I believe there's a reason for that. Using fear as a motivator causes people to make the safe choices. And consistently making the safe choices makes you ridiculously easy to predict.

In other words, using fear as a motivator causes you to lose.

Just found you...

[(Anonymous)]

...after finishing-up Digital Knight.

Eric is right, you know. I will be buying the hardcopy edition to "oil the machine."

I wanted to thank you for the fun I had reading of Jason Woods' adventures to this point.

Now I want to thank you for your views, expressed here.

Allan Gabston-Howell, http://www.gabston-howell.org/