A few very interesting posts have made me think more deeply about what Americans should be ready to sacrifice in the name of safety. First, this report: http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Gingrich+raises+alarm+at+event+honoring+those+who+stand+up+for+freedom+of+speech&articleId=d3f4ee4e-1e90-475a-b1b0-bbcd5baedd78
The relevance of Third Reich Germany to today's America is not that Bush equals Hitler or that the United States government is a death machine. It's that it provides a rather spectacular example of the insidious process by which decent people come to regard the unthinkable as not only thinkable but doable, justifiable.
http://www.slate.com/id/2154567/nav/tap1/ Overlooking the author's unfortunate name, this article made me re-examine why it is that I believed nothing in modern-day could ever be compared to Third Reich-style tactics.
Perhaps it is more American to die that future generations may also experience freedom of speech than to live in an America that supports repression of such freedoms. I am not a parent, but it constantly amazes me that parents of young children today do not fight harder against aspects of modern society that would devastate their children as they grow. Why do moms drive their children in environmentally hurtful SUVs? Why don't they work to petition their governments to control pollution emissions? Why does it seem that I, a childless DINK, am more concerned about a future where breathing and excercising freedom than parents today?
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