cybercuzco's Journal: Freedom

As I reflect on the Fourth of July, I feel that people today, despite their renewed patriotism, still fail to understnad the responsibilities of being an American. Nobody likes that word, responsibility, because it means that theyre going to have to pay for something somehow. They will pay through their work, or through their time or through money. The Constitution of the United states and the bill of rights dont just grant everyone rights and thats the end of it. They represent a social contract, an agreement between all americans about how government and society shoudl be run. This contract does not just give rights away for free, it requires hard work and responsibility by every american.In the past people have seemed to understand this more. During past wars people were willing to sacrifice their lives for freedom. But this is not limited to those in the military. Every american must bewilling to make the ultimate sacrifice so that others may live in freedom. The most recent example of this was during september 11, when ordinary civilians on a hijacked plane gave their lives to protect the united states. Those people died for freedom.
      All I see in response to this heroic act is constrictions of the freedoms set out in the bill of rights and declaration of independance. Restrictions on movement, restrictions on information, Holding people without trial, failure to give citizens access to attourneys, arresting people without charges. Is this the kind of country we want to live in? Is this the kind of country people died to give us? Some things are worth more than peoples lives, and I think that polititians have been falling over themselves so much to "protect" us that they are creating exactly the society we dont want to live in.
        Freedom is not an easy thing to hold on to, yet its rewards are immense. Freedom has made us the society we are today, and without it we would be just another two bit dictatorship. And one of the prices of freedom is that sometimes innocent people must give their lives in protection of it. The best response to september 11 would have been to rebuild, reorganize the law enforcement agencies designed to prevent these kind of crimes and replace doors on planes with stronger ones. But not to pass laws like the USA PATRIOT act that allow law enforcment to arrest people without charging them, hold people without access to lawyers and generally trample on peoples rights. There has to be a balance between protecting peoples freedom and keeping people safe. Without freedom what good are we as a country?