The title of this post is a quote that is often attributed to Patrick Henry in 1775. Despite the fact that there is some controversy over the accuracy of this quote, the meaning behind it rang very true with the founding fathers. They felt that freedom and liberty were more than words, but ideas that were so important that they were worth fighting for. And often dying for. That the founding fathers would choose to die rather than to give up any freedoms says something.
There is also this quote that is often attributed to Benjamin Franklin though as with the quote above it is possibly mis-attributed:
“Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
Again, this illustrates the thinking of the era - that freedom and liberty were the ideas and values and were paramount to everything else, including security.
This idea is even enshrined in the preamble of the United States Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
In 230-plus some odd years we have done a 180 and now the attitude seems to be “give up your freedoms and liberty and we will make you safe from terrorists” which ironically plays right into the terrorists’ hands. The goal of terrorism is not to kill - that is a means to achieve the desired end result - which is to strike fear into an opponent to get what you want.
In fact, here is the definition of terrorism from the dictionary:
ter·ror·ism — the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.
Since 9/11 we have seen assorted legislation and actions in the name of security and almost every bit of it sacrificing the very freedoms our forefathers died to give us including the suspension of Habeas Corpus via the Military Commissions Act.
While watching the Democratic debate on CNN last night they touched on this concept that you have to choose human rights or security and cannot have both. They did not get into it too much, but I thought Barack Obama nailed it when he said that “The concepts are not contradictory.” which is pretty much how I feel about it. They are not mutually exclusive concepts.
I personally believe that we as a nation have lost our moral compass and we need to get it back. There was a time where other countries looked up to us because we practiced what we preached. Now we imprison people indefinitely without right to legal counsel in the name of security.
“But but but, we are only imprisoning the terrorists!” is what you will always hear. Yeah, the majority of the people in Guantanamo are suspected terrorist douche bags, but not every person that is detained is necessarily a terrorist. Mistakes are made and sometimes the wrong people are detained. And by denying these people legal representation, and in some cases torturing them we are acting in a manner that is inconsistent with the values that this nation was built upon.
By allowing this meme to permeate the American lexicon, it has had a cascading effect on the world. Countries that once feared us mock us. Some countries like Iran feel emboldened. Most of our friends now keep us at arm’s length and do not trust us.
Another often overlooked side effect of our behavior is the old golden rule - “…do to others what you would have them do to you…” - now when American troops are captured in battle they are even more likely to be mistreated because we have set the bar lower.
So the question is, in another 200 years what type of nation will the United States of America be? If there was a way for our forefathers to come back to life, would they be proud or full of shame?
I honestly can’t tell you. I have no idea where this is going. But I can tell you this - we are on the WRONG track and if we don’t get on the right track soon, the American dream may well perish.
–Jon