Life Above All

Various things were written on the flags of nations: "Liberté, égalité, fraternité". "God, Honor, Country". "For Our Liberty and Yours". Many people died defending these ideals. But it seems that the motto on our standard nowadays turns slowly into "My life, my safety, my money". It seems as though people are running scared witless, screaming "Yes, take our liberties, our pride, our rights, but let us live! Oh, Government, protect us by any cost!".

Consider: the only thing standing between our liberties and totalitarian oppression by the government is our Constitution, with its checks and balances and the Bill of Rights. And what are we doing when we feel a bit threatened? We dump all of that out, give the central government as much power as they want, and trust that they, unchecked and uncontrolled, will take care of us. Good luck with that.

Yeah, terrorists are a thread that should be dealt with. But in the last 50 years the total fatalities (in US) caused by terrorism (and that both domestic, caused by the likes of Timothy McVeigh, and international, caused mostly by Islamic fundamentalists) amount to about 4000 persons. Which is minuscule compared to one year fatalities from causes like car accidents (~40000/year), falls (~18000/year), drowning (~3000/year), suicide (~30000/year), homicide by firearms (~16000/year), or alcohol-induced deaths (~20000/year)*. An yet we jettison our essential liberties, and our moral ideals, to protect us from such a minor nuisance.

We could go through each amendment one by one and give examples of what is going on, but there is no need: you could search the news as well as I can. However the pattern repeats itself ad nauseam: "We have to limit free speech, otherwise we would endanger our security". "We need unwarranted searches, or our security will be compromised". "Right to speedy trial and right to confront the accusers will jeopardize the security." And so on and so on.

Yes, it may. Yes, it will. But this is not the point. The right to free speech is infinitely more important than some "security" one gets by abridging it. Same with habeas corpus, due process, unwarranted searches, bearing of arms, and any other right enumerated in the Constitution. We will prevail over the terrorists anyway, using lawful procedures, and methods that do not bring us down to their level. But if we surrender our liberties in the meantime, we may never recover them.

Remember, the Constitution does not say "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, [...], shall not be violated, [..], unless someone decides that this may enhance security." It does not provide for freedom of speech "as long as it is convenient to the government". These right are absolute.

And priceless. Even if the price is the highest one an individual can pay.

*All data from National Vital Statistics Reports, 2006.