Politics: Be Careful

The other day I was writing about the criminal use of guns here in Britain. The day after writing that piece a gang of armed robbers, dressed as police, kidnapped the family of a cash depot manager and forced him to help them steal £43,000,000 in cash (give or take a million or two). The politicians were quick to say that the robbers were using "terrorist" tactics. But I have seen countless heist films with this type of modus operandi. I think it is rather silly to start to classify any and all illegal activity as "terrorist".


Last September, at the Labour Party Conference, security officers forcibly ejected and 82 yr old heckler from the building. He was then held by the police under the pretext of "prevention of terrorism". Later the Prime Minister apologised for the incident. I know that the same thing occured in the US congress when two women, from opposing sides of the political spectrum, were ejected under the same pretences because they were wearing T-shirts that expressed opinions concerning the war in Iraq.


It seems to me that our governments, under the pretext of preserving our freedoms, are consistently undermining them instead. From the indiscriminate and universal use of wiretapping, the demand that companies surreneder personal information on clients and customers, the penchant for any and all dissent to be branded as terrorist or traitorous, and the unrestrained and dishonorable desire to somehow sanction torture and incarceration without trial, our governments have used the fear of terrorism to enact new laws, and ignore old ones. They say they do this to keep democracy safe.



Benjamin Frankiln once said, "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

While terrorism is indeed a real threat in today's world, the fear of terrorism is an even more insidious foe. Dwight Eisenhower said, "The problem with defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without."



So, in conclusion, I would say this: Be carefull what you wish for..you just might get it.