Thank you for sharing this. I was not in the US at the time, but even at a distance, it seemed very peculiar that an enormous “public safety bill” creating the agency with a very ominous name called “homeland security” seemed to pop out, fully drafted, within weeks, as though waiting on the shelf, as you pointed out. Maybe since the aftermath of the Church committee?
I'm 58 years old and have watched this insidious trade being made my entire adult life. From my earliest recollection learning US history, the single most important notion was that our freedoms are born with us, not granted by any person or collective. I regret taking this notion for granted. I got my degree, I had my career, I married, had a family, bought homes, paid off debt, sent children to college, and now look forward my future title of grandpa. My life is really good. And yet I am so concerned that the freedoms I assumed were self-evident, won't be there for my grandchildren. And I'm so perplexed that so many of my contemporaries (very successful, highly educated people) are willing to make this trade. I just don't understand how that happened. Thank you for sharing this message. We all need to send it to everyone we know and try to reclaim our future...thunderstorms and all!
I worry that the instinct has always been there, but, like you, I have kids and worry about the future. We at FIRE recently surveyed 59k college students. Their attitudes about free speech, in particular, were concerning to say the least. FIRE co-founder Alan Charles Kors once said, “A nation that does not educate in liberty will not long preserve it and will not even know when it is lost.” We have some educating to do ...
Thank you for sharing this. I was not in the US at the time, but even at a distance, it seemed very peculiar that an enormous “public safety bill” creating the agency with a very ominous name called “homeland security” seemed to pop out, fully drafted, within weeks, as though waiting on the shelf, as you pointed out. Maybe since the aftermath of the Church committee?
Thank you for sharing and for making great writing easier to find.
Thanks for reading, Tom!
I'm 58 years old and have watched this insidious trade being made my entire adult life. From my earliest recollection learning US history, the single most important notion was that our freedoms are born with us, not granted by any person or collective. I regret taking this notion for granted. I got my degree, I had my career, I married, had a family, bought homes, paid off debt, sent children to college, and now look forward my future title of grandpa. My life is really good. And yet I am so concerned that the freedoms I assumed were self-evident, won't be there for my grandchildren. And I'm so perplexed that so many of my contemporaries (very successful, highly educated people) are willing to make this trade. I just don't understand how that happened. Thank you for sharing this message. We all need to send it to everyone we know and try to reclaim our future...thunderstorms and all!
I worry that the instinct has always been there, but, like you, I have kids and worry about the future. We at FIRE recently surveyed 59k college students. Their attitudes about free speech, in particular, were concerning to say the least. FIRE co-founder Alan Charles Kors once said, “A nation that does not educate in liberty will not long preserve it and will not even know when it is lost.” We have some educating to do ...
keep doing what you're doing! Thank you.