You know, I'm conflicted about restrictions to rights. I don't like to see adults restricted (for example) but on the other hand I don't like to see children unprotected. I do think that they are a different class of person, and unable to protect themselves from the amazingly sophisticated and powerful media barrage aimed at them. Adults may also often be powerless, but we need to presume they are not- however with children I think we need a different standard.
I also have problems where group health is concerned. Food, for example, I want regulated. And I don't think people should be able to do harmful activities that affect others- like smoking in public places. That's an authoritarian restriction - but if you don't restrict people in this way then you basically give smokers carte blanche to assault people with their smoke.
So I have a hard time with authoritarianism. I think adults should be able to do any drugs they want at home, but they should be nabbed if they do them behind the wheel, or are publicly intoxicated. I think adults should be able to watch whatever kind of porn they want, and whatever kind of violence they want, but I want such channels restricted from children.
As for the war on terror, I think it could be used as an excuse to take away almost any constitutional right- and quite frankly I don't see terror as that big a threat. Even ten 9/11's will only kill ten times 2996 people- that's less than are killed on the nations highways every year (yet I doubt many people want to see encroachment into civil liberties to stop highway deaths.) Does anyone really think terrorists truly threaten our republic? Do highway deahts threaten our republic? No? I thought not. And yet there are around 43 thousand of them a year. Ok, obviously some people do believe, for whatever reason, that terrorism is number one- but logically I think more and more people realize we have a lot of dangers we live with far more pressing than terrorism. Clearly we don't want to ignore terrorism - we need to fight it carefully, and conscientiously, but to give it top billing is ridiculous, since it really is not the major threat facing our country. Natural disaster, and biological epidemics are probably the greatest threats we face (remember even in years without epidemic flu 200,000 people are hospitalized, and 36 thousand die), and natural disasters will be compounded by poor infrastructure planning- and infrastructure should be a top priority, but isn't. This administration couldn't plan the war in Iraq, and I doubt very much they've done much decent advance planning for the real threats that face us here in the US. Too busy doing crappy advance planning for a new war in Iran. Unfortunately. |
