The 10th and 14th amendments have been gutted, the 5th is (Takings' clause) is being winked at, the 2th Amendment is under siege. If the 1st Amendment is ever overthrown, then we will have thrown our country away.
The privacy issue is under siege by this wiretap issue. Not to mention encryption. The internet may be the Rubicon for this.
Douglas, as far as private legal actions go, well, that just an issue where you and I disagree, my friend.
As a Libertarian I am opposed a priori to any abridgement of the rights of citizens vis a vis our public servants simply because IMO anything that strengthen the state ultimately will weaken the individual.
If an official is given special treatment over any of us, over time, supporters of statism will, via incrementalism, turn this loophole into legal dogma. Incrementalism is the principle of the Fabian Society in Britain used to overthrow classical laissez faire liberalism and supplant with the socialist miasma they have now.
To use a plainer example, government's incremental minor coercions against its citizens are analogous to boiling a frog. You simply don't throw a frog in to boiling water - it will jump out slightly scalded. Rather, you let the frog languish in tepid water and gradually increase the temperature. By the time the water is boiling, the frog is too enervated and lulled into complacency by the comfort of the warm bath to save itself from boiling.
Just MHO.
Regards,
Daniel |
