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To: Skeeter Bug who wrote (139252)	2/19/2002 6:01:41 AM
From: craig crawford	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

your answer to every piece of evidence i present is that you see no real alarming abridgements of our liberties at present and if there becomes an event alarming enough the united states will assert it's dominance and do whatever it pleases. you assume that we will always be in a position to change course and back away from the entanglements we are so willingly participating in--without serious repercussions or consequences. that is a naive view. it is far easier to not put ourselves in the position where we have to break agreements and thumb our nose at the world because we wake up one day and decide we are not in control of our own destiny as much as we would like. it is risky to pursue a path where we cede our independence and freedom of action to global institutions which don't always share in our beliefs and interests. one only need look to our federal government as an example of the alarming risk that giant bureaucracies with the power of taxation and a forceful military presence pose. our govt grows larger all the time, more tyrannical, authoritarian, oppressive, and despotic. it didn't start out that way, but it's a natural progression and consequence when a society fails to remain cognizant of, and vigilant against, the inherent desire for authoritative institutions to increases the size and scope of their power and influence. that is exactly what we are seeing with the UN. it is seeking to increase it's size and scope of power via global taxation and a military presence. if unchecked, eventually it will grow large enough where a power struggle will ensue and the UN will be at direct odds with the US government--or more accurately, the citizens of the united states. we are already seeing attempts by the UN to gain legitimacy as the supreme law of the land. our second president alerted us to the dangers of cavalier, complacent, or apathetic attitudes such as yours. "I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." --James Madison, June 16, 1788 this reality is precisely why we need to remain a vigilant, self-governing society that doesn't cede authority to national or global bureaucrats who wish to use "gradual and silent encroachments" to gain ever more power over our lives. do you really think thomas jefferson would view the united nations or the world trade organization as "safe depositories of the ultimate powers of society"? does that sound like government of the people, by the people, for the people? "I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion." --Thomas Jefferson, September 28, 1820