anonymous services

[Alan Dayley]

I forgot my note in the previous post!  Oops.

Alan

At 02:43 PM 9/14/01 -0800, you wrote:
>I am willing to forfeit liberty in order to be "safe."

Amazing.  Ben Franklin said, "Those who would give up essential liberty to
purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
(see note 1)

If you go live in a prison cell, never to be let out, you probably would be
as safe as a human can be.  But, how wants to live like that?

Let's use a car analogy.  How can you be resonably sure that your brand new
car will not ever be damaged (paint chips, rocks in the windshield, door
dings, accidents, etc.)?  Put it in your garage and never take it out.

My point: The world is not safe and never will be.

How much freedom are you willing to exchange for more illusion of safety?
Freedom is so fragile I question anything that would limit it in any way.
Do terrorists communicate securely on written letters in envelopes through
the mail?  If they do, should we ban evelopes so it would be easier for the
authorities to read the bad guy's post cards along with my medical records?

Once you open the door, who decides how wide to open it and how do they
decide that?  I would rather keep the door shut.

Alan

Note 1: I have seen this "quote" re-worded so many times I am beginning to
doubt it's authenticity.  Does anyone know where the ORIGINAL version is?
In any case, I agree with the idea presented.