I recall from my earliest years, learning that some things outside of our control happened. Sometimes these things were 'acts of god', other times these things were senseless acts of hatred or cruelty, either way we had to find ways to deal it. How we dealt with the aftermath of these events helped to define us, reveal our character, manifest our mettle. Everyone understood that there was no such thing as complete safety, and no one expected it – everyone knew any such promise would be empty (at least where I grew up). Not only that, the price for attempting to provide it would be prohibitively high.
Today on the other hand, we have people in government more than happy to promise safety, and people are clamoring for it, either oblivious, or indifferent, to the cost. Before 9/11, even with today's news coverage, I don't believe congress would be looking for personal protection (yes, I know not all members want protection.) With the advent of national coverage of child abductions and molestations a sense of fear for our children has grown to be oppressive. Many children don't know what it's like to play in their neighborhoods unsupervised, depriving them of opportunities to learn conflict management on their own. Children have also been denied the gradual ownership for responsibility; when they aren't allowed outside on their own, they don't learn to manage time, decide with their friends what games they're going to play, decide what constitutes fair play, or learn to watch out for each other while playing near the street (even in the street while riding bikes or playing ball where traffic permits.) Yes, I do have children who play out front with their friends. I have talked with them about being safe, and how to react to people they don't know. They are learning personal responsibility. When they do something neighbors don't like, we have a chat about actions and consequences; whether they be intentional or unintentional.
Fear is a terrible master. When we let fear rule our lives, our choices, our friends, we give up a great deal of our humanity. History is rife with examples of fears being used to excuse, or justify, humanity's worst behavior. Among those worst behaviors are the crusades, Nazi concentration camps, ethnic cleansing, and slaughter of native americans. Hatred between any two groups is fed by emotion. These emotions can be based on misinformation, misunderstanding, incorrect memories, events from time-out-of-mind. So today, we not only single out people who fit the norm for 'terrorists', we are willing and eager to give up our freedoms for the empty promise of safety! If we live in fear, we are not free.
Our privacy is all but a vague memory; our freedom is hot on its tail.
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