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It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority – Benjamin Franklin
When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? When did we cross the line from courage to cowardice? Was it sometime in the 1990s? After the Oklahoma City bombing? After the Columbine shootings? After 911?
When did we decide to allow the police to smash into private homes without knocking and identifying themselves? Recently, in the suburb I live in, a special police force dressed in black Nazi style uniforms busted into a suburban home without warning and dragged a school teacher out of her house with an automatic weapon at the back of her head. They forced her to the ground, handcuffed her, and hauled her away while her neighbors watched. They did it without a warrant and without consequence. Why? A misunderstanding. That is precisely why we need checks in place, to avoid misunderstandings and abuses. The police chief said, “When we realized it was a mistake, we all had a good laugh.” If a group of unidentified men dragged his wife away at gunpoint, I wonder if he would still think it was funny.
When did we decide it was okay to strip search an old lady at the airport because the pin in her hip set off the metal detector? When did we decide it was too risky to take a cup of coffee on an airplane? When did we decide it was reasonable to make a nursing mother drink her own breast milk to prove she wasn’t a terrorist? When we impose such extreme levels of security, haven’t the terrorists already won? Haven’t we willingly given our freedom to the government and the terrorists in the name of security?
When did we decide it was okay for policemen in combat boots with German Shepherds to patrol High School hallways?
When did we decide to allow routine police roadblocks? Why weren’t we outraged?
When did we decide it was too dangerous for our children to ride their bikes to school?
When did we decide it was okay for the government to seize property without a trial, without due process, at the whim of a government agency?
When did we decide that our government had a right to the fluids inside our own bodies? Or a right to the very breath in our lungs? When did we decide that it was the accused’s responsibility to prove they hadn’t been breaking the law? When did we decide that drug testing High School students was reasonable? Hell, why is it reasonable to drug test anyone – ever? Why would anybody, for any reason, have the right to invade your body without your permission?
When did we decide to give 10 year prison sentences to adolescents for having sex? Was it before or after we decided to put them in jail for smoking cigarettes and drinking beer? If my memory serves me correctly, when I was a teenager, almost everyone I knew either was doing it or wanted to do it. Why did we make what is biological and natural, criminal?
When did we decide it is too risky for 20-year-olds to drink but reasonable for them to kill and die overseas? Does that make sense to anyone?
We’ve justified every one of these injustices by claiming that it was necessary to preserve health and safety. I say bullsh!t. What is the point in being a safe slave?
I think we crossed the line somewhere between 1984 and 1988, around the time we outlawed lawn darts and every mini van in America had a ‘baby-on-board’ sign. While lawn darts and baby on board signs may seem trivial, they were warning signs of a mass shift in American values – a shift away from freedom and liberty as predominant values to health and safety as predominant values. There will be no end to the loss of freedom if we believe being healthy and safe trumps all else.
I believe there was day when most Americans accepted that life was risky. They accepted that bad things can happen to good people. They accepted that risk was an inherent part being free. They didn’t need a new law or government program every time something bad happened.
It is sad to watch our freedom slowly disappear in front of our eyes with so few people taking action.
But I have hope. I sense a shift. Something is blowing in the wind. I can smell it. I can feel it. I can see it in young people. A move away from authoritarianism – like the people that run The Free Talk Live podcast, one of the most popular podcasts in the world. The Free Talk Live podcasters make no apologies and pull no punches in their love of freedom. They tell it like it is.
He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither – Benjamin Franklin
206 Responses
John Wesley
April 13th, 2007 at 7:27 am
1Jefferson felt the same way. These guys were advocates of civil disobedience and distrust of the government. Today the prevailing mentality is that the government is the benevolent protector of the people. Anyone who says otherwise is labeled unpatriotic.
I’m not sure who said it, maybe Ron Paul, but the quote is, “Every time the government increases in size. individual liberties necessarily decrease.”
Derek
April 13th, 2007 at 7:43 am
2This is a great post, Steve. I fully agree. America has become an authoritarian nanny state, where dissent is labeled unpatriotic and where critical thinking is branded as dangerous and terrorist-enabling. It’s really sad that we’ve allowed this to occur, that the very basic ideas of freedom have become eclipsed by false desire for safety.
On a different note: Every time you write “sh!t”, I want to hit my head on my desk. Please stop bowdlerizing your posts. If you want to use a curse word, just use it. Changing “shit” to “sh!t” is painfully silly. It doesn’t cover up the meaning of the word, and it makes you look like you’re afraid to really say what you want.
Nonetheless, I like your site, and I look forward to your future posts.
Roman Jakubowycz
April 13th, 2007 at 8:12 am
3Steve
It’s not Health and Safety. It’s when we decided that EQUALITY was more important than FREEDOM AND LIBERTY. Not equality of opportunity but of outcome.
This is the debate that the governed must answer. Every form of government, Communist, Socialist, Dictatorships and Democracies are in themselves an answer to this question.
Command and Market economies are governed by the rules set by the answer to this question.
When did all this happen? It started way before the 80′s. It is driven by the Baby boom generation.
They rebelled in the 60′s and 70′s and then felt they shouldn’t be held responsible for their actions and decisions.
They became wealthy in the 80′s and then felt guilty for making money while neglecting thier children.
In the 90′s they realized they had betrayed their ideals but enjoyed the lifestyle they had become accustomed to.
And in the 2000′s, after living a life without consequence or responsibility, they expect the next generation to take care of them. They have the numbers to make it happen.
What you describe in your blog falls squarly on the shoulders of a single generation. The generation that felt their parent’s ideals, morals, and work ethic were quaint. They rebelled and then decided they could not live with the outcome of thier choices.
What they want is a society in which the young can live a life without an eye on the future; free, sometimes reckless but alive. And then regardless of how they chose to live their lives, the boomers belive everyone is entitled to an outcome. One void of personal responsibility and duty. Full of Health, Safety and Prosperity. Without the risks inherent in the freedom and liberty they so longed for when their journey began.
You are right, the tide is changing as the next generation realize the hypocracy so prevelant in thier parent’s lives.
Ell Small
April 13th, 2007 at 8:48 am
4On my wall there is a framed cover from TIME magazine dated August 12, 1991. The cover headline is “BUSYBODIES & CRYBABIES – What’s Happening to the American Character?” If the MSM was taking note you can bet it happened years before then.
Steve
April 13th, 2007 at 9:15 am
5Derek,
I use sh!t instead of the real word, because I read that google penalizes sites with certain words.
That all. I’m not trying to hide meaning, I’m protecting SEO.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
Drew
April 13th, 2007 at 9:20 am
6Well said! I don’t agree with all your points, but certainly with the overall message. Life is risky. The sooner you accept that there are no guarantees in life, the sooner you can get on with living it. Life is too short to waste it all being worried about things we don’t have any control over.
Derek
April 13th, 2007 at 9:23 am
7I’ve never heard that, but I suppose it could be true. It’d never occurred to me that’s why you might do that. I wouldn’t think that Google would penalize sites in that manner, but I could be wrong.
nynerd
April 13th, 2007 at 9:42 am
8I was with you right up until you started talking about health at the very end. This country does not take health seriously at all. We are a nation of uninsured people eating processed food and smoking cigarettes.
But other than that I agree 100%, Nazi Germany took similar steps as it got more and more extreme and nobody stepped up and said something. We can’t let that happen again.
Nigel
April 13th, 2007 at 9:45 am
9I think setting things up between safety and freedom is exactly the false dichotomy that people in power want people to make. It’s not black and white. There is nothing wrong with laws that protect people, even sometimes from themselves, but each and every one of those laws needs to be examined to determine who it really serves. I don’t know, I’m biased — perhaps because of living in Canada. These days the laws the US passes to make people “safe” seem insane. It seems like people are willing to die for the right to drive big trucks and buy whatever they want, but the right to not be beaten by police or the right to health care just gets a yawn.
Coalition of the Drilling
April 13th, 2007 at 9:47 am
10You ask “Haven’t the terrorists already won?” They have.
And here’s the thing: The terrorists are the government.
I am more afraid of Bush, Cheney, and co. than I am of bin Laden.
“3000 innocent have died in 9-11″ is what they always tell us. How many innocent have died in Iraq? They want me to believe that dropping bombs on a hospital, school or residential building is not a cowardly act. Those brave American bomber pilots and their commanders!!!
When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? | Techie Manager
April 13th, 2007 at 10:03 am
11[...] Good essay from Steve Olson: When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? When did we cross the line from courage to cowardice? Was it sometime in the 1990s? After the Oklahoma City bombing? After the Columbine shootings? After 911? [...]
Nneka
April 13th, 2007 at 10:21 am
12We want to be able to have our cake and eat it too: freedom and security. It’s not an unreasonable request, but we will have to find a value that encompasses both: responsibility.
Dave
April 13th, 2007 at 10:32 am
13When did Steve become such a pussy that he wouldn’t stand up to Google?
Tongue in Cheek but you have to apply your concerns to everything, not just governments. Otherwise you’re a hypocrite.
Steve wrote:
Derek,
I use sh!t instead of the real word, because I read that google penalizes sites with certain words.
That all. I’m not trying to hide meaning, I’m protecting SEO.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
Zack
April 13th, 2007 at 10:36 am
14Given that a mountain of evidence shows that 9/11 and Oklahoma were both perpetrated by the US government, you have to wonder if they were intended to make Americans wimps.
Anyway my feeling is that it started in the 1980 with the decade of “greed is good”. Greed is itself cowardly.
Zack
April 13th, 2007 at 10:39 am
15I want to note that “conservatism” has long seemed to be all about bad people claiming to be victims afraid of persecutors, for instance the polluting company’s CEO claims he is afraid of mean regulators trying to destroy his livelihood. This “faux victimhood” is surely part of the cause of the wimpiness you mention. Since both political parties are whoring themselves to big business I’d say the wimpiness comes from the parties’ caving in to business, and then it spread to society through the media.
Ian S..
April 13th, 2007 at 11:04 am
16Listen to the words of ” Working Class Hero ” by John Lennon, then you might get an incling as to why people sit and do nothing..
Shii
April 13th, 2007 at 11:09 am
17Google doesn’t use any particular words to penalize a site. It’s written to be as all-inclusive as possible, so French and English sites can use the same code.
Jerry A. Pipes
April 13th, 2007 at 11:32 am
18Preach on, brother Steve.
Scott Davis
April 13th, 2007 at 11:45 am
19Steve,
I really feel for you guys. Your country has gone from being a great nation to a shadow of itself.
As a Canadian, I am of two minds about the United States. On one hand, I, like most of my fellow Canadians, take pride in being “not American” (it’s a bit of a national habit here). On the other hand, I feel a very strong kinship with Americans, because of our great shared history. Canadians and Americans have fought (and died) together in two World Wars and the Korean War, and we are always the first to help each other out when the other nation is in need.
There is a great tradition in the cities of Windsor and Detroit called the Freedom Festival. Basically it is a 4 day festival beginning on Canada Day (July 1st) and ending on Independence Day. Citizens of both countries join together and celebrate not only our own nations, but also the great friendship between our two countries.
That said, I worry about what is happening down there south of the 49th. It seems that more and more your country is falling prey to fear. What has become of the nation whose soldiers fought along Canada’s soldiers for the liberation of Europe? Where is that glorious bravery that Americans have always shown by stepping forward when there is a a call for help?
How have you allowed yourselves to fall so short of the ideal that you have so wonderfully championed for 200 years?
Why Can’t You All Just OBEY Me? » Steve Olson said it better than I could have
April 13th, 2007 at 11:52 am
20[...] When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? [...]
Michael Graham Richard
April 13th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
21Speaking of Benjamin Franklin, I’m currently reading Walter Isaacson’s biography (2003) and it’s quite excellent. I recommend it if you haven’t already read it.
JimC
April 13th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
22Steve and Lee for president. Two articles decrying many of the same issues appeared on reddit today. Here’s the other: http://www.bordersstores.com/features/feature.jsp?file=wherehavealltheleadersgone
Dick Long
April 13th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
23This is a great article. However, I disagree with the assertion that things are, or will, get better. I’ve been in teaching for almost twenty years. More and more, I see high-shool students (teenagers) who are completely incapable of dealing with adverse situations without calling Mommy on the cell phone. These kids are gonna become adults one day and, as such, they’re still gonna need Mommy, whether that be their mother or a government that shields them from anything they simply don’t like. Sad, but I really feel this way. Talk to youngsters, you’ll see.
horia314
April 13th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
24It’s sad to see the USA go down this way. I mean, if it died like the Roman Empire, eaten from inside by corruption and decadence, and finished off by invading barbarians / Canadians, I could understand, but this is just awful. And it’s not even dictatorship as it should be. Back in the USSR, when they overthrowed the Czar and his minions, the people knew exactly what they were in for – nice hard authoritarian Communists. With these fellows you don’t know so well. In some parts it’s cool, in other’s it’s not, some things are good, some are not.
Maybe When We Surrendered To Crybabies About Speech? « Mike Cane’s Blog
April 13th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
25[...] Maybe When We Surrendered To Crybabies About Speech? When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? –linkswipe via reddit [...]
disestablishmentarian
April 13th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
26This post is dangerous thinking. The last group of people who weren’t frightened wimps, who had the guts to fight for freedom were the Confederacy, and although they were doing it for reasons that we find repugnant today (namely slavery, I support States Rights though), they weren’t afraid to die for their beliefs.
We, the people of the United States, must prepare for Civil War II. Come on Freedom loving people of all stripes (Libertarians, Liberals, Social Democrats, real Conservatives, Anarchists, Communists, etc), it’s time to take down these Theoconservatives that control Washington. Voting doesn’t work, the system is rigged thanks to their friends at Diebold. They have made peaceful revolution impossible, and thus have made violent revolution inevitable. Come, comrades, onward to victory!
logtar
April 13th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
27I agree, I think blogging is going to change the face of the earth!
Thanks for the wonderful words.
Tim
April 13th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
28You make some very solid points. I’m especially partial to the one about drinking and fighting in a war. I was responsible enough at 18 to join the Army and man a .50 caliber machine gun, but not enough to drink a beer with my buddies. Weird, huh?
Fab 5 on Friday 04/13/07 - Spirituality Applied to Life - Balanced Life Center
April 13th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
29[...] Steve asks, “When Did America Become a Nation of Frightened Wimps?” We have sacrificed safety for freedom. Now we sacrifice freedom for safety. When will we realize that we need to be responsible and conscious if we are to have both? [...]
Joseph Hartman
April 13th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
30The democrats caused this. THeir attempts to subvert our nations defense is what caused the terrorists to be able to strike at us. The democrats insistance on destroying our religion is what made us weak, and when they dismantled the military to where it is now, we were defenseless. We cant even win in iraq because of the cutbacks the democrats made and they try and blame it on our leaders. Christ never wanted us to be defenseless before our enemies.
Democrats want Christ out of our lives and have no problem with islam taking over.
If it werent for the republicans, we would all be speaking german or japanese, and if it was up to the democrats, we would be speaking arabic now.
Jon
April 13th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
31While it may have begun earlier, it gathered a lot of momentum in the Newt era. The GOP is all about thriving off of fear, and the 90′s gave plenty of fuel, capped off with 911 of course. On one hand blame Clinton; on the other feed the fear to gain more power.
Pollywogs! » Blog Archive » A little roundup…
April 13th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
32[...] More ‘raise the fist‘…or at least, politely object to some rich white man who doesn’t give a damn about you or anything other than the rich white guys who helped him buy his office… [...]
Two Rivers » Blog Archive » When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? | steve-olson.com
April 13th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
33[...] When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? | steve-olson.com [...]
Joshua Laferriere
April 13th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
34So um, yeah. the reason why we do this is because we are a 1st world nation with a very young democratic system that doesn’t include high voter turn-out and leads to easy manipulation of voters.
JR
April 13th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
35The actual quote from Franklin:
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Benjamin Franklin’s Contributions to the Conference on February 17 (III) Fri, Feb 17, 1775
From Thomas Paine:”He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself”
Nuff said.
Habla Mierda
April 13th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
36I’m saddened to see people turn this into a Republican/Democrat issue. It’s not about Bush or Chenney or Clinton or Reagan. It’s about, as someone stated earlier, about a generation of people that refused to be held responsible for the outcomes of their own actions.
If your kid goes into a school and shoots up a bunch of students, it’s not because he had access to a gun – it’s because you failed as a parent.
If you were burnt spilling hot coffee on yourself, it’s not because the coffee is too hot – it’s because you’re clumsy.
It is, as the previous commentor posted, all about people striving for the equality of outcome, not opportunity. Everyone should have the opportunity to go out and make it for themselves based soley on thier skills and work ethic; but nobody should be guaranteed a thing if they fail.
dazxito
April 13th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
37That’s exactly why the US is so srewed up. Too many US people in powerful positions seriously believe what Joseph believes. Too many US people have no outward vision or even knowledge of the other 90% of planet Earth.
The US will fall, like all empires before…. it is imploding as we speak.
maxconfus
April 13th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
38its a lawyer state… Litigation has everyone sweating bullets.
pligg.com
April 13th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
39When did America become a nation of frightened wimps?…
Have we given up too much in the name of safety and security?…
Dvorak Uncensored » When did the United States become a nation of frightened wimps?!
April 13th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
40[...] Steve Olson – April 13, 2007: When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? When did we cross the line from courage to cowardice? Was it sometime in the 1990s? After the Oklahoma City bombing? After the Columbine shootings? After 911? When did we decide to allow the police to smash into private homes without knocking and identifying themselves? When did we decide it was okay to strip search an old lady at the airport because the pin in her hip set off the metal detector? When did we decide it was okay for policemen in combat boots with German Shepherds to patrol High School hallways? We’ve justified every one of these injustices by claiming that it was necessary to preserve health and safety. I say bullsh!t. What is the point in being a safe slave? I think we crossed the line somewhere between 1984 and 1988, around the time we outlawed lawn darts and every mini van in America had a ‘baby-on-board’ sign. While lawn darts and baby on board signs may seem trivial, they were warning signs of a mass shift in American values – a shift away from freedom and liberty as predominant values to health and safety as predominant values. There will be no end to the loss of freedom if we believe being healthy and safe trumps all else. [...]
Anil
April 13th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
41Americans are WIMPS no doubt, 9/11 just proved that. The Jihadist felt confident that they can split us, roll us over, and take over the world.
Many powerful Americans on a bipartisan basis are sucking up to the damn Saudis who are occupying DC, and running our country into the ground by pitting stupid Americans against each other.
Our country could use a lesson from them Wahhabits on how to really occupy Iraq without the murder, and mayhem. Given we are trying to build that country by spiling our blood while the Saudis are wrecking this country without breaking a sweat, and letting Americans do the grunt work of smashing each other.
PaulGuise
April 13th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
42Great article. I agree with your view on the sad state of our country.
@HablaMierda: That is spot on to what I feel also. Although if my kid goes and shoots up a school, it is somewhat my failing as a parent, but the child would have a choice too. They have to be held responsible for some of it as well.
It all comes down to choice. We choose our leaders (despite the people who “buy” the election, we choose them) and in doing so choose to follow them. Well, the great thing about choice is you can choose again. We can choose not to follow these leaders and to elect new ones. We can choose to have laws amended or repealed.
And we can choose to either speak up, or keep quiet.
Please choose to speak up.
Again, great article Steve.
-Cheers
A good hard look at the country, Coward or Courageous
April 13th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
43[...] Steve-Olsens-views [...]
Pauls Rants and Revelations » Blog Archive » When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? | steve-olson.com
April 13th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
44[...] This was a great read that asks a lot of questions that many Americans are asking themselves. Read it now. When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? | steve-olson.com [...]
Steve
April 13th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
45I was born in the wrong decade!
ctrl
April 13th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
46I bothers me to no end that our freedom is slipping from us at what seems to be daily. More recently the reason has been for “terrorism”…that safe feeling that you mentioned in your article…however if everyone is so damned scared…why is it that stadiums are full at professional and college football games? Why does the mall always have a full parking lot? Why was Times Square in New York packed on New Years Eve? Hell…people aren’t scared…they just don’t give a shit. Mix a majority who doesn’t give a shit with an administration that wants control of EVERYTHING and you get an administration that does what it wants. The problem from my eyes is that we are all to distracted…it is all about “entertain me”….people are more concerned about how much stuff they can do with their phone than who is snooping on the line. More concerned with what Paris Hilton is doing than what our own government is doing. This majority of “EM” folks will be the loudest to say WTF happened when they need their national ID card to renew their license!
On a side note it is amazing how insightful our forefather’s were…especially those that helped found this nation…there quotes on any variety of government over reaching applies as much today as when they said it…here are a few:
“If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy”
James Madison (American 4th US President (1809-17), and one of the founding fathers of his country. 1751-1836)
“There is no such thing as a good war and there is no such thing as a bad peace.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.”
— John Adams
“War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses.”
— Thomas Jefferson
“Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.”
— George Washington
“If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.”
— Samuel Adams
“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
— Thomas Jefferson
“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”
— Thomas Paine
This can go on for days…great quotes to be had from all of those great men and again…they still stand firm today!
AkMan
April 13th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
47I Completely agree with you. You have brought up MANY good points, and I look forward to future posts.
Godwhacker
April 13th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
48Great work! Fear is being used to rule us, but not all of are buying into it. I certainly don’t.
bob
April 13th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
49Amazingly enough, during the two hours the twin towers of the World Trade Center burned and collapsed on 911, killing about 3000 people, there where about 3000 children around the world who died of starvation and/or malnutrition. The scary thing is that while the terrorist attacks ended with 911, the deaths of starving and malnourished children have continued at roughly the same rate ever since. Certainly you can do the math. What, exactly are we fighting? we’ve spent about $500Billion “protecting the world from terrorists” while every two hours another 3000 die. Do we really want this to continue? All I want to know is what are the priorities and do you all agree with what they are?
Saddened,
Bob
Marc Swanson
April 13th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
50Steve makes some excellent points. Another way of stating the problem is that our society has become feminized, right down to the food that we consume. Some of you might find the books “Brain Sex” and “Why Men Don’t Iron” quite interesting. As an unfortunate consequence of our post- lawn-dart-prohibition national degeneration, we’re attempting to base our economy on things like health care, safety regulation enactment, and please-keep-us-safe-from-any-remote-chance-of-harm police state tyranny and endless foreign aggression rather than on protecting our own borders and producing innovative high quality products that others are willing to purchase. The latter requires freedom and we have very little of that left. Just take a look at the trade imbalance and ask yourself how long that deal can go on before foreigners wise up to the bum deal they’re getting by recycling mountains of depreciating greenbacks in our debt and securities. You might also ask yourself why men who, on average, score higher on intelligence tests than women now represent only forty percent of college entrants. Could it possibly be related to just a smidgen of male repression in the public education system perhaps?
Mark Richards
April 13th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
51Joseph Hartman:
You do realize that FDR was president when we fought World War 2, and that he was a Democrat right (as was Truman)? Of course you don’t- because you’re an ignorant jackass just like the rest of this country. They that don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.
As for your idiotic Christ comment- TURN THE OTHER CHEEK. I don’t recall Christ going all god like like and smiting the Romans. I’m nearly certain Christ said something about the meek inheriting the Earth- not the gun toting, vengeful, bible thumping hate mongers such as yourself.
JVT
April 13th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
52Despite the romantic notion of America’s past, unfortunately it’s the same as it ever was…
1798: we wimped out and passed the Alien & Sedition Acts (partly still in effect)
1917: First Red Scare
1918: The Sedition Act of 1918
1918-1921 Palmer Raids aimed at rooting out anarchists and radical leftists
1940′s – 1950′s: Second Red Scare
1940: Smith Act to get those damn socialist and commies
etc., etc., etc.
Benjamin
April 13th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
53Great post; This Benjamin Franklin quote seems relevant: “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”
homie
April 13th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
54Steve the effort put in to publicize the truth is always commendable. As I has been tracking thr subject of 911 . Because Iknow from more than 30 years of construction, plus college degrees with physics background, and growing up around someone who was a burner( a cutter of steel with a torch), that 911 was blown down . Also jet fuel which is kerosene, couldnt nor didnt, bring down those buildings. Besides open ones eyes and you see explosive force. Pulverized material and structural steel that snapped into convienient lengths. Who verified the remains in the pentagon. Ever seen a plane crash full of people?
Unfortunately I have when Aeromexico went down in Cerritos, Ca. My god the lungs and the feet and a womans body stamped to the side of someones dryer. The point is there is plenty of visual evidence and yet, a government who platform to get elected the first time was accountability, is not even questioned. doesnt provde accountability. If anyone has the courage to read the official governt report, and ask the questions, please do so. After all that is what makes us uniquily human is that we ask questions. Someone said say what one means instead of using profanity. So here goes. Why was a convoy wiyh hundreds of millions found parked in the loading dock of one of the other wtc buildings. Why were so many put options placed on the 6,7,and 8 on united, american airlines aand boeing? why were no 757 remains or the bodies of the pentigon and pennsylvainia crash sites. Why did the basements of the wtcs’ smell like military thermite( sulfur additive). Was marvin bush the head of the sequirity company in charge of the wtc. Why did the new lease owner who made billions from the insurance, say on a front line interview, we,him and the fire chif, decided to pull building #7. You cant just decide to demolish ,or pull a building it has to be planned and prepared. That takes time and not just days much less thje hours larry says he accomplished this. Our congress would not put anyone under oath. They wouldnt ask obvious questions. I am not hlaf done with stating all the obvious. but my point is we have reached the statis of servitude. Herman Ghoering said at Nuerimberg, ” the people can always be brought to the bidding of their leaders. First you tell them they are being attacked. Then denounce any opposing views as passive or weak. And threaten them as traitors. My God did not we fight this war. Why is it back to haunt us. Lastly, someone brought up the point to me that America was never meant to be a democracy. But a republic ran by the gentry class i.e. wealthy white land owners. By the way, Jefferson inacted with out popular vote, the Alien and Sedition Acts. If you think a slave owning president cares about everyones rights , then can you imagine this irony? So I ask ayone don’t call names just prove me wrong please. And I mean please cause I need to have faith in my government again.
dam
April 13th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
55> When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? When did we cross the line from courage to cowardice?
That’s pretty easy to answer.
The day we felt that it was OK to put people in jail without trial and we decided that it’s ok to ignore the basic habeas corpus rules for suspects held in Guantanamo. When we decide to ignore the suspension most basic rules of justice for the “bad guys” soon nobody cares when they’re not applied to us.
Andrew
April 13th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
56This is an excellent post and there’s an excellent comment by Roman Jakubowycz who words it better than I could.
I’m an Australian but I was recently in the US and I’ve been listening to some of the speeches that helped form your nation through Learn Out Loud’s podcasts, such as The Plymouth Oration.
America has been on a gradual nose dive for a long, long time. It’s a horrible shame to see a country whose founding fathers fought to have a land of freedom and equality has wandered so far from it’s promising origins.
These problems aren’t only in America, It’s happening in Australia too and I also feel the start of a wave. Too many children of the Baby Boomer generation have grown up with little supervision and have not been shown the consequence of their actions. This mess is starting to become a problem for both nations and a change is going to come because it is unavoidable.
People crave true freedom. I believe it is what makes us human. Collectively we won’t accept oppression.
When did America..... « Haydu’s Thoughts
April 13th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
57[...] http://www.steve-olson.com/when-did-america-become-a-nation-of-frightened-wimps/ [...]
Bob
April 13th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
58I would bet it was right around the time when lawers started their lawsuit crusade. Also the progressive push of PC, tolerance, and confict aviodance in the education system probably more than anything turned us into wimps.
Splinter
April 13th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
59I think the problem has it roots in the mid 1800s. For more than a century we have been fed the lie that the Civil War was about slavery. But industrialization and the exploitation of the technology moguls, the “Robber Barons” was a big factor as well. The outcome may have been the abolishment of slavery (at lease in name), but it also provided power to the group that is in power today with a line of ideals that can be traced back through history.
We blame the baby boomers, but what about allowing Prohibition? What about the powers men like FDR acquired for the president? Americans did have a backbone in the 30s, they fought the law though many were less than noble. I am referring to the romanticized image of the mobster.
At this point, I have no sympathy, in theory, we could have stopped this slide. Because this is a democracy, I would have to say that Americans want it this way. the difference from this transformation from when it has happened before in history is that there is no wilderness, no frontier to flee to.
The thing I fear the most is that we will roll over and allow our military to operate domestically. Imagine the President with the Military answering only to him roaming the streets of our cities looking for ‘terrorists’. What sort of event would it take for the people to allow that.
tom
April 13th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
60I have found that most people do not want to know the truth. Most want to be uninformed.
Just try telling anyone about how screwed we are as a country.
We abandoned the gold standard in the 1970′s and our currency is no longer backed by gold. Its just worthless paper that the federal reserve (a private corporationb btw and not part of the government and in direct violation of the powers delegated to congress) prints like its going out of style.
China and japan keep our economy floating w/ the massive purchases of treasury bonds. What happens when we keep printing money and eventually they dump the dollar.
ill tell you, we are screwed.
btw, ron paul looks like a good canidate to turn things around.
yup.. screwed.
but its almost nice in a way. nice to know that eventually the gov will implode (due to poor monetary policy) and a better one that is wiser will arise out of the ashes of the old one.
Mikey
April 13th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
61I agree with the notion mentioned above that the majority of the “we the people” in the US are pretty much being kept in an infinite loop of mindless “entertainment” these days and allowing themselves to become too distracted with absolute nonesense to even consider and be concerned about what is truly going on (and wrong) in this nation anymore.
Hell there’s no need to read and keep yourself informed these days… why, the “glowing little box” knows all. Sit back and relax, this is the information age. Somewhere between Who’s Smarter Than a 5th Grader and American Idol you might even get a scant half hour of Fox News propaganda (oh, Herman Gerbils would be so proud of you Fox.) Just sit there and stare… we’ll spoon feed you everything you need to know. There’s need to read anything ever. You don’t have to be skeptical wonder who has something to gain by what you are being told. You don’t have to pay attention or even think. The media will do all your thinking for you. And oh, since we’re on commercial break from the latest horrific car bombing in Baghdad, you really need the new and improved Swiffer Sweeper! Because that’s what’s truly meaningful and important in your world today… a renegade clump of dust.
So be sure you turn the “glowing little box” on as soon as you get in the door when you get home. Don’t spend time with your kids or anything. You might just miss ET’s “exclusive” on the Anna Nicole Smith story (blah! let the poor woman rest already!) Because that’s important and what really affects America this week. No, it’s not the administration being caught breaking the law by using RNC e-mail communications.What planet are you from? And the 8 fired US Attorneys which prompted the investigation into these missing communications? Oh, that is soooo “last week”. The information age has left us with the intelligence of a sofa cushion and the attention span of a gnat. So gee we’ve pretty much forgot all about that silly attorney firing stuff since the even bigger breaking news: the Imus firing.
Unfortunately I don’t think this country will never see “take to the streets” action like we did in the 60′s and 70′s. And that’s what probably needs to happen to really invoke the change and shake the foundation of our alleged democracy. Well, maybe if the administration passed a law which took away the right to own a cell phone, iPod, and X-box… maybe then you might. Because it isn’t just the “glowing little box” …it’s all of it. But the “glowing little box” is the worst offender because it keenly edits and selects what you are exposed to if you park yourself in front of it all the time. And too many people do exactly that unfortunately. The “glowing little box” will absolutely hand your opinion to you if you let it. One of the few things I’ll even watch on tv anymore is Democracy Now. That program absolutely rocks!!! But by and large… I tend to despise the “glowing little box” these days because I can see it for what it is: a huge part of the problem and daily distraction we face.
So yes, the current administration I’m sure is oh so very happy we have so many other “important” things to keep our scant little minds occupied. Not unile a magicians scarf, it’s all part of the distraction my fellow Americans while their evil, clumsy hands effectively make the Constitution and Bill of Rights dissapear before our eyes. Habius Corpus? Gee, nobody text messaged me.
c.los
April 14th, 2007 at 12:01 am
62GREAT POST! I don’t ussually read blogs but I got to this one off of Digg, it’s great! I feel we’ve been heading down this path since the CON-stitution was signed – was the bill of rights and 10 Commandments not good enough? Who was it that said “I smell a rat.” right after signing the CON-stitution? And wasn’t it Benjamin Franklin (?) who said something along the lines of, its not perfect but they need something for now?
For the idiots turning this into a democrat/republican or liberal/conservative thing.. God bless you.
Lauren Sweetland
April 14th, 2007 at 12:14 am
63Inspirational post. We need to put an end to the Police State mentality before we are living George Orwell’s vision.
gwax
April 14th, 2007 at 12:19 am
64It’s a sad side effect of the Cold War.
We learned to stop taking pride in capitalism and to fear communism; it was all a slippery slope from there.
lori
April 14th, 2007 at 12:36 am
65when? it was the day black people woke up and decided that they would no longer fight the wars that white people start. Blacks did the dirty work in vietnam but this time they are in college, in law school, in hollywood on wall street and if white folks want a war, then they have also to send their kids. This scares the hell out of suburban 4×4 families . And so america becomes REAL…
WADemosthehenes
April 14th, 2007 at 12:51 am
66Maybe the next generation will have less stupid people.
Bite of the Apple » America the beautiful ugly
April 14th, 2007 at 1:05 am
67[...] – Life Support: Let the children go on foot and on bike – Perverted Justice: Updating the Genarlow Wilson Tragedy – When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? [...]
SonOfAnI.R.S.Agent
April 14th, 2007 at 1:19 am
68It happened the day that ONE arm of american law, stopped using jury trials, and only uses a Single Federal Judge, to decide every case.
It’s called, U.S. Tax Court.
Every single dollar, that the government takes, at this point, is at the demand of a Federal Employee.
Not you.
Not me.
Not Aunt Clara.
When the day came, that a court system was ‘legalized’ in which all control, for all the funding, for all federal power, was taken out of the hands of regular, private citizens: not lobbyists, not special interest groups, just everyday citizens like you and me:
The good times were over. And, it was just a matter of time, till the embarrassment of being a shameless, concienceless, government hack, without regard for anybody else, or what they want, went away: because ABSOLUTE POWER, CORRUPTS, ABSOLUTELY.
Go look it up. i’m not gonna find the links for ya and do your legwork, you’re supposed to be an adult human being. It’s not my job to make sure you understand, all i can do is tell ya.
My father, is a retired, I.R.S. enforcement agent. i grew up watching one of the most soulless, and despisable men i’ve ever known, go through people’s lives, like a wrecking ball. Shameless; unembarrassed; unperturbed about public opinion, because the public
HAS no opinion.
The money: is turned on in an endless, faucet of un-earned, and in-humanely EXTRACTED wealth: breaking peoples lives, but more importantly,
breaking their concept that they have any way to resist.
Right now, in the federal system, you can’t go sign up for jury duty in a tax case. (there are some very narrow occasions: VERY narrow- when you can have a jury trial in federal tax court, it’s called the area of ‘changing tax law)
If you could, people would simply de-fund, areas of government that acted without any concience: and concience, and accountability, would be restored.
As it is, you have: government of the government: BY the government: FOR the government.
YOU
ME
Aunt Clara:
We don’t f**n matter. f**k us. We don’t count.
The entire American System, is still, basically intact: except for one, small area, which has confounded the entire efforts, of several generations, to correct.
The setting up of a court system, where you can’t turn to me: you can’t turn to your neighbors: and say, ‘i just can’t see funding that pit of corruption. They’re proven to be a band of organized criminals, and i’m not paying for it.
The reason, is obvious and crystal clear: the government would have an enormously hard time, having to account for itself.
If you are unable to comprehend that in this country, we have a court system where you get TRIED by the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: not a jury of your peers:
REGARDLESS of the technical reasons given; the technical this, and technical that: and if you think i don’t understand you’d be WOEFULLY wrong. I understand it in spades, because i grew up watching it: and today, im and electronic communications and controls technician, and i know how to analyze things.. things most people don’t even know exist. -
regardless of the technical reasons, you, me, we are ALL held hostage by a court system where there are no juries: there’s no one to turn to, and say “hey-you are just like me – how would you like it if it was happening to you??”
from the first dollar we make running a paper route: juvenile or not: to the last note is signed after you die,
we ALL are under the shadow of a court system, which simply does not answer to ANYbody: but other federal employees.
And the natural selection of such a system, over the course of about 60 or 70 years, has been that leeches, power mongers, and various parasitic power tripping sociopaths, have noticed, and LEARNED, more and more:
there’s no stopping this train. There’s no final, ‘red button’ you can hit, that kills the throttle on engine 1; engine 2; engine 3; or engine 4.
This system is TURNED ON: it CANNOT BE BRAKED, it cannot be simply de-funded by us citizens out of disgust.
aND THE PARASITES WHO LIKE IT THAT WAY, HAVE STARTED BEING WHAT THEY ARE, RIGHT OUT IN THE OPEN
controlling, insecure, power hungry parasites, worried AS A GROUP about what THEY want. What THEY get paid.
Why do you think none of these ‘wars’ ever get ‘won’?
because there’d be LAYOFFS. It doesn’t PAY them to WIN or GET anything accomplished. It PAYS them, to PRETEND that they need MORE, and MORE resources;
and they COLLUSIONALLY, back each other up.
So what you have, is ONE IN FOUR adults in this country: the FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: Holding the OTHER 3/4ths HOSTAGE, with their paramilitary SHOCK TROOPS.
the ATF
the FBI
the IRS
the Federal Marshals
the NSA
the Blah, blah blah blah, blah:
these organizations, COLLUSIONALLY BACK EACH OTHER UP by making everybody scared.
Scared of THEM with televised, SHOCK TROOP MILITARY ASSASINATIONS of citizens for the slightest infraction;
Scared of the ‘enemy’: that’s Me. You. Each other.
And since there’s no way, to go into a Federal Courthouse and start ruling against taxation that funds corrupt, and violent organizations that LITERALLY TAKE OUR OWN MONEY FROM US, TO ARM THEMSELVES,
to THREATEN US INTO GIVING MORE MONEY
then things are going to continue, as usual.
At this point, NOBODY who is NOT MARRIED or incestuously connected with federal government, CAN SAY, WHAT GET’S PAID FOR, AND WHAT DOESNT.
And thats NO MATTER
HOW
BAD
IT
GETS.
When you have people: on juries: revewing federal law: every day: for clarity; competency; sensibility; reasonability: you have:
government: of the people By the people. For the people as naturally follows.
The people, govern themselves.
When you have TAX COURTS where YOU GET TRIED BY A FEDERAL EMPLOYEE:
you have no rights.
Its a condition of government, of the government itself: BY the government; FOR the government.
and fuck you.
And your dying mother with cancer. Bitch.
And if you don’t like it, we’ll take some of that money we extorted out of your neighbor, when we didn’t give him a jury trial, and we’ll come to your house, and execute YOU, AND that sorry mother of yours.
THAT is why there’s no stopping this freight train of government enforced incompetency and perversion of normal sensibility.
The WANT things to ‘need more government’ because it means THEIR JOBS ARE SECURE.
It’s a racket.
OF the government BY the government FOR the government, and it’s so big, there’s room for everybody.
trash thugs, who couldn’t hold jobs elsewhere, get to dress up and be ‘special agent’ this; ‘secret operative’ that. ‘enforcement agent’ and ‘investigative special agent’
Thats for the brain dead right wingers.
The LEFT wingers have their social policy jobs: special counsellor, special advisor, special this, and special that: everybody has a title.
nobody is expected to win
and it absolutely CANNOT be turned off by those of us who arent
(1)insecure and incompetent third rate brain dead losers
(2)position fixated ‘special agent’ wannabes
(3)fanatical power crazy weirdos
(4)true believers in a system that simply takes from me, and gives to you, (minus their cut of course) as a way of thinking: communism really, though it’s of course not allowed to be said.
Such a system: where NO ONE can EVER REFUSE TO PAY for SERVICES being ‘proferred’
No ONE can FIRE the people
no one can EVER have ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE MONEY SYSTEM INVOLVED, UNLESS THEY’RE BEING PAID BY THE SYSTEM ITSELF.
That is the core, problem, at the bottom of all this: no juries, in tax trials.
I didnt’ ask ya.
I told ya.
And i’m not askin ya to understand, because it’s YOUR country.
GO GET a copy of the bill of rights.
GO READ articles (i think it is 6 and 7). Everybody has a right to a jury trial, don’t they?
WRONG LOSER.
Go look up U.S. TAX COURT.
And while you’re at it, read about the things that tax lawyers-who make their LIVING on us, as this system rapes our national and civilizational values
say about those of us who want to put something as simple as a throttleback emergency stop on the taxation and rape of our national population by a RACKET of FEDERAL EMPLOYEES who are in collusion -and as we see in the news regularly, outright CONSPIRacy AT TIMES.
They have no shame. They have no apology to make, because YOU can’t FIRE them.
They’ll take some of your neighbor’s money, and come to your house and execute you on television.
Like i said: i AM a system insider, i GREW UP watching my father ruin peoples lives. I know whereof i speak.
Go read all about tax court, and how they claim that tax court, is neither CRIMINAL
nor CIVIL
so they don’t have to give you a jury trial.
Go read the ludicrous and sheer fucking evil things that get said about people who want to turn off this ludicrous system of assault, after assault, after assault: in
WAR
after
WAR
after
WAR
on US.
the CITIZENS, ourselves.
Go read.
Then come back and explain to THESE people, on THIS international forum,
how MAGICALLY, out of the CLEAR blue, an ENTIRE ARM of LAW appeared, which is neither
CIVIL LAW
nor
CRIMINAL LAW
and why it is, YOU can’t have a jury to plead to. A JURY of your PEERS to TRY you.
No. A FEDERAL EMPLOYEE tries you.
Think about it, assholes. I don’t have time nor inclination to educate you about it because there’s been a WHOLE lot of water under the bridge already: and i’m not going to waste unnecessary breath, trying to help you understand what it is, that keeps this CRAZY TRAIN
ALWAYS RUNNING FULL SPEED
ALWAYS RUNNING SO FAST PEOPLE CAN BARELY KEEP UP
always RUNNING a ‘critical war’ against YOU. against ME.
I have to fund the war on YOU
You have to fund the war on ME
or WE aren’t good, patriotic americans.
Link
April 14th, 2007 at 1:30 am
69Steve hits another home run!!
Drew
April 14th, 2007 at 1:37 am
70There is an old poem from a catholic priest that was written during the Holocaust which goes something like this:
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
-Father Martin Niemöller.
Such is the regression of america’s freedoms. When someing, say the ubitiquos ‘national security’ is put ahead of freedom we wrongly ignore it, as it doesn’t appear consequential. However, we fail to realize that this starts a chain reaction. If one thing is more important tha freedom, whats to say this other thing isn’t as well. Like Cartman trying to cancel Family guy, eventually the entire concept of freedom will be a thing of the past. Lets just hope we can find some damn manatees before its too late
booster
April 14th, 2007 at 1:47 am
71Look at the EU to see where you’re heading.
When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? « News Coctail
April 14th, 2007 at 1:56 am
72[...] When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? Filed under: Uncategorized — recar @ 8:55 am When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? Steve Olson writes a great piece and poses the question: When did the U.S. go from being a nation of life and liberty to a nation of fear and obedience.[poses] [news] [world & business] [political opinion] [...]
Orhan Kahn
April 14th, 2007 at 2:06 am
73Very well written.
carlo
April 14th, 2007 at 2:30 am
74Americans are the terrorists of the americans
You see terrorists everywhere but where they really are
Americans are so stupid
Lou Bix
April 14th, 2007 at 3:27 am
75I just laugh when I hear Americans say, We live in the land of the free. The gov now can wiretap your phone,read your email,pull you over for no just cause on the road. Test your blood for a job at Home Depot cashing out customers.
Thats not freedom. Thats a outrage for a so called free nation.
lee
April 14th, 2007 at 3:40 am
76Steve, this is great! I was going to leave a lengthy comment, but I’m going to have to answer in my blog. The points you bring up are part of a not necessarily connected constellation of processes that our country has been going through. I’m a little older than you, so let me give you my two cents about a few of the things you mention.
One: This has been happening since Vietnam. The comment that said this was a product of the babyboomers was right on. A huge shift occurred from the 60s to the end of the century. The civil rights movement, which is at base an excellent idea, mutated from being a way to equalize opportunity to government based entitlement. This whole thing about illegal immigration is actually just an extension of the civil rights movement gone bad. I’ve traveled quite a bit. I speak more languages than just English. Ours is the only country in the whole world where the status of illegals is even questioned!
Two: What we are going through as a country is what Europe (and to a large extent Canada) has already gone through. The goal of Mitterand, the socialist president of France, was to have the French government “take care of” the French citizen “from cradle to grave.” We see the same thing happening here.
I could go on a long time, and will on my own blog, but one more thing. You asked when did the government become capable of seizing our property? That would be 1913 when the 16th amendment was enacted (IRS).
Incredible post! You seem to have incited a real sh!t storm
of opinion!
Gillo
April 14th, 2007 at 3:59 am
77It was a while since I’ve read such an accurate analysis of the US situation. For us in Europe where democracy has a different meaning in terms of citizens’ participation, America looks like a weird place. In Italy we have union demonstrations with millions of people and there are often situations which the US Gov’t would consider “Terrorist Threat”, luckily they aren’t so.
How come here everybody has more freedom (we still aren’t arrested if we drink a glass of wine) and no gun under the pillow? Maybe what you started, Steve, is a good way forward, bringing up the conversation and the issues online, involving everybody but, of course, with the aim of taking all these nice words back to your “offline” reality.
Jimmy
April 14th, 2007 at 4:00 am
78Excellent post, I am really glad to have stumbled upon this through Digg today.
Every day I read the news and speak with anyone willing to listen about this very subject: the eradication of freedom in the interest of safety. People in this country are so afraid of the everyday risk of dying that they are willing to squeeze the enjoyment out of life. It’s like they cut their legs off to avoid stubbing their toes.
They give up extremely important freedoms, hard-won freedoms that have been vigilantly defended throughout our history, for the most insignificant of benefits in terms of safety. In their attempts to prevent another terrorist attack, they give up habeas corpus, arguably the most fundamental protection a citizen has from his government. Then they turn around and drive automobiles, which has a risk of unavoidable death INFINITELY greater than terrorist attacks do. Furthermore, they salute their sons and daughters in the armed forces for protecting the freedoms they themselves eradicate at home.
I would not be outraged if some people gave up their own rights and freedoms to protect themselves. Mystified, but not outraged: there are always stupid people and one cannot protect the stupid from themselves (somehow this statement is also applicable to the situation at hand). No, what outrages me is that these people give up MY RIGHTS, MY FREEDOMS in the name of their cowardice, and I cannot get them back. I would gladly , in a heartbeat, trade places with a victim of the World Trade Center attacks – my life in exchange for theirs – if it would mean that the people of this country would react differently to the attacks than they do, and shift the balance back in the direction of freedom.
I don’t have that choice. Nothing I do, not even dying by enjoying my freedoms such that I risk death, will ever make people give up a little bit of safety for great American freedoms. That’s outrageous, and I’m glad to see that same outrage in your post.
Sean
April 14th, 2007 at 4:15 am
79I think it happened when the christians started supported the republicans regardless of their performance (I’m thinking right around the Regan administration). The republicans have now gotten so used to getting votes no matter what, that they are actively promoting an authoritarian police state. Until people start to think for themselves again, and consider candidates like Ron Paul, it’s going to be a long downhill slide for the US. It’s fascinating to watch what it must have been like for good Germans living in Nazi Germany, but it’s sad.
dagon
April 14th, 2007 at 4:27 am
80Judging from far away europe it looks like a lost cause. F..king cowards.
Inkandpaperguy
April 14th, 2007 at 4:30 am
81Fear is what has happened to the USA. It’s the same kind of fear that lulled the German people into thinking the Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals had less rights.
Perhaps it was when your elites began to fleece the masses via the Federal Reserve’s fractional banking system. Maybe it was when vice president ordered a hit on JFK in broad daylight.
Things got real bad after the Cold War ended because peace is bad for business in the industrial military complex. What to do? What to do? “Hey let’s revive that old terrorism shtick the Nazis used back in the day!”
Then … 9-11 and there was no going back. Do the research and you will see that the real enemy is Nixon, Kissinger, the Rothschilds, the Federal Reserve (aka Chase, Brown and Morgan families), Paul Wolfowitz, the Bush family and turd blossom (aka Karl Rove).
There is no Al Quieda … it is a false, manufactured enemy to justify raping you of your money, peace of mind, time freedom and personal rights. The Nazi’s put the target on the Jews, your government has hung the horns on the Muslims.
Democracy is when your government fears it’s citizens, fascism is when citizens fear it’s government.
My Narrow Vision…Expanded » Archives » I couldn’t have said it better myself…so I won’t
April 14th, 2007 at 4:54 am
82[...] of them. When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? Posted in General | Trackback | del.icio.us | Top OfPage [...]
syukton
April 14th, 2007 at 5:06 am
83You answered your own question in one of your own blog entries.
http://www.steve-olson.com/how-the-public-school-system-crushes-souls/
The public school system is attended by an astounding majority of people in this country, and the public school system teaches complete submission to “authority.” You have to ask to perform simple human functions; you need permission to go for a walk or use the bathroom. The entire public school system and its effect on generations of individuals is wholly to blame for the situation we’re in today. Kids’ parents and grandparents simply tell them “that’s the way it is” and they are forced to accept it.
When Did America Become a Nation of Frightened Wimps? « Police State USA
April 14th, 2007 at 5:30 am
84[...] read more | digg story Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized [...]
When Did America Become a Nation of Frightened Wimps? « Police State USA
April 14th, 2007 at 5:32 am
85[...] read more | digg story Explore posts in the same categories: Civil Liberties [...]
Live TV
April 14th, 2007 at 5:45 am
86Well said!
I would say it wasn’t 9/11 that changed us, but it was actually the after-math of 9/11 and the frenzy created by politicians and the media, who all actively encouraged an atmosphere of hostility, fear and hatred for other cultures and religions.
mindlesspuppet
April 14th, 2007 at 5:55 am
87I’d have to disagree with the idea of an impending shift. Often times it seems that way, especially when the internet is involved. Having such a wide range of connectivity deceives us. It creates an unrealistic social sampling. The bulk of the country is pressed too damn hard merely surviving to even have time to stop and consider where our freedom has gone. And if they managed to find that time it seems the vast majority would take security over freedom.
To the best I can figure it all start with Townsend communities. Which lead to social security. These institutions were understandable for the times, back when people faced the great depression. However they are less reasonable now more so than ever with the impending baby-boomer retirement. And of course, I pay in to the system, and I damn well would like to collect when I retire. Would I sacrifice this for a better future? Possibly. But it would take an entire generation as a collective to all be willing to make a sacrifice for a ‘brighter future’.
What does social security have to do with freedom per sey, it gives us a safety net, it gives our parents something to fall back on so we don’t have to take responsibility. If left to the individual and children to manage their lives after retirement, there’d be a lot of dead Grammies and Pap-pas. Welfare presents the same conundrum, no one wants to see children go hungry or without medicine, and so the system provides backing for countless unfit parents who pump out child after child for greater benefits who do so without a single intention to advance themselves.
Until society as a whole is ready to take responsibility for their own lives and the lives that they bring into the world, it’s difficult to consider the government’s actions unreasonable. In some cases we want to be treated like children, ‘Uncle Sam will feed me my medicine when I’m 60′. But when we get grounded or our curfew is a bit to strict, we’re outraged, ‘how dare Uncle Sam read our emails!’. If the government were to stop holding our hands across the street then I think it’d be in real trouble. The governments protect us in order to protects itself: protect itself from what we would do if left to fend for ourselves, and most likely what’d we do is blame the government for not fending for us which brings us back to square one.
In the end we’ve reached this point for a reason, just as the Roman’s gave up their Roman pride for the notion of an afterlife, we’ll give up freedom for ‘prosperity’. Those willing to make the sacrifice will lose who they are and those unwilling will follow a path of self destruction.
Josh
April 14th, 2007 at 6:34 am
88I agree Steve. I have always felt we have gotten soft, ESPECIALLY after 9/11 when people were afraid to even breathe. Yes, it was a terrifying time in our modern history, but it makes me wonder what the people of the Revolutionary War and Civil War felt at the time. People were literally dying on their lawns and yet I feel as much fear as they had their courage overpowered it. It might sound silly, but after watching 300 I was like, “Jesus, why doesn’t anyone have a set like the Spartans did anymore?” If anyone stood up to someone or something that threatened their existence, they would just step aside and swallow their pride. Granted those were different times then, but history proves that every culture had the courage to fight back, even if they knew it was a losing battle. This current culture is afraid to stand up and say, “No.” The term “The customer is always right” has bled onto every other aspect, i.e. “The government is always right.” We are the counter clerks of America and the the government and everyone else that bullies the people are the A-hole customers that wanted a mocha instead of a latte and causes a scene about it. It angers me, it really does, I will not look back on this current world and say, “I was proud of the time I lived in.” I will look back and say, “The world I grew up in was the epitome of fear and loathing. The world stomped on us and we gladly accepted our beating.”
Another thing that irks me is people can’t make any off-color comments without having Hell rained on them. That seems the only time anyone speaks up is if someone says “God” or if someone says something that offended somebody else. This isn’t a plea for Imus, he’s an ass. I mean the school teachers that were able to bust a kids balls in good humor and the parents find out and the teacher is fired for not kissing the kid’s ass. Some of the best teachers I had were the ones that were able to be smartasses and kid around. We have too many tree-huggers in America and they are really starting to piss me off. I am part Puerto Rican and part Polish, I can take a racial joke as long as it isn’t in a mean spirited way. Even then I can come back with remarks that will sting the other person into submission. Americans submit too easily now, we don’t fight back, we just get lawyers.
Dan and Jennifer
April 14th, 2007 at 6:43 am
89Excellent post Steve, very well put.
Have an awesome day!
Dan
sharky
April 14th, 2007 at 6:44 am
90Patriot Act = Instrument of Surrender
Icenode
April 14th, 2007 at 6:49 am
91I agree with nearly every point. I don’t feel as strongly about the drugs and alcohol part as you do because in so many cases they effect other people instead of just the user. But I think you hit the nail on the head with lawn darts. I also agree with alot of the comments regarding the baby boomer generation and the mess we have to clean up after them.
I’ve linked to this from my blog today. I hope you don’t mind. If you’d like me to remove the link, just post a comment here.
ricky
April 14th, 2007 at 7:01 am
92Very Good Article.
Monica Ricci
April 14th, 2007 at 7:02 am
93Political correctness
The lie that says gun control works
The lie that says capitalism is evil
The desire for guaranteed safety and security
Redistribution of wealth
Lack of personal accountability
An inequitable tax system which punishes those who produce
Emotion-based legislation
These factors are now contributing to, and will eventually cause the total undoing of this nation. Our forefathers are spinning now, I’m sure of it.
dan
April 14th, 2007 at 7:05 am
94I printed this and put it on my refrigerator. It’s funny that there are people out there who truly understand what this nation is. The sad thing is that we are all only talking about it.
Shaun Branden
April 14th, 2007 at 7:16 am
95Great post. Like others I am going to talk about this a little more on my site, but I just wanted to say good on you for saying something. The comments have been entertaining and educational so far.
I feel bad for you Americans, but please realize that the weird politics over there rubs off on the rest of us and for $DIETY’s sake find a way to stop Joseph Hartman and his friends from breeding/ voting.
Martin
April 14th, 2007 at 7:18 am
96I’m norwegian, and frankly your government is scaring the bejeezus out of us over here. Mind you; The government, not the people.
Posts like this make me think there’s a hope for 98. Mobilize your forces and make sure your country resume their dignity as a superpower affecting us all worldwide. Please!
-m
Absolutelee.com » Blog Archive » My Country T’is Of Thee…
April 14th, 2007 at 7:19 am
97[...] One of the blogs that I follow closely is Steve Olson’s, because I know that every now and then, I’ll read a post there that really gets me smokin’! This post is one of those! [...]
Ben
April 14th, 2007 at 7:28 am
98# WADemosthehenes Says:
April 14th, 2007 at 12:51 am
Maybe the next generation will have less stupid people.
Unlikely, stupidity is something you pass on through BAD teaching, people aren’t born stupid after all. Though that isn’t to say we’re doomed, no doubt a group of young people will raise their voice and give all their energy to the fight for freedom (Which isn’t fought on a battlefield by the way). Indeed, finding such people isn’t the problem, the problem is getting the majority to listen. Such people have become a minority, and have been tuned out of existence for not speaking rainbows and fuzzy rabbits. The truth is ugly and hurtful, which is why so many people would just rather ignore it.
That being said, I don’t fully agree that things are so bad right now. Steve makes some great points, but he focuses too much on generalizing isolated events that don’t speak of this country as a whole. I’m not saying there aren’t problems, just that so far these one’s don’t speak for every community and state. Indeed America still has the most freedom of any country in the world, and while these are troubling signs they are nothing more than signs thus far. 5 to 10 years may change that, but that isn’t to say that all is doomed and that we can’t reverse this slippery slope.
Apreche
April 14th, 2007 at 7:38 am
99How long have I been saying this? How many years? We definitely need to fight back against the wussification.
dave
April 14th, 2007 at 7:56 am
100Excellent post, much like my thinking.
You are close with your 1984 date. Being a teen in the 80′s, the actual start of the fear was the Tylenol scare in October, 1982. I use that as the starting point of the unnecessary fear because Halloween was basically canceled that year and the kids that are now in their 30′s are the ones that are afraid because they’ve been raised with “the bad guy is out to get you, you better have someone watching your back at all time.”
The Rising Tide « Felons for Gun Control
April 14th, 2007 at 8:16 am
101[...] The Rising Tide Posted April 14, 2007 I couldn’t have said it better myself. When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? [...]
MattD
April 14th, 2007 at 9:13 am
102Where I work safety is a #1 priority but it’s mostly due to faults of the competition. We try to make a work safe enviroment but sometimes it frankly makes no sense. If we have people physically preventing someone from going into an area that can verbally tell people “STOP” why should we use banners that have it printed instead?
Everything ultimatly comes from the fear of lawsuits and people that just want money.
I saw a cop a few months ago directing some people to the left to an apartment complex…I thought something was wrong so I stopped “Do YOU live there?” um no officer…then keep going? So why do we need a cop to tell us to take a left? We didn’t always have speed limits on roads as people if they had experience would know how fast their cars could handle the road but now they don’t. If something goes from say 30MPH to 45MPH up the road you can bet your ass they’ll slam it right before the sign. Now you have total logistics made for designing it to the signs alone…
We also have “Do not eat” on boxes of moth balls. We have plastic bags that say “Not a childs toy” well no shit who the hell gives plastic bags to kids?
Then we have to ALSO put it in spanish and probably at least one other language…why? fear from lawsuits
There’s a great book that tackles much of this called The Death of Common Sense. things like
1) having a worksite with say 6 people at an industrial area….and 12 osha inspectors watching
2) having France offer NYC free self cleaning public bathrooms but denying them because they couldn’t build a connecting one for disabled people (seperate ones were deemed “segragation”)
3) having a home daycare shutdown because one person their smoked (not even anywhere near the children)
etc
Corey
April 14th, 2007 at 9:19 am
103Perfectly written article.. I am emphatically in agreement with the points made. These are the same thoughts I have all the time. Sure you can argue counterpoints and try to justify otherwise, but the theme is real.. Freedom is the most important thing.. period.
Joe
April 14th, 2007 at 9:32 am
104Alas …
“There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.”
– Frank Zappa
Joseph Bernard
April 14th, 2007 at 9:35 am
105Thanks Steve for the boldness and power of this post.
We the citizens of this country are the deciders, not the sad man in the White House or the corporate ponds in congress. This moment in history is a tipping point. Either we live in fear and let those, that are run by ego and hunger for power, dominate us or we step fully into our reponsibility (respond ability) and say we the people take back this government for the good of all. This stance must be mindful, conscious, compassionate and peaceful. If we are to change the world we must do so from a place of higher wisdom. Einstein said something like, “We cannot change things from the same level of consciousness they were created”. We must be peaceful to create peace. We must be awake to help others awaken and question what is going on. We must have open hearts so we can care about others and live in courage. We must be, think and live in non-violence to rise above the murder for control mentality. We must be our fullest potential and our highest possibility if we are to inspire a revolution of evolution. Are you ready?
Joseph Bernard at explorelifeblog.com
racer
April 14th, 2007 at 9:58 am
106Seems we have to meny single moms that know how to run the world. It’s time for the boys of the US to Man UP!!!
Alex S
April 14th, 2007 at 10:15 am
107Do you think Israel is a nation of wimps as well, for having what you would view as “excessive” airline security? You bring up some good points, but it’s not when we start getting more security at airports that the terrorists win, it’s when they succeed in blowing up a plane or flying one into something. I think at some point during your post you lost sight of that…
Francy Coe
April 14th, 2007 at 10:19 am
108l have always been saying that this country is losing the freedom that our forefather has died to give us. And l think that Most people are throwing our safetly away. Throwing our freedom away. We do have wimps that say they are fighting for our freedom. Well they are not. it is our children that has to fight over seas or home because the goverment is sitting on their ass.But Bush did serve his country too. He does not want to lose our freedom. And all police are not like some.There are bad one ,yes. But there are those who risk their life to protect us. The cause of this country losing our freedom is really because we are always helping others to gain their. Then they turn on the Americans like it is all their fault that they have it so bad over there. I do think that we need to help those who help us and to hell with the rest. But to do so would make other country stronger then we are, and over take our freedom. We need to help others so that when we need help they will help us. But do not judge all the People by those who are bad
MadeInAmerica
April 14th, 2007 at 10:20 am
109The place to start is to force term limits in all elected positions, especially Congress. No more free health care for life for politicians. No more perpetual pensions for Congress. Get rid of the career politicians. Institute civilian oversight on all pay raises for politicians. Set spending limits on political campaigns.
No more lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court. Set a mandatory retirement age for the Justices. Give them a ten year term limit.
But the most important change people is to get off your butts, turn off your ipods, put down the cell phones, get off the bread and circus train and start forcing change. Petition, demonstrate, vote, talk, write, kick and scream until things change. Take over, there are more of you than there are of them. Use your numbers, work together, form a new party and force the changes.
As long as the same old system is there, all you’ll see is the same old results.
G
April 14th, 2007 at 10:27 am
110The problem is broader than the troubling symptoms of the last few years.
We are more aware at some times than at others that events are beyond our individual control. When that happens, we look for ways to regularize activity to define the things we can control and those we cannot control. Such ways can be as simple as a banding together of two individuals in a common cause, or as complex as, for example, the U.S. Tax Code.
It is my opinion that we are presently in a time of tremendous technological change, which both presents the opportunity to control activities we previously concluded were beyond our control and presents the danger of making activities we previously concluded were by definition within our personal control potentially subject to the input of others.
I believe that, over time, the manner in which we attempt to regularize activity must change to meet the changes in our world.
In the best of all possible worlds, a system would require the making of decisions based on reliable scientific evidence, and would include a means for recognizing dissent.
It is unfortunate that probability theory has been substituted for scientific reliability, in policy-making choices. Once probability is institutionalized, it appears to me that there is no longer room for facts, individual choice, or recognition of dissent. Rather, what is probable is presumed to be true, and is the trigger for action. It is my view that that is the real source of the tragedy in American values at the present time.
Kristin
April 14th, 2007 at 10:29 am
111I want to say thank you.
As a public high school student (soon to be a public high school graduate), I was first drawn to your post on America’s school system. Even though I am (apparently) one of those who excel in such a setting, everything you said is so true that I have passed many of your posts on my friends who have been encouraged by your words.
I am a regular reader even though this is the first time I have commented. You blog about both the way I live my life and the way I wish to live my life. I am strengthened and inspired by your knowledge and insight.
I know that my peers and I are disillusioned about the state of our country and hope that we can be the generation that changes things. We are sick of hearing from our parents and “authority figures” that we are being too idealistic when we express a desire for change and fuller lives. And we are tired of being told that we are “the most depraved generation to date” while nobody mentions our potential to be the most expressive generation or the most influential.
I know some very talented and motivated people with the ability and drive to change this country and this world. And my peers and I as a whole are disgusted with this country and lack the blind patriotism that has been the downfall of so many empires throughout history.
Thank you for being someone who is willing to write about the things nobody else will admit. And thank you for having more faith in my generation than the entire sum of our parents and teachers.
Kristin
Mortalmatt
April 14th, 2007 at 11:37 am
112This is sadly all very true. I live in Britain, and it is common for Brits to stereotype americans and american culture as being obese, paranoid, war-mongering and many of the things that you bemoan in this post. However, what a nation of hypocrites we are. Slowly Britain is becoming just like the nation you describe in this post. It is sad what a minority of the worlds population have reduced us too.
Jim M.
April 14th, 2007 at 11:38 am
113This is NOT politics or religion; it is HISTORY. When Lucas wrote Star Wars, he studied the history of democracies. So far, they all meet their demise in one of two ways: bankruptcy or rebellion.
The rebellions all take the same basic pattern of Star Wars… false threat used to make “protecting” the governed easier, followed by more and more restrictions on freedoms. Ultimately, an empire results.
The problem is not politics, religion, honor, integrity, or anything of the nature. The problem is POWER. Those that have it aim to keep it. And they want us to spend our lives keeping it for them, voluntarily if possible but by force if necessary. The fear keeps it voluntary for as long as possible.
Michael Crichton’s comments in State of Fear sum it up: The PLM (Politicians, Lawyers & Media) unite along fear lines. Politicians use fear to control us. Lawyers need fears of dangers to litigate. The media needs scare stories to capture an audience. So fear rules the public forums.
The key here is the politician – make us scared, constrict freedom, repeat. It’s not Republican, nor Democratic or Libertarian. It’s strictly about control of power.
One of the members of the Weather Underground stated it most clearly in the recent documentary DVD (yes, Netflix has it). I paraphrase, but she said a revolution cannot begin until the people can no longer live in the circumstances that exist. After all, who is willing to die to prevent somebody we hardly know from being searched at the airport? Heck, we tell ‘em to drive instead & quit the whining.
Bottom line – until freedom is gone and we cannot function in our daily lives, we will remain passive (or jailed). Only when the fear of doing nothing exceeds the fear of death in a rebellion, will we begin the fight.
The Second Civil War is inevitable. The only thing that might cause it before lack of freedom is a U.S. bankruptcy.
someguy
April 14th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
114Have you considered zoloft or some other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor? This might just wash away these awful and disruptive thoughts you’re having so you’ll fit right in and stop worrying so much.
Jack
April 14th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
115You maid a lot of valid points:: You should expose the group who puts
these false idea’s in front of us :
Peter
April 14th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
116To Scott Davis:
I hate to break it you.
Canada is more wimpy than the USA. Canadians gave up even more rights years ago. Look at the hate laws against free speech. People are in jail in Canada for saying the wrong thing. The USA is fortunately a few steps behind.
jimmy
April 14th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
117You are amazing. Things that I wanted to say, but didnt have a solid enough point of view to say it. And now it’s here, in this blog.
the republic ended seven years ago · disordered thought processes
April 14th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
118[...] Steve Olson expresses outrage at the sorry state of the United States of America, asking “When did America become a nation of frightened wimps?. I think he correctly pins it on the fact that we chose security over freedom, which is a fool’s bargain, because there is no such thing as security in this uncertain world. [...]
Ike
April 14th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
119When did we become scared of typing the “i” in bullshit? I agree with exactly all of your points, but they seem at odds with the fear of offending people by spelling curse words correctly.
JO
April 14th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
120When you hear someone telling whats wrong about the country. we shouldnt sympathize anymore . We have to ask ourselves “What are we gonna do about it?”
Start
Neil
April 14th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
121I am an Indian but I have been staying in the US for sometime now.
I always knew that the day you curtailed your freedom and started looking at every passing stranger with suspicion, the day the nation started living in a constant state of terror is the day the terrorists won.
Chris
April 14th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
122>When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? When did we cross the line from courage to cowardice? Was it sometime in the 1990s? After the Oklahoma City bombing? After the Columbine shootings? After 911?
When did YOU think it was? You throw out a bunch of recent events; you’re telling me heroism doesn’t exist? Didn’t a guy cover up a seizing would-be passenger while a New York subway train sped over them just last year? That’s pretty heroic, no?
>When did we decide to allow the police to smash into private homes without knocking and identifying themselves? Recently, in the suburb I live in, a special police force dressed in black Nazi style uniforms busted into a suburban home without warning and dragged a school teacher out of her house with an automatic weapon at the back of her head. They forced her to the ground, handcuffed her, and hauled her away while her neighbors watched. They did it without a warrant and without consequence. Why? A misunderstanding. That is precisely why we need checks in place, to avoid misunderstandings and abuses. The police chief said, “When we realized it was a mistake, we all had a good laugh.” If a group of unidentified men dragged his wife away at gunpoint, I wonder if he would still think it was funny.
What the HELL is this? Have you got a link to this story? You want authority questioned. Where are your sources here?
>When did we decide it was okay to strip search an old lady at the airport because the pin in her hip set off the metal detector? When did we decide it was too risky to take a cup of coffee on an airplane? When did we decide it was reasonable to make a nursing mother drink her own breast milk to prove she wasn’t a terrorist? When we impose such extreme levels of security, haven’t the terrorists already won? Haven’t we willingly given our freedom to the government and the terrorists in the name of security?
>When did we decide it was okay for policemen in combat boots with German Shepherds to patrol High School hallways?
Again, sources?
>When did we decide to allow routine police roadblocks? Why weren’t we outraged?
You know. Sources.
>When did we decide it was too dangerous for our children to ride their bikes to school?
I read that rant, too. I figure you’re either an influencer, or you’re an influencee.
>When did we decide it was okay for the government to seize property without a trial, without due process, at the whim of a government agency?
Umm, if it’s all a conspiracy, and we’re supposed to find and fight the conspiracy, then it should be pretty obvious that the government is just a corporation that’s bigger than all the other corporations, with more guns, is that it? Because it obviously follows that “property rights” are something “given” to us by this corporation; and thus, are pretty easily able to be taken away.
>When did we decide that our government had a right to the fluids inside our own bodies? Or a right to the very breath in our lungs? When did we decide that it was the accused’s responsibility to prove they hadn’t been breaking the law? When did we decide that drug testing High School students was reasonable? Hell, why is it reasonable to drug test anyone – ever? Why would anybody, for any reason, have the right to invade your body without your permission?
Come on, how do you know the blood test to get life insurance isn’t really for genetic testing to harvest adult stem cells? It’s the evil corporation argument, again.
>When did we decide to give 10 year prison sentences to adolescents for having sex? Was it before or after we decided to put them in jail for smoking cigarettes and drinking beer? If my memory serves me correctly, when I was a teenager, almost everyone I knew either was doing it or wanted to do it. Why did we make what is biological and natural, criminal?
Sources? And by the way, we’ve had laws against employment of minors in many occupations for a long time, too. You want to preach personal responsibility? Have ‘em keep the baby, and see how well two 15-year-olds can get along. Oh, and no-fault-divorce doesn’t help this one, either.
>When did we decide it is too risky for 20-year-olds to drink but reasonable for them to kill and die overseas? Does that make sense to anyone?
No. You’re right.
>We’ve justified every one of these injustices by claiming that it was necessary to preserve health and safety. I say bullsh!t. What is the point in being a safe slave?
>I think we crossed the line somewhere between 1984 and 1988, around the time we outlawed lawn darts and every mini van in America had a ‘baby-on-board’ sign. While lawn darts and baby on board signs may seem trivial, they were warning signs of a mass shift in American values – a shift away from freedom and liberty as predominant values to health and safety as predominant values. There will be no end to the loss of freedom if we believe being healthy and safe trumps all else.
I agree. But I’m a man. My first impression agrees. My wife would disagree. At least, her first impression would. What does that tell you? We must be different or something; and those people who make the rules, and changed the rules, must have changed, too.
>I believe there was day when most Americans accepted that life was risky. They accepted that bad things can happen to good people. They accepted that risk was an inherent part being free. They didn’t need a new law or government program every time something bad happened.
Influencer or influencee again.
>It is sad to watch our freedom slowly disappear in front of our eyes with so few people taking action.
You going to run for office anytime soon?
>But I have hope. I sense a shift. Something is blowing in the wind. I can smell it. I can feel it. I can see it in young people. A move away from authoritarianism – like the people that run The Free Talk Live podcast, one of the most popular podcasts in the world. The Free Talk Live podcasters make no apologies and pull no punches in their love of freedom. They tell it like it is.
Easy there, Bob Dylan. You say you really want a revolution? I disagree. I say, if you’re not in, you’re out. Here’s my metaphor: there’s no point in trying to blow up the door, when you can pick the lock. Get IN the game, and stay there as long as you can, and quit while the getting’s good, and let the proles go the way they will.
Isn’t this the end result? Your desired outcome?
Why do you REALLY feel so bad about the country today? It’s always been tough. That’s why we always go bitching to our parents or mentors or whatever about how hard it is. I don’t want to live in 1803, or 1864, or 1910, or 1945, or 1985 (again). I want to live now. Stop pining.
Unless of course, you have a plan…
Jesse
April 14th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
123Wow, what a thoughtful post. This is the type of expression that really gives me hope for the world. It also makes me sad for Americans. More people need to be aware, and I feel it is in the process of happening.