Can freedom be lost because of freedom?

[chesty]

Is it possible that the very freedoms we cherrish can be our very undoing?

I was watching a special last night about internment camps, etc in the US. While I agree that many there did not belong there and that many would say we over-reacted, I believe that we did the right thing.

We took the information available and with the technology and infrastructure at that time made the best effort to secure our borders from the enemy.

The Nazi's had already permeated the US culture seeking to enlist Amercians to join the Nazi party and to defeat the US. While only a small percentage of Americans were involved, it was enough.

And while these groups espoused hate at Jews, blacks, etc they were allowed to speak their beliefs based on the US Constitution's First Amendment.

It then occured to me that this very right could also be our very undoing. By allowing this freedom a charismatic speaker, like Hitler could gain a foot hold and eventually overtake the US. It happened in Germany elsewhere where freedoms were not as plentiful as ours here.

So I ask, is it possible that at times too much freedom is as evil as not enough?

Modern example: We have no borders, no culture, no language. By this I mean:

Our boders are not secure!

The Amercian culture is dying! (it is not a white or black or
hispanic or jewish, etc thing.
Americans are uniquely different
than any other culture. We are
combination of all beliefs,
heritages, cultures, religions, etc)

Our official language is English. Yet, it is getting harder and harder to learn English, the phone messages etc, all give options of Spanish or English, and more and more people are refusing to learn English, all based on the First Amendment.

There can be other languages, but the business of America should and must be carried out in one language, English. What you do outside your business, in your home, in public is one thing, but conducting business must by necessity be in English. No duplicate forms with different languages etc. This alone could save billiions each year.

So my point is that it appears possible that the very freedoms we protect and exercise will be the very freedoms that cause our downfall.

 

[rsnoble]

The least likely country to get attacked by terrorists is North Korea. So you have a choice: you can live like the North Koreans do and eat tree bark and grubworms for dinner and be safe, or #2: Have a free life with a remote chance of getting blown to pieces.

I'll opt for #2, although Im sure some like asscroft would want nothing better than to put us all in Bush sr. work camps where he can keep an eye on us.

What we really need is some fucking logic around here. Ok, heres a terrorist cell: well we can't touch them because they havent actually done anything illegal. Yet. Bullshit! It's not to hard to distinguish right from wrong, and if we could somehow get the fucking retards running this country to figure that out and throw all the "politically correct " shit in the fucking trash can maybe we could solve this problem. And on the other hand, perhaps that is the goal-instead of fighting for their rights it will be the cowardly idiots who'd rather just lay down and be protected. I say fuck em all.

 

[chesty]

Yes, there are many who would lay down. There are even greater numbers that will fail to recognize there is a problem.

But can freedom actually be the tool that defeats us? Terrorists yes, are using our very freedoms to attack us. But in the end, you punch an American enough times and eventually he will punch back.

However, turn him into a sheep through his very own freedoms and he will never know he has become a slave.

 

[bigschweeler]

Were you watching the secret history of the Nazi party in America?

I watched that. It was interesting.

 

[chesty]

Yes, I was catching bits and pieces and that is what raised the question in my mind.

 

[Centurion]

US does NOT have an official language

 

[chesty]

Not every state, some do.

It was voted on at the formation of our gov't and won out over German by something like one vote so legend contends.

Whether or not "it is the official" language is irrelevant. It has been the language of choice for the better part of 228 years.

The point is that while not "official" it is official and as such it has been a requirement to learn this language as one of the pre-requisites to becoming a citizen. If more and more languages are introduced the harder it will become to conduct business, and the more expensive it will become to conduct that business and the more segregated the society will become.

 

[chesty]

I just love the intellect floating around today!

 

[chesty]

That is one possiblility. But what about taking the path that allows freedom to be curtailed to deal with a problem (such as martial law) until that problem is solved. Similar to internment camps.

We for the most part treated those people very well while they were interened, but it allowed us to lessen the effects of the enemy's will over our people. We limited access etc to this country. When it was all said and done, we restored those freedoms.

 

[2Thick]

Either you want to take the good with the bad with having freedom or live in a Communist/Fascist society.

Your choice.

 

[Island Son]

That is one possiblility. But what about taking the path that allows freedom to be curtailed to deal with a problem (such as martial law) until that problem is solved. Similar to internment camps.

We for the most part treated those people very well while they were interened, but it allowed us to lessen the effects of the enemy's will over our people. We limited access etc to this country. When it was all said and done, we restored those freedoms.

Reality disagrees with you. There is no human who ever lived who would control that kind of power and then willingly give it up. Either they would keep it for their friends and relatives, or keep it to impose their version of "what's best for you".
That society would have to be run by robots.
I'll create the robots.

FYI "those people" ARE your people.

 

[chesty]

Those people were my people, Jewish, Indian (American) And it would be imossible for one man to give up the power. I am talking about our form of government. Where reality says that the many govern the few.

So the question has still not been answered. Will "freedom" eventually be the tool by which we are enslaved?

 

[Island Son]

The real issue is an electorate who is driven so hard to "keep up" with either basic necessities (and disposable luxury items when they get more money) that they don't have the time or attention span to pay attention to civics. So when bad decisions are made, they don't call "bullshit" and hope someone else will do it for them.

 

[chesty]

That is a part of it.

Can the exercise of a freedom, such as free speech in essence enslave a populace?

For example it is okay for the Nazi's to hold rallies and be protected. This idealogy can then reach millions on the airways, newspapers, etc all because it is protected. Even though it has been proven that this ideology is very deadly if left unchecked.

No one has yet answered the question yet.