Freedom and Liberty

[daurdabla]

One of my professors mentioned Ben Franklin's famous quote about liberty and safety. Here's my response:

I agree entirely with Mr. Franklin's sentiments: I have been saying since shortly after 9/11 that I would literally rather die in a terrorist attack than have my little girl grow up in an America that has given up its freedoms in search of (

Comments

[lapiswitch]

Beautiful and well said.

[daurdabla]

Thank you. That phrase "our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor" gives me chills just about every time I think it. Yet we would trade our freedoms for cheap gasoline. What's wrong with this picture?

[roaming]

You are THE awesome. Gobsmacked, am I. And thank you for putting into words thoughts that had not yet coalesced in my brain. But when I read this, I can only say "THIS!"

[daurdabla]

Thank you, my dear friend. I'm a little rabid on this subject. When we went to visit Mount Vernon, I thought of the General and how he had touched the same railing as I was touching, and I almost wept right there: my Lovely Wife and I have a reverence for Washington that borders on idolatry, frankly.

We as citizens hold something enormously precious, and it is our duty to honor those who suffered and died for it not to surrender it out of fear (or anything else, really).

[pierceheart]

THESE are the times that try men's souls.

The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.

Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.

[daurdabla]

Thank you, sir, for these quotes and your service.

I agree that we esteem our freedoms too lightly, having been born to them. Freedom is like air (or sex, as I've heard it said): you don't really miss it until you don't have it. By then, of course, it's sometimes too late.

By keeping our fear of lost freedoms focused outside of our nation, we risk missing much more dire and likely threats from within. Because let's face it, no amount of nutcases with bombs can kill America: even a terrorist with a nuke or a vial of plague can't do that. But we can give it away, and if we do we'll have no one to blame but ourselves.

[pierceheart]

Go to my LJ, look at the top post (dated in the future).

Some great quotes about this stuff.

Unfortunately, some people decided (like they do) to ignore the campaign promises they made about potentially illegal governmental activities (telecom immunity).