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National Security And The War On Terror

Mar 15, 2016
by Caroline Miller
Apple, Black Lives Matter, government surveillance, Japanese internment, Kade Crockford, Keep Fear Alive, Labor Movement, national security versus personal privacy, war against communism, war on terror
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 Kade Crockford, Director of Technology for Liberty with the ACLU points out Americans spend billions of dollars each year fighting the war on terror with failed systems. In the meantime, the only disagreement between the two political parties  is about “how quickly we should dispose of our civil liberties.” (“Keep Fear Alive,” by Kade Crockford, The Baffler, #30, pg 52.)

Crockford insists the reason we fail is that we make no distinction between national security and personal security.  The two are not the same though they overlap at points. Worse, we have forgotten the criminal predicate that guides this country: the government must have a reasonable cause before it is empowered to investigate a crime. (Ibid pgs 52-53.)

When we allow ourselves to become frightened, we unleash national security forces that feel empowered to spy on its citizens.  We saw this conduct with Japanese internment in World War II, with the government’s  infiltration of the Labor Movement, with  the war against communism and now with our with never-ending war on terror.  Some agencies have become so rabid in their pursuit of public safety that the public has risen in protest, as in the case of “Black Lives Matter.” (Click)   

Despite the billions we have poured into  security systems, we are not safe.  Consider the number of terrorist attacks that have occurred on our soil since 9/11.   (Click)

Rational minds might want to reconsider the effectiveness of  our methods, particularly in the case of citizen surveillance.  Perhaps we should address the root cause of discontent in this country: economic inequality, our crumbling schools, a growing number of homeless people and a patchwork public health system.  Beefing up the spy systems at the cost of these social services isn’t a good plan, particularly when we allow government to investigate the innocent as if they were criminals.

Surprisingly, a technology company has stepped forward to say, “enough.”  Apple has challenged the government’s right to know all things all the time.  The real decision about freedom, however,  rests not with the courts but with ourselves.  Where is the line between personal freedom and national security to be drawn? Whatever we decide, let that decision not be based on fear. “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” (Click)

Black Lives Matter demonstration

Courtesy of www.eurweb.com

 

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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