Freedom! Only on Paper
(originally written 1/31/02)

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In many ways, some European countries are freer and their populations experience more freedoms than their counterparts in the US. The disparity will be even greater, now with the quickened abandonment of freedoms and values by US government agencies under the guise of counter-acting terrorism. If martial law and racial profiling which goes on - in Israel, dictatorships and many other nations - were successful, then they would be the safest places in the world. However, the news tells a different story in Israel, where terrorist activity is a major on-going problem.

The reality now is that the government is using the excuse, of what happened on September 11, 2001, as a reason to take away more and more of individual freedoms. At the current "pace", the US Constitution's Bill of Rights should be just about dead in approximately 10 years. In some areas, it is been exercised in a subtle way - as to not create an overwhelming "opposition force". What is the saying, "If you give them an inch, they will take a mile!". Hasn't that been the case with tax iniatives in the past ? - give a little here and eventually it grows!

It says in the US Constitution that "... liberty and justice for all ...". Some even attempt to apply that concept to the world's citizens. The thought is if it works in the US, then it should work everywhere. A self-righteousness comes into play here.

There are two flaws with that application. Ruling elites and leaders don't want that to happen and will use any means in their power to stop it from happening. Also, past experience has shown that "all are created equal" has been exercised in reality as "some are more equal than others". The slavery episode of many nations, especially in the US, removes any pretention of always "doing what is right" for the benefit of mankind.

Even though I know there will eventually be an attempt to "privately censor" this Mekkar's Mumblings website & the opinions on it in some way (even though the "official claim" is freedom of speech - all governments "crack down" in some form or another), I don't care! The "true test" is here, with the controversial!