Civil liberties?

Question

Should the U.S. government limit civil liberties to prevent terrorist attacks?

I need to get different views on this question for a class I am taking. I am also supposed to tell how old the people who respond are, so if you would tell how old you are that would be great. Thank you!

Answer 1

OK - I'll start with age, 42.

There are two groups in the world- those who feel safer under societal restrictions, and those who realize that societal restrictions do not prevent the actions of people from other countries, merely take away rights guaranteed in the constitution.

I am of the latter group- since my childhood, more and more restrictions upon our activities, our finances, our jobs, and our travel have been enstated. I lived mere miles from the Canadian border as a child - we went back and forth all the time. Now if I forget a passport, I can't come home.

Used to be that your social security number was just for tracking your future social security- that's it. Now it is used to track every action in your life - bank accounts, employment, education - any financial transaction of any real size has your social security number attached. It makes it supremely easy to keep track of who you are and what you do.

Wire tapping of civilians - we've not had this much activity of it since the "red" scare of the 1950s.

Restricting what I can and cannot carry on a plane. I can't take a pair of scissors, or a nail file on the plane; couldn't even take a sewing needle for a while. But I can take as many pens and pencils as I want. Point of fact, I jam that pen into the side of your neck, shove that pencil through your eye hard enough, you can and will be disabled just as easily as if I had a blade or a gun, possibly even killed.

They tell me, a citizen of this country, that I cannot travel across a border, that I must provide ID for everything I do. This isn't going to keep some guy with connections and motivations from blowing up anything he wants. It's not going to stop someone from hijacking a plane if they so wish. It's not going to stop chemical warfare.

If anything, continued government restrictions are going to make those of us who are non- military LESS able to defend ourselves, our family, our hme if the need should arise. Less able to feed, house, cloth, get to safety our loved ones in times of need.

And I'm willing to be that is EXACTLY what some future terrorists are counting on.

Answer 2

No. If we lose sight of the principles on which this country was founded, we've already lost the war on terror.

34.

Answer 3

No, but they will. 43.