Today a "conservative Republican" told me that after 9/11?

Question

America ceased to be free, and stated the exact same thing that the head of homeland security stated, that we need to get rid of some freedom to be secure.

Please tell me that this isn't what you people really believe, or is it?

I hear all this ranting about burning flags being disrespectful to everyone who died for our freedom, and our troops dying for freedom are heroes, and it makes me wonder about their emotional stability to say something like this. If our troops dying for our freedom, makes them heroes, what does that make a person who is willing to throw it away, just for a promise of security?

He asked me if " I'd rather be completely free and get blown up by a suicide bomber, or lose a little freedom and not have to worry about it?"
I can't believe the look I got when I told him, "I'd rather take my chances being free, because without freedom, life seems pretty much like a waste of time." He looked at me like I didn't know what I was talking about.

Has the Republican view of big government changed that drastically?

rhsaunders, I am not talking "complete freedom" as anarchist refer to their ability to supress the rights of others by doing whatever they want to do. that really isn't freedom.

rhsaunders, but i do agree that freedom should be maximized while airline security, and border security should be greatly improved.

Well he sure seems like a conservative, always talking about the liberal media conspiracy, and the whole nine yards.

Rj, I'll check it out at the library. And I will read it as long as it doesn't end up being a bunch of right-wing ranting.
Thanks for the suggestion.

Hey Gigi, how about we just ear tag them like cattle? /end sarcasm

If border patrol, immigration, and airline security woud just do their job, I don't think we would have much to worry about.

ak6702, sure whatever you say, the world fits neatly into your dream world. the answer before you, agree with it, and you are going to say it BS??! try waking up boy!
Happened just an hour before I got off work, I don't make a habit of lying like your type does!

katie, anyone who ever walked out of their home thinking nothing bad could ever happen, even before September 11th, is just plain foolish.

fivekidsdown, I knew it was just a matter oif time before someone started spewing the 'ol fascist Dogma of "what freedoms have you lost?" You know, if people like you wouldn't sit on your hands and wait till the threat is in your face, 9/11 may have never even happened!

Answer 1

people have been brainwashed by the media and mainstream television for years all courtesy of uncle sam.
Maybe you have noticed that the amount of free thinkers has almost dwindled to nothing in the past 30 years.
If anyone says anything at all against the mainstream belief they are labeled as UN -AMERICAN

I have brought these same questions up here about 1 year ago and I was shocked that almost 99% of the people were willing to give up freedom for what they believe is sucurity.

Once people start thinking its okay to give up freedom in exchange for promises from a government Tyrany is soon to follow.

" Knowlegde is power, power is not knowledge "

Answer 2

Most likely the person you were talking to was just trying to make a crazy, offensive statement just to piss you off, similar to the "Did BUSh CaUSE 9-11?!!?" questions often asked on this site.

And yeah some Republicans might believe that, but what freedoms have you lost? You talk about this general "loss of freedom" as being some kind of common knowledge fact, but what can't you do now that you used to enjoy doing before 9/11? Unless you enjoyed getting hijacked on planes?

Answer 3

We could have total freedom if we would put a stop to all of the foreign people in this land. We have so many people in this country that they are not even aware of and I think that they need to put ankle bracelets on all visitors that are here and that way we can keep track of where they are. Have each person that receives one have it identified to them so if it is taken off it will make a terrible noise and it can't be shut off. This way we could always keep track of them. If they are in our country too long, track them down and throw them out. We could also watch their movements when they are here. I think that we need to start to remove the rights of the visitors and give the rights of the people back, If we make sure that they know we are tracking them, we may not get so many criminals in here. Also we need to be much harder on any visitor that breaks our laws. We need to throw the book at them. Make jail time an easy thing to get if they are no following the laws to perfection. Gig

Answer 4

I consider myself to be a liberal Democrat. But I definitely agree with your friend when he said that after 9/11 America ceased being free.

I lived in Washington DC on 9/11. Fortunately I didn't lose any loved ones that terrible day, but my family's life was changed that day, in terms of "freedom", forever. Sure, we're "free", if you just look at the big picture -- we're free to choose our religion. We're free to dress the way we prefer. We have freedom of speech. The list goes on, thank God. But that being said, we lost simple, everyday freedoms that day that I don't think we'll ever get back. We lost the freedom to take a tour of the White House. We lost the freedom of knowing we could possibly still make a flight if we got to the airport 20 minutes before takeoff. But what hurts the most, is we lost the freedom to assume nothing bad could ever happen to us in this beautiful, wonderful country we live in. Our children and Grandchildren lost the freedom to take for granted they live in a cocoon of safety.

So you beg the question, "Please tell me that this isn't what you people really believe, or is it?" Sadly, it isn't about what we believe, it's about the way things just have to be now.

Edited: When I said "nothing bad could ever happen to us", I didn't mean that literally. But when you have had the experience of a Norad plane or fighter jet flying over your home several times a day, you feel a bit more vulnerable than you did the day before when none of that was taking place. Believe me, I respect and agree with your opinion more than you know. I'm just trying to give you a different perspective on what the Republican said to you. I dont expect, nor want, to live in a country that has no freedoms simply for the sake of being safe. I agree with what Benjamen Franklin said. But I think that, to a certain degree, protecting ourselves, ALLOWS us to continue to be free. I cant be free if I'm constantly looking up to see if a plane is flying high enough. Just my opinion, and you did ask.

Answer 5

I suggest you go to the book store and check out the book How Satan turned America against God by William Grady or look it up on the net. The book is over 790 pages with 2,000 endnotes and devotes an entire chapter to this. I think this will
help you. Word up. Peace to you. Take care.

Answer 6

He is saying since 9/11 our country will never know the freedom it used to know in that we will have to take whatever measures we need to to keep astep of the enemy. If it means giving up some freedoms to do so so be it. If we aren't willing to bend a little and let the government wire tap a terrorist we stand a good chance of loosing everything we have. Don't twist words.

Answer 7

Fear is not freedom. I don't worry about being afraid. This administration wants us to be afraid. There is really nothing to be afraid of. I would rather be here in the United States than anywhere in the world. The end is not near.

Answer 8

Freedom and security are competing concepts; you can have unlimited freedom with no security (it's called anarchy) or unlimited security with no freedom (no name for this). In the real world, there must be a compromise; you want to maximize freedom without relaxing security to the point that any bomber can steal an airplane.

Answer 9

Its very sad what the average American is willing to give up for a little security.

Personally I would rather be blown up then to loose my freedom just as you would.

The real sad part is... we used to have peaceful protests and now men all in black show up with rubber bullets and batons.

We used to have rights as Americans and now we have the patriot act.

We used to hold our heads proud and now we torture.

All this is just the tip of the iceberg.

What has happened to America the land of the free and the home of the brave?????

Answer 10

A man who is willing to give up a bit of freedom for a bit of security deserves neither.
-Ben Franklin