10 Years After 9/11, Is America a Better Place?
What is the true legacy of 9/11? Unfortunately, it may be how the American people have responded to that event. 10 years after 9/11, is America a better place? Sadly, the answer clearly is no. In the ten years that have passed, a fundamental shift in our culture has occurred. The American people have eagerly given up large amounts of liberty and freedom in exchange for vague promises of increased security. We were once the land of the free and the home of the brave, but now we are the land of the scared and the home of the slave and we seem to like it that way. Most of us don't even remember how to act like Americans anymore. American culture has moved so far in the direction of communist China, the USSR and Nazi Germany that it is absolutely frightening. When most of us were growing up, we were taught that the enemies of America were "totalitarian police states" that did not give liberties and freedoms to their people. Well, today nearly everything that we do is watched, monitored, tracked and tightly controlled. 10 years after 9/11, the American people are living in fear, the federal government is run by control freaks and paranoia has become standard operating procedure. What we have allowed to happen to this nation is absolutely shameful. Do you enjoy living in a police state? I don't. Once upon a time, the police were generally friendly and trustworthy. You actually wanted to know police officers and be friends with them.
But today, police in most areas of the country are deeply feared, and for good reason. They are actually taught to be brutal and authoritarian. All of this comes from the very top. Prior to 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security, "VIPR teams", the Patriot Act, body scanners, "enhanced pat-downs" and "fusion centers" didn't even exist. A fundamental shift has taken place in America, and it is almost as if a severe mental illness has infected nearly the entire law enforcement community in this country. The "big black boot" that was supposedly going to keep us all safe is actually destroying this country and everything that it means to be an American. The following are some questions that you should ask anyone who believes that America has responded to 9/11 in a positive way.... Is America a better place when all of us (including grandmothers and young children) must either go through a body scanner that reveals the intimate details of our naked bodies or endure an "enhanced pat-down" during which our genitals will be touched in order to get on an airplane? Is America a better place now that TSA "VIPR teams" conduct approximately 8,000 "unannounced security screenings" a year at subway stations, bus terminals, seaports and highway rest stops? Should "out-of-nowhere" security sweeps by thugs in black uniforms at transportation centers and public events just be accepted as "the new normal" in America?
Is America a better place now that the FBI can demand to see your cellphone data whenever it wants? Is America a better place now that the Patriot Act allows the federal government to secretly conduct surveillance on innocent American citizens, monitor the electronic communications of innocent American citizens and conduct warrantless searches of the homes of innocent American citizens? Is America a better place now that the federal government has a "secret interpretation" of the Patriot Act that they won't even release to the general public? How can we possibly follow their rules if they won't even tell us what they are expecting of us? Is America a better place when the federal government is so paranoid that it feels that it must issue "talking points" instructing government officials what to say about the 10th anniversary of 9/11? Is America a better place when young schoolchildren in New Jersey are being taught to snitch on their classmates and police are being used to crack down on "bullying activity" in public schools? Is America a better place when the federal government is so paranoid that they spend millions of dollars encouraging us all to spy on one another? The "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign looks like it could have been pulled right out of an East German security handbook. Is America a better place when you must submit a "crop plan" and have your garden inspected by bureaucrats before you can participate in certain farmers markets?
Is America a better place when people living in this country can be labeled "enemy combatants" just for uploading videos to YouTube? Is America a better place now that invisible "pain ray" weapons are being used in American prisons? Is America a better place now that state police in some areas of the country are using "extraction devices" to download data from the cellphones of motorists that they pull over? Is America a better place now that LRAD sound cannons are being used to break up college block parties? Is America a better place now that local police forces all over the country have been federalized and militarized? Is America a better place now that local police feel empowered to beat people until they are unrecognizable all in the name of maintaining "law and order"? Is America a better place now that police officers are patrolling the halls of our public schools and are beating up our kids? Is America a better place now that little children all over the country are being publicly arrested by police in their own classrooms and are being marched out of their schools in handcuffs?
Is America a better place now that children are being herded like cattle into mass vaccination centers? Is America a better place now that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is spending huge amounts of money to install surveillance cameras in the cafeterias of public schools all over the nation so that government control freaks can closely monitor what our children are eating? Is America a better place now that lemonade stands run by young children all over the nation are being shut down by police? Is America a better place now that large numbers of security cameras have gone up in nearly every major U.S. city? Is America a better place now that authorities will pull you over for having the "wrong" political bumper sticker on your car? Is America a better place now that the FDA is employing elaborate entrapment schemes against producers of raw milk? Is America a better place now that FBI surveillance teams regularly employ warrantless GPS tracking to monitor the movements of peaceful activists – even if they are not suspected of ever committing a crime? Is America a better place now that the NSA gathers an amount of information on all of us equivalent to the entire Library of Congress every six hours?
Is America a better place now that the FBI definition of "suspicious activity" includes making "extreme religious statements" and believing in "radical theology"? The sad truth is that America is not a better place after 9/11. We have betrayed our founding fathers and we have cast aside many of our liberties and freedoms because we are so afraid that we can't even see straight. Fortunately, a growing number of Americans is actually waking up. More Americans than ever are tired of being treated like garbage and this is starting to be reflected in recent polling. For example, according to a new Gallup poll an all-time record 63 percent of Americans have a negative view of the federal government. Hopefully we will start to see a cultural shift back in the direction of increased liberty and freedom. If not, we are in for a total nightmare. If we continue on the path that we are on, this nation is going to become an absolutely horrific place in which to live. A totalitarian police state is not going to keep you safe. But it will make your life a living hell. Reprinted with permission from End of the American Dream. September 7, 2011 Copyright © 2011 End of the American Dream
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