Why ordinary citizens must protect our civil liberties
| This page is an official publication of Last Change: 2015-11-24 |
Those who direct their ambition toward the attainment of power or leadership are naturally inclined to use whatever tools they can to increase their ability to exercise that leadership, for good or for bad. Natural section in the process of rising to leadership selects for that attribute. Leaders want more power to affect their goals. Mere citizens don't direct ambition toward attaining more power, instead we direct our ambition toward solving problems and improving our lives.
When we are challenged by external forces that threaten our security, such as terrorism or a direct military attack, there is an instinctive tendency to want to provide our leaders with additional tools to defend against the attack. Leaders will exploit that instinct and attempt to acquire more power, either for good or bad. The most evil of leaders will actually encourage attacks in order to grab more power. Some believe that relinquishing civil liberties, such as our right to privacy or due process, will assist in protecting against external attacks, however this is not the case. The nature of contemporary threats is such that, in order to stop them all, we would need to destroy the liberty that we intend to protect. And in the process we would stimulate domestic resistance that would become more harmful than the original external threat. The best defense against terrorist attacks is effective, creative use of the legal tools we already have, the tools that do not usurp our rights, along with a rational evaluation of the actual damage inflicted by those attacks in comparison to other ambient risks in our lives.
We cannot rely on our leaders to exercise restraint when our liberties are threatened, because they are inclined to acquire more power. We must rely on ordinary citizens to be the conscience of our national creed. Only the meek can provide an effective defense of our liberties.
