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There's a saying to the effect that those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it. I saw something today that I have to say is very disturbing. It was a tagline somebody used on a post:
The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation.
-- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf
I hate it when things that this maniac has said show up in modern America. It's not that somebody quoted it in their tagline, it's that the thought expressed in it is a prevalent attitude in modern day America.
Don't get me wrong, Children ARE very important and must be protected and cared for always. The problem comes when "for the good of the children" becomes a big flag that gets waved to excuse almost any kind of invasive, over-regulatory crap that government and any other entity cares to shove down the collective throats of Americans.
Of course, the reason that they're able to get away with it is because they've allowed themselves to forget history. If people remembered the lessons of World War II and Hitler's atrocities, then it's very likely that things like National ID cards, the Real Id act, the Homeland Security act, The USA Patriot Act and others would never have been allowed to see the light of day.
Another quote, this time from a usenet message shortly after 9-11:
> "An evil exists that threatens every man, woman, and > child of this great nation. We must take steps to ensure our > domestic security and protect our homeland." > > - Adolf Hitler, proposing the creation of the Gestapo > in Nazi Germany. > > Sound familiar? > America, you better pull yer head out...........
Speeches very much like this were made in the first year or two after 9-11. Some of them were arguing for the creation of the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act. The fact that they so strongly mirror a monster like Hitler ought to raise the hackles of every thinking American. Of course, that's a large part of the problem. So few people are interested in *thinking* anymore. So few are even remotely interested in learning from the mistakes and lessons of the past that we're rushing headlong into a world we're going to hate.
One final quote that I think is very appropriate:
"Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?" -- "Who will watch the Watchmen?"
-- Juvenal, Satires, VI, 347. circa 128 AD
The answer to that question is: People who are willing to *THINK* and avoid the repeating history. People who are willing to question authority and not blindly accept every invasion of privacy and curtailment of liberty in the name of doing good.
Technorati Tags: freedom, history, hitler, homeland+security+act, lesson+of+history, liberty, national+id, patriot+act, Privacy, real+id+act, repeat+history
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Actually, I think an awful lot of them have their heads in a much warmer, darker place.
It’s not that everyone’s head is in the sand - it’s that you can’t stop what’s coming.
As for heads in the sand, I think that most truly do have their heads firmly in the sand with their ears stopped, singing “If I ignore it, it’s not happening”
I think that a lot could be stopped if only enough people could be awakened. Though it will by now take a very rude awakening.