Security / Liberty quotient

Because this is the anniversary of the largest attack on American civilians in history, I thought I'd write a little opinion piece about two qualities of life that have been forever changed by this attack of September 11, 2001. It is also appropriate because we will undoubtedly be hearing a lot about both of them in the next two months. I speak of liberty and security.

Word from the present administration is that we are more secure than we have ever been and for proof they point out that there has not been a major attack on American soil since 9/11. In fact, except for the American soldiers, contractors, and mercenaries in the war zone of Afghanistan or the occupied territory of Iraq, Americans have enjoyed the security we had come to expect before 9/11. But at what cost? That is a much more difficult question to answer.

I remember friends describing a Soviet Union airport experience in the 70's - the armed guards, the humorless attendants demanding to see into every piece of luggage and scrutinizing each passport and visa, and the unending lines winding around the terminal. These friends were so glad to be back in "free" America. I watched the movie Charlie's Angels thinking how impossible some of the plot was such as using a cell phone signal to target a missile. Besides, the government would have to get appropriate warrants just to listen in to such a signal.

Fear of terrorists has been used as an excuse (reason) for reducing our liberties but different fears have been used throughout history. In my youth it was fear of Communism with Senator McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee the fear mongers of the day. In the 70s and 80s we had the fear of drugs and those who used them to the point that we gave up several of our basic rights in the war on drugs, another war seemingly without end. Our worldwide standing as the nation with the highest incarceration rate is primarily due to drug convictions and mandatory sentencing.

I don't have a solution for all of this. I'll leave that to Obama and McClain. But maybe it would help if we could put a little perspective on at least the new laws that are passed. Remember the Paperwork Reduction Act? The law that required every government form to say (on the form) how much time it would take the average person to complete the form. Some of those estimates were laughable but at least somewhere in the life of the form, someone had to at least consider what effort went in to filling out the form. Whether they then considered whether it was worth it, is another question.

What if we required for every law that increases our security, we have an analysis, in the bill itself, as to what the price of the bill is in the reduction of liberty? We might be surprised at how little it costs for some actions that increase our security or at least how little our liberty is valued.