Emma, of Late night Thoughts is wondering why Americans squander their freedoms so quickly:
It is difficult to explain some of these things to Americans. To paraphrase one of my favorite writers, you have known nothing but freedom all your lives; do fish think about water? Most of you have never experienced first- hand the loss of those you love to a state’s security machine; you have never been humiliated and assaulted for your beliefs by a mob while those supposed to maintain law and order stood by and watched; you have never been arrested and convicted for something you didn’t do on the word of an unnamed informant; and you believe those things will never happen to you.
Maybe that is why so many of you hold your freedoms so lightly. You do, you know. You shout your pride about being an American, a citizen of the greatest country in the world. And it never occurs to you to ask what makes this country what it is. You call for the suppression of those who disagree with you “for the good of the country” and because we must “support our troops”. You advocate violence against those who do not think like you. You hound, harass and lie.
And with every suppressed voice and imprisoned innocent you chip away at the greatness until nothing will be left that can be called America.