THIS BLOG IS MY BLOG. THIS BLOG IS MY BLOG. Welcome to the Home of Hyperopia.: Patriot (Act), Schmatriot

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Patriot (Act), Schmatriot


I think its the word "Orwellian" that learned people apply to ridiculously mis-named things like "The Patriot Act". In that regard, Ron Paul has filed another important report.

This is the most important part:
  • America was not founded on a promise of security, it was founded on a promise of personal liberty to pursue happiness.

This is the second most important part:

  • The Patriot Act, like every political issue, boils down to a simple choice: Should we expand government power, or reduce it?

The correct answer, of course, is reduce it. A good thing to practice is to ask yourself what you would like your government to do for you. And say the correct answer out loud: "Nothing." (I done borrowed the foregoing from Lew Rockwell.)

All of this recalls a fundamental wisdom we should all keep in mind as we go through our daily lives: "There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path." Knowing the path is reasonably difficult; it requires showing some interest and from time to time a little bit of thinking. But walking the path. Now that is the challenge. The worthiest challenge life presents. It's avoiding the short-term traps (fear, greed) in favor of the long-term payoff (love, peace). It's not being willing to temporarily sacrifice a little freedom for a little security. Down that path lies ruin. Corruption. Devestation.

Don't be like Bill Horton. Decide that it's the tattoo on your right knuckles that holds your fate. And make it happen.

Finally, say what you want about Keanu Reeves (Seriously, go ahead. I think he's dashing.), but that movie The Matrix sure repackaged a lot of good old-fashioned, honed through the centuries wisdoms into 135 minutes.

3 Comments:

Blogger garrett said...

I deleted all the comments to this post because I've been editing it throughout the day. Although some of them were marginally entertaing. Wanted to give you folks a fresh start. There's the topic (see the post). Let's discuss.

Freedom or bondage?
Not that kind of bondage, Phineas.

4:28 PM, July 26, 2005  
Blogger Chris said...

I'd like to read a more detailed criticism of the Patriot Act than the usual liberal soundbites. I don't know enough about the particulars of the act to hold an informed opinion.

Even though I consider myself a good conservative, I am interested in protecting our right of privacy (which is a somewhat separate debate). I have no problem with many libertarian viewpoints in the privacy debate, albeit with one very large exception :)

But, going back to the original question, I guess I don't really care if the FBI wants to know what books I check out at the library. It's just not a big deal to me, and I don't see a slippery slope, either.

9:53 PM, July 26, 2005  
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12:40 PM, July 27, 2005  

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