Oppressive government

Last night I dreamt that I lived in a place where the government was gradually taking away many of the people’s freedoms, in the supposed interest of protecting them. It started with relatively minor things, like losing the right to travel without showing papers, the right to privacy (for instance, in telephone conversations), and the right to bear arms. Most people were happy to accept it, believing that it somehow improved their security.

This escalated to severe restrictions on freedom of speech, freedom of association, the right to peaceably assemble, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. Many people continued to support the government’s policies, still believing that it made them safer, but an increasing number of people were unhappy about it. Unfortunately public protests had long since been banned.

We tried to vote for politicians that promised to restore some of our lost liberties, but they did not get elected. Because the electronic voting machines provided no audit trail, we weren’t sure that the elections were legitimate.

I came up with some new form of civil disobedience to use in the fight against oppression, though I don’t recall what it was. It caught on quickly among those of us seeking the return of our freedoms, and we actually succeeded in winning a few back.

Then I woke up.

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. — Benjamin Franklin

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.. — Thomas Jefferson

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. — Ronald Reagan