“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. “
–Benjamin Franklin(taken from the Historical Review of Pennsylvania)
After having the displeasure of reading Wyatt Riley’s article “The bliss of ignorance” last Tuesday, I found myself unable to sit back and take it with a grain of salt. This article is one of the more ridiculous items I have come across in the paper during my time here at Sam Houston. With his psychobabble on saving human lives it sounds like his response came straight out of the United Nations “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” I have taken the time to read both Mr. Riley’s article and the one he refers to in his own; and, while I agree with neither one of them fully, I find it an opportune time to inform the students on this campus of my own opinion. I find it incredibly disturbing that most people these days know very little about what is “really” going on in this world yet they pretend to be enlightened. So many students are caught up in their insecure social circle carried over from high school(also known as greek organization meetings in the commons between every class), discussing the events which took place on last nights “Real World/Road Rules” episode, and planning their weekly escapades to the local watering holes. The majority here generally care very little about politics and question nothing about what Congress is doing for this nation and the hidden agenda behind it. Many sit back and are satisfied watching ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN news and believe every word to come from their television as the gospel. Why Mr. Riley, and those that agreed with his article, are you willing to give up your liberty for safety? Why have you lost your patriotic outlook on America? The real question I want answered is “Why are you unaware of your own rights as an American citizens?” Should police in general be able to stop someone for violating the law, make/force them to get out of their car, and ask the person they stopped “Have you been drinking tonight?” and then proceed to give them a sobriety test? You are right about the answer being simple Mr. Riley but you were wrong with yours. The answer is undeniably NO. Since when are we considered guilty before being proven innocent? It is the other way around my friend but you seem to overlook this fact. According to you this thought process would be selfish because everyone should have extra time on their hands to please the power elite. You students out there, that truly care about this country, really need to wake up and realize where we are headed because of ideas like this. Go and research the “PATRIOT ACT,” which was passed through Congress last October 25th with the help of Attorney General John Ashcroft in light of 9/11, and find out how many of your constitutional rights were instantly eviscerated for the sake of “homeland security.” I suggest this especially to you Mr. Riley assuming you can “find the time” to actually read 150+ pages of text. Perhaps you can use up a couple of those traffic stops you have stored away. Two things in this act which really floored me are that we can now be denied our right to a lawyer when taken to jail and the fact that our homes can now be raided and searched WITHOUT a warrant all in the name of “homeland security.” Mr. Riley cries out at the end of his article to save one human life. Please. I don’t see you doing anything about those dying in Rwanda, Guatemala, Columbia, Israel, and Palestine. You sit here safely in Huntsville, or wherever you reside, with your cable tv, telephone, and microwave and pretend to be some martyr for peace. The cold hard truth is that thousands of people die everyday in this world and that is fact of life. You can’t save the world with your bleeding heart liberal propaganda so please stop trying to convince others to do so. Make a stand for something valuable like the freedom you obviously take for granted. It makes me sad to know that so many sheeple exist in this world that have no clue that we live in a Constitutional Republic and not a Democracy.
author: Ryan Rogers