rat

This along with your little statement regarding safety makes me absolutely sick to the stomach to think about.

"Those who would sacrifice essential liberty for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin

That quote just seems to jump to mind. Safety as a whole, is a completely arbitrary and frankly idiotic concept. It is neither tangible nor measurable, let alone real. It is an illusory concept that allows the human mind to work within a specific set of parameters so that it can adequately address the world around itself. A sense of safety is no more than the comfort one receives from his environment and the factors within it. As the people of New Orleans found out, at any time, given any set of circumstances, your whole world can come crashing down around you.

As to your second comment, regarding the government and the blind trust you place in it, I'm rather disheartened, as this seems to be a growing trend for the younger generation. You want to go down the slippery slope argument of safety, I'll take you down one that takes your argument a bit further.

1) Rights reduction occurs by the government in the guise of "safety."
2) Citizens eventually forfeit every right that could potentially cause harm or infringe the "safety" of others.
3) The government makes all decisions for people, without checks and balances to their power.
4) Rights of citizens completely disappear.
5) Without the obligations to the citizens (as the citizens have forfeitted their rights, and thus there are no government obligations to the citizenry), the government has carte blanche as not even the citizens have the right to stop it.
6) With obligations voided, the government acts in its own self-interest, as any reasonably aware entity will fundamentally do, regardless of the effects on its people.
7) The government's self-interest lies in fundamental conflict with that of the citizenry, by definition.
8) The government fulfills only the needs necessary for itself, and the citizenry falls into disrepair, poverty and despair.


The only difference between my slippery slope and yours is that mine is proven both by history and logic whereas yours lies firmly on a foundation of sand, piss and vinegar, holding no merit even to the most cursory of logical examinations.

__________________