Fake meme: the tradeoff between liberty and security
There are a number of brainwashing tricks built into everyday language and so-called “common sense”. It’s what happens when bad ideas have gone so long unchallenged, or had challenges forcibly repressed, that awareness of them submerges into the mental background of most people.
An example of one of those brainwashing tricks is the continuous debate over what the right “balance” is between liberty and security. The implicit assumption underlying that debate is that liberty and security are antagonistic; that one supposedly can not have more of one without having less of the other. This is the path of “guided” reasoning that a stage magician, an illusionist, deftly imposes on his audience — directing your attention toward one hand so that you don’t see what his other one is doing.
The articles “Asking the wrong questions, getting the wrong answers” by Thomas L Knapp and “How Federal Screwups Entitled Bush to Absolute Power” by James Bovard together make a powerful antidote to such mental poison. Knapp illustrates how security issues arise from lack of liberty, while Bovard exposes the powerful incentives for failure that thwart attempts to provide security through government.
The rabbit is in his pocket, and the hat has a fake bottom.
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[...] One of the worst evils being perpetrated by Bush apologists has been to spread the idea that anyone who disagrees with or disapproves or anything coming out of the White House is somehow disloyal. Brad Spangler says: An example of one of those brainwashing tricks is the continuous debate over what the right “balance†is between liberty and security. The implicit assumption underlying that debate is that liberty and security are antagonistic; that one supposedly can not have more of one without having less of the other. [...]