Benjamin Franklin once said "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

Fear, desire for convenience, and ignorance are leading causes of United States citizens surrendering their rights, it's not all government corruption and tyranny like some people would like to believe. Why would government have to employ deception or trickery when people are ready to line up and hand over their rights and privacy for very freedom and security they are already entitled to? The necessary laws to protect our society have been in place long before September Eleventh, but due to a lack of communication between various agencies and overall poor handling of resources we were victims of a terrible terrorist attack. Years later who is continuing to pay for those mistakes? We are, citizens of and travelers through, United States.

Although most people are living life as they normally would have prior to September Eleventh terrorist attacks, there is an underlying fear or concern that flows constantly yet for most part un-noticed through back of our minds like operating system that runs your computer. This same fear is being used by government on a daily basis to help build a sales pitch that makes handing over your rights to allegedly help provide safety you were already guaranteed by constitution seem like patriotic thing to do. Am I trying to state that law enforcement methods should not evolve to keep pace with technology? Absolutely not, law enforcement needs to keep pace now more than ever. I am saying that our freedoms and privacy should not bear cost of their evolution.

Convenience for freedom is a tradeoff that is growing in popularity every day, and with ongoing National ID effort handing over your freedom and privacy is going to be sold to you infomercial style with hook after hook and "call to action" phrases in abundance. But in this ad campaign instead of those call to action phrases being "buy now", or "call today" they are going to refer to freedom, patriotism, and increasing government's ability to keep you safe. The end result will be that average United States citizen who is too busy with their own lives already to really read fine print and see what is going on is going to hand over their rights once again. And then when you have accepted your shiny new National ID/Drivers License (which is going to also be more money coming out of your pocket) government will then do follow up sale and show you benefits of being able to use your National ID for everything for example:

• Use It As A Drivers License
• Use It To Supply Emergency Medical Information
• Use It As A Credit Card
• Use It As A Library Card (so your reading habits can be monitored)
• Use It To Pay Tolls

  (after eventual government purchase and centralization of

  EZPASS type services to help government keep you safe

  on road through improved management of National Highway Network)

• Use It To Buy Gas
• Use It To Rent Videos (so those titles can be properly recorded

  to monitor your viewing habits for patterns of potential for wrong doing)

• Use It As A Firearms Purchasing ID (ha ha like you'll be allowed to have

  those anymore, for firearms will have been deemed unsafe by people who

  you trusted enough to hand your rights over to in order to help protect you).

All that convenience for just giving government just a little of your personal information, how can you pass up that deal? Act now while supplies last, get yours today! I think you get picture by now. That concludes fear and desire for convenience examples. I will use ever-popular topic of gun control to sum up my examples of rights surrendered through ignorance. I wish I could say that it was totally government taking advantage of peoples ignorance to pass gun laws that they do, however that is not case. This falls under "give 'em enough rope and they'll hang themselves" realm.

The following quote from John Kerry is an excerpt from "Remarks by President Bush and Senator Kerry in Third 2004 Presidential Debate Part II, Tempe,AZ 10/14/2004:

"I know something about prosecuting. And most of law enforcement agencies in America wanted that assault weapons ban. They don't want to go into a drug bust and be facing an AK-47.

I was hunting in Iowa last year with sheriff from one of counties there and he pointed to a house in back of us and said, see that house over there? We just did a drug bust a week earlier, and guy we arrested had an AK-47 lying on bed right beside him.

Because of President's decision today, law enforcement officers will walk into a place that will be more dangerous. Terrorists can now come into America and go to a gun show, and without even a background check, buy an assault weapon today. And that's what Osama bin Laden's handbook said -- because we captured it in Afghanistan and it encouraged them to do it."

Now let's take it from top, danger is a part of law enforcement business, if you have not committed yourself to being comfortable with that reality, then it is time for a career change. This is very same law enforcement business in which growing trend, is to staff these agencies almost exclusively with ex military or college students both of which very used to obeying a government body rule, living a structured lifestyle and not doing a lot of thinking outside box, or decision making based in life experience. There are plenty of street-smart people who would make great law enforcement personnel but because they have not been conditioned, by school or military to conform and obey they are now fast becoming unqualified candidates. Anybody seeing a "Sylvester Stallone /John Spartan/ Demolition Man" type pattern here?