Paxton wrote that fascism is:
a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy, but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.
I've come to realize in my 30 years on this planet, with much regret, that government abhors freedom. It is not because as individuals, we do not appreciate the splendor that liberty brings, nor the cherished lives it affords us. It is because collectively, government cannot operate without order which by its nature, restrains freedom. Government that works, treads the line of maintaining law while not imposing on the liberty of its citizens. However, in times of fear and apathy, citizens give up freedom for safety and comfort. Benjamin Franklin once wrote:
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
It's not an argument for discarding prudent safety measures. But, it is a statement about the character of humanity, and the decline of liberty. There are security models out there that work without the TSA style approach (which has not proven to be effective), that require specialized enforcement officials rather than TSA's tv dinner lineup. Take a look at the Israeli model for instance.
TSA's problem isn't one of questioning their desire for security. We all agree there needs to be a solution. However, if we hand over our liberties and dignities to our government in fear and apathy, we empower it to control us rather than serve us. And, with each new generation, what was once a regrettable concession becomes common place. And, that generation will make it's own concessions. In time, we may find ourselves oppressed by a tyrannical government, faced with the need to once again rise up as patriots, and win our freedom. The preventative to that distant future, is ensuring our government continues to walk that line between law and liberty, serving the people.
Liberty is most often lost slowly in pieces, rarely in whole. We still have a choice, and those who refuse to submit to the screening do so by their own conscience, whether we agree with them or not. However, if we cherish the freedom that in time of need we would so willingly send our children, and our brothers and sisters to die to protect, we have a civic duty to ensure their prize is secure at home.
