photo credit: Storm Crypt

“The world changed after 9/11,” we’re commonly told.

What this idea conveys is not that the geologic landscape of the earth was altered, nor that forces outside our control morphed on that fateful day. Rather, it means that “We, the People” changed. Our collective concerns, focus, fears, anxieties, beliefs, attitudes and philosophies are often unrecognizable from ten short years ago.

A decade later, we are provided with ample evidence of how drastic a change has been made.

In the name of security, we allow ourselves, our wives, and our children to be unnecessarily molested and irradiated by strangers. In the name of efficiency, we embrace a national security apparatus that shows complete disdain for the Fourth Amendment. In the name of thoroughness, we permit our emails, mail, phone calls, library records, and any other information to be intercepted, catalogued, and reviewed by faceless federal bureaucrats without a warrant.

In the name of patriotism, we wear apparel with flags and verbally affirm our “support” for the troops (whatever it is they’re up to). In the name of victory, we throw trillions of dollars and thousands of lives at the Middle East, hoping for success. In the name of persistence, we drop bombs on any country we please, carry out secret “black ops” in 75 countries, and patrol foreign skies with heavily armed drones.

In the name of strength, we elect politicians who cripple us with fear. In the name of loyalty, we believe without question the government’s theory of what occurred on 9/11, and derisively dismiss those who object. In the name of doing our part, we monitor the lives and behavior of those around us, and rat them out to the government if something appears fishy.

In the name of security, we have exchanged our liberty—with thunderous applause. As Benjamin Franklin foresaw, we now have neither.

American politicians have done what the supposed terrorists themselves never could: created an atmosphere of fear, done away with individual rights, and openly bled us of both blood and treasure.

In the decade since 9/11, America has become its worst enemy.

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