Our Observation

In a time of shrinking wallets and expectations, this Thanksgiving we should give thanks for what we still have. And to show our thanks, let’s work to keep that basic tenet of American life: freedom.

Something strange has happened to us since America’s watershed moment in mortal fear on Sept. 11, 2001: We’ve made safety and security paramount over all. Random identification checks, red-light cameras, speed cameras, warrant-less wiretapping, zero-tolerance policies at schools, imprisonment without charges and without legal representation — they’ve all gone from unthinkable to a casual part of life.

Though the tangible changes have come on so slowly as to purposefully fly under our radar, the sociopolitical climate changed quickly. After those infamous attacks, overnight the prevailing joie de vivre changed from freedom to security. We’d rather be merely alive than happy. We’d rather simply stave off death than enjoy freedoms that could present a risk of death. Two hundred thirty-five years after founding our country on the ideal of personal freedom, this Thanksgiving we’re thankful just to be breathing.

The cliché of Benjamin Franklin’s “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety” comes to mind when an indifferent shrug greets more security measures creeping ever more pervasively into our lives. Are we getting what we deserve?

There’s a chance it’s a coincidence, and that we’re merely getting used to a lower standard of living, as we had during the dragging recovery from the recession of 2001, followed by the devastating recession of 2007. For many of us, the affects of both of those still linger. But that’s no excuse to accept downgrades in our quality of life that we can avoid simply by speaking up.

In many instances, security is a quality of life issue. More pointedly, it’s the tug-of-war struggle between preserving life in general and making life worth living. Take for example the case in October of a San Antonio elementary school student who was nearly expelled for playing with a toy gun, two days after teachers used the same types of toy guns in a game at the same school. The advent of zero-tolerance policies made such a ridiculous “safety issue” possible.

The recent hot-button issue of red-light cameras in Winter Park and Maitland may seem like a cut-and-dried issue of making roads safer, but accident studies show that while the cameras cut down on some types of accidents, they dramatically increase others. And for those thousands of motorists who missed a yellow by a split second in the past few months in Maitland, only a small fraction of their $158 fine will go to help those actually injured in car accidents. The rest stands as an overtly literal transition of your grocery money to the city’s, state’s and camera company’s coffers.

Despite our collective ambivalence to these creeping changes, we love our scapegoats, as long as it’s anybody but us. Blame the Republicans, blame Democrats, blame Congress, blame the police, blame the TSA. Everyone has their personal TSA horror story: They made you miss your flight because you had the gall to wear sunglasses while boarding; they made you give up a vacation souvenir for fear that you might stab a stewardess with an Eiffel Tower keychain; they lost your baby’s stroller while checking it for bombs.

Those examples are easy to laugh off for their ridiculousness, but the callous attitude toward the laws behind them only makes them more terrifying in principle.

So this Thanksgiving, be thankful for what you still have: Life’s a good starting point, but let’s not forget liberty and the pursuit of happiness.