The Slippery Slope Gets Slipperier

There are many in this country that are concerned that slowly, almost imperceptibly, our basic freedoms are being eroded.  It’s my opinion that one does not have to be a conspiracy crackpot to arrive at such a conclusion.  All it takes is a moment of clarity to observe what has now become the accepted rationale for our government making such incursions into personal freedom seem perfectly reasonable

The whole process is based on FEAR.  Whenever something tragic happens in this country, reactionaries come out of the woodwork with a new law that promises to protect the public.  Usually, however, they never stop to concede that this “perceived” safety comes at the expense of some small personal freedom.  And few citizens seem to understand or even care, that in a cumulative sense, the following equation becomes true:  “Small + small + small + small, = LARGE.”

There are many examples of what I mean.  The fiasco of 9-11 spawned the Patriot Act with gave the government sweeping powers to snoop on citizens.  One idiot with a makeshift shoe bomb caused every airline traveler to have to take off his or her shoes before boarding a flight.  Another malcontent with an underwear bomb made it necessary for me to walk through a machine at the airport and let TSA agents get a glimpse of my family jewels.

And whenever shooting tragedies happen around the country, gun legislation becomes the effort of the day, with almost matter-of-fact claims that it will save our children and stop indiscriminate violence.  Of course, on slow days, pain-in-the-ass Nannycrats come out of the woodwork and begin pushing personal limitations, such as trying to mandate the size of soft drinks we can buy in order to save us from ourselves.

Concurrently, when specific “safety” statutes are codified into law, certain practices expand and become commonplace in the name of public safety.  The recent Boston Marathon terrorism and ultimate identification of its perpetrators, for example, highlighted the wide but unregulated use of cameras in public areas.  While such surveillance DID serve law enforcement after the fact, it did nothing to either stop the bombing, or make sidewalk spectators more safe.  That said, however, cameras will most likely become the unspoken “heroes” of this whole sick event, and when the next legislator suggests they be mandated every fifty feet in public areas, most people will quickly agree, then feel like they’re going to get a better night’s rest because of it.

There is a small minority of Americans who are usually branded as reactionaries, whenever they ask this question:  “If we allow THIS, (some reduction of our freedom), then what next?”  A recent news story makes me think that they’re asking exactly the right question.  In a new discussion of the legality and/or propriety of using drone aircraft over this country, the rationale of  government proponents, of course, is again, “safety-based.” Bureaucrats admit to nothing negative in the purposes such drones would serve.  Well, guess what?  Even before a lick of legislation is penned on the issue, along comes PETA stating that when drone use becomes legal, it’s going to purchase and use its own to snoop on hunters, insuring that they’re treating animals in a legal and ethical manner.  Then what?  The “slippery slope” analogy makes it a possibility, that the Outdoorsman Lobby will trump PETA’s move and employ drones, as well, to alert hunters about the location of PETA drones that are snooping on them high above the forest.

In short, the erosion of our freedoms is easiest understood by the old folktale about how to cook a frog.  You put it in a pot of cold water, over a very low flame.  As the water warms up the frog adjusts, and unconcerned by the slowly rising temperature, doesn’t jump out of the pot.  The flame continues to be raised in small increments, and inevitably the water begins to boil and the frog is doomed.  It’s a simple but effective way to accomplish just about anything… if you have the patience, that is.

I have one immediate fear, then, based on the recent terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon.  To artificially allay our fears  about another such tragedy, and to generate a false sense of safety and security among us all, pressure cookers may well be the next object legislated out of the American lifestyle.  Now how in the heck am I going to cook artichokes when that happens?