From the mind of critic: “If fear over safety or security rises so high, that we think giving up freedoms for that safety and security is worth it, do we still deserve to be safe? Do we belive the only way we’ll feel safe, is if somebody else isn’t safe? Do we approve of losing some of our inherent American freedom and civil liberties, if it’s only taken from those who are viewed as a threat to that safety, and not personally to us? Do we think that all of us can only be safe, when all of us are safe, whitch can only happen when we respect each other enough, to treat each other like we’d like to be treated? Do we rail against the government controlling what we do or believe, but not against things we don’t? Do we believe we’re an island? The reason the old Ben Franklin quote is so revered, is because it’s timeless. Even after 200 years and war after war, and after incoming immigrant group after incoming immigrant group, we’re still America and we still exist. The reason we still exist as the greatest experiment of melding different cultures and people into an amalgamation of humanity yet to be equaled, is because everybody that’s here is suppossed to get a fair shake. The argument that we’ve neevr fully lived up to our ideals, is a fair one. However, everytime a group of immigrants is generalized, a minority group is marginalized, and humanity is excorcised, the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice. Once we realize that none of us are safe until we’re all safe, we’ll see that taking somebody’s dignity and human rights away to give us he illusion of security, puts every single one of us in danger. The true measure of a society is how we treat the least among us, not the paycheck writing elite” 🙂