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It is
a wonderful thing to live in a free country. It comes easily for most of us; so
immersed are we in our liberties that we easily overlook them, just as a fish
doesn’t notice he’s in water. It is simply there.
I write things
that would get me jailed in some countries and exercise my right to do so
openly. But in countless quieter ways, Americans tend to life unfettered by
little more than their beliefs and preferences, chaffing at even modest
intrusions. That we react so is a token of how ingrained our freedom has
become.
Reflect, for a
moment, on what you are wearing right now, and what you plan to eat and drink
today. Think of how you came to be wherever you live. Where do you worship?
Or do you? Do you vote? Do you travel outside your city? How many children do
you have? Do you plan more?
For Americans the
answer is “None of your business, pal.” In all its messy, imperfect glory, we
have freedom, bought with the blood of thousands. We pay on the installment
plan, much as we might prefer to simply go about our business. Unfortunately
there is no shortage of those who would deny us that and they are getting
bolder. This is painfully obvious now, if no more true than it was last month
or last year.
In 1996 I visited
Pakistan, a country with terrorist ties that has now agreed to assist in
possible efforts against Afghanistan. A sign in the hotel lobby where I stayed
advised “personal guards or gunmen” to check their weapons at the desk. At an
Afghani refugee camp nearby, 100,000 people lived in what most of us would call
squalor, escaping the wars and oppression their country has endured for
decades.
I’d wager most
Americans don’t think of Pakistan as a place one goes to seek freedom, but the
look of liberty is relative. Though we can be overly enamored of our
individuality, I’ll take the American perspective over anything else I’ve seen.
Last month I
stumbled across World War II ration books among my mother’s effects, stamps used
to allocate gasoline, sugar, tires, and the like. I reflected on the people of
that time, pulling together for the greater good because they understood the
greater evil. Their resolve played no small part in creating what we had before
September 11; we must be no less determined in shaping the world after.
I tire of hearing
the attacks on New York and Washington described as crimes or terrorism. It is
war, nothing less. In war, one finds the responsible parties and leaves a very
big hole. There are no lawyers, no plea bargains, no time off for good
behavior.
Whatever our
response, the President should do as he has promised and not sort our enemies
from the nations assisting them. If that seems unfair, accomplice governments
and the societies that tolerate their existence would do well to consider an old
American adage: If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.
I had a different
column ready for today, a collection of stray musings like many I have written
before. Though too frivolous under the circumstances, it included a paragraph
that began with this: “Can humanity be improved? I have no idea what will be
on the front page of this newspaper today but I bet it will suggest an
affirmative answer …”
And so it is. No
one knows where this might end, but end it must. God grant us the devotion of
Americans past to preserve the gift of freedom, for ourselves and for Americans
who follow.
© 1997- 2002 Brent Morrison
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