Madison wrote:Coppermine wrote:I don't know, I think I can understand the concern. It really has nothing to do with your and me or our supposed secrets.
The thing that really makes America great is that we're a country, despite having a sprawling beaurocratic system, that strikes an excellent balance between liberty and order. It's really what sets our democracy apart from many others. Unfortunately, there are times when the balance between the two is tipped too far in one direction or the other. In this case, the FBI was given some extra discretion after 9/11 through the Patriot Act and they abused it. There's no question that they abused it, the director of the FBI is claiming full responsibility and Senators from both parties are upset over it.
And it has nothing to do with whether or not average Americans have something to hide. It's that liberties were compromised to bring order and the reasonable balance of power in the country was slightly skewed. It's important to stay on top of things like this and show concern because otherwise power could potential be abused from every corner of the government, potentially compromising both liberty and order in a negative way.
Despite all the political and ideological differences in America, I think we can all agree that it's important to keep a checks and balances system in place at all levels of government simply to prevent an abuse of power. Even if it seems relatively meaningless or harmless to you or me, without that discretion, the balance that makes our country great could potentially be jeopardized.
I disagree with part of it. I don't believe we have an excellent balance between liberty and order. There is no order right now. The country is spiraling downward with zero hope in sight because of no order. And yet people are screaming for even more liberties, more laws/rules to be relaxed, etc. Not good. Not good at all.
However, I do agree that too much power corrupts, and we do need a system of checks and balances. In this case though, bank accounts are no big deal. The information can be gathered a few different ways and you don't even have to be a government official to do it. It's nothing special, and really isn't anything to get worked up about or concerned with.
It's like the little girl that cried wolf. You hear enough whining and crying over nothing, and you get to where you tune it out. So the government may have seen my bank account records. Yawn. I don't care, as there's nothing special or private in there, and seeing as how the bank can see what goes on and has laws they have to follow, one's bank account isn't even really private to begin with. Call me if/when something of substance happens or they are planinng/trying to do something of substance.
Really? I really think, all things considered, that the country in itself is in good order; much better order than some people say and considerably better than anyone would have thought on the morning of September 12. I think to say that the country is spiraling downward with zero hope because of no order is either extremely exaggerated or extremely pessimistic.