Oh, Martha! I am aware everyday of the ways in which our freedoms have been taken from us. The attitudes of those with authority has changed from being there to protect us and help us to being one of just that... "Authority". "*I* am the boss of you!"
Schools having authority over not just the children but the PARENTS!
Doctors having the authority to turn you in if you do not get the proper vaccinations for your children and Child Welfare groups having the authority to take your children for no reason and not tell you where they are for up to 6 weeks.... or is it longer?
Hollywood taking people to court and putting them out of business for selling edited movies. (That doesn't strictly fall under this but I feel it as a lack of my freedoms.)
Government making it ILLEGAL to buy a 20oz or larger soda!!! What?
And you don't need to get me started on flying. I've taken several cross-country road trips by car and train to avoid flying! I get pulled aside for special attention because my signature on my license and my legal name don't match. People don't know me by my legal name and I sign checks and things with my nickname. How are they going to check my signature if it's different? argh And this latest case where the dying woman is taking her "trip of a lifetime" to visit Hawaii and the TSA lift her BANDAGES and break one of her bottles of saline(?) as they're "checking" her in front of the other passengers?!
Our computer generation was supposed to make paper almost unnecessary. Hello! The stack of papers you have to fill out to do anything is encumbering us beyond reason! I took a check to the bank yesterday to pay a bill. I had the bill stub filled out and handed it to the guy. He had to scan the check, punch in the account number, do this, do that.... and then finally handed me the stub back marked paid. Do you remember the days that they used a rubber stamp and marked paid on the bill? That was it! EVERYthing has gotten more complicated.
Some of that is not just because of our legal freedoms being taken away but because our society has gotten so sick and also because we are so aware of so many (and certainly not ALL) of the horrific things that happen, especially to kids.
Our legal system is so messed up we can't process cases for YEARS. And I don't believe you can get much justice after YEARS of paper-pushing and mind-melding. : \
Watching my dd's go thru their court cases about their children, BOTH of whom I think got shafted, and I'm not just being prejudiced because their my kids, has made me feel like it's just a roll of the dice to find out which side wins.
Yes, Martha. I certainly see many ways in which our freedoms have been trampled down. It's a sad society. But, don't you see the other side? Even a little? Doesn't a business have a right to have someone questioned for taking pictures outside their place of business? You can't willy-nilly go to a school yard and take pics of the students either. When people were walking up and down the street taking pics of our houses and putting them in their gps boxes, we didn't like that either. (Of course that was the GOV'T doing the picture taking that time!)