Science & Government Funding
After the Boston Marathon bombs, it seems the state has ratcheted itself up even further. It is common for me to see Department of Homeland Security GMC Yukons driving around the city in full view, but in the past week, government goods from DHS, FBI, and TSA have been crawling in the light rail tunnels that I use to get to work every day (Kevin, you socialist!). The Feds are out in full force, with bomb sniffing dogs, and about 10x the usual King County Sheriffs force. Noting the fact to a friend I saw for drinks two nights ago, I complained that it drives me up the wall that these guys are out there, and the only reason they are is to violate innocent people’s rights. My friend was immediately taken aback: “Did they stop you and harass you?” Me: “Nope.” Him: “Well then how can they be violating your rights?” Me: “Sigh.” Normal people do not need to be questioned and menaced on the regular in bus tunnels not to put a bomb somewhere. These forces are not there to do anything but provide a reminder that the master class rules and will continue to clench its fist tighter as evil actions unfold.
But I want to address the idea, very briefly, that my rights have not been violated simply by the forces being there. They have. I pay taxes, for the mere reason that I will go to jail if I do not. That money is wrested out of my hands, and used to hire these people. They are being paid by money stolen from me, property that I have a right to before the government – I am the one, after all, who earned it. These men live on stolen property.
We need not mention the fact that Terry stops violative of a right to be left alone, stop-and-frisk or stop-and-question tactics more reminiscent of a dystopian futuristic novel than a country founded on the virtue of freedom – but that my taxes pay for all of this to be turned into a career for some bully? That is a violation of my rights, friend…