Ok, I said to myself when making this blog that I would do one post per day, but i can't help but write about this as soon as possible. I know I'm probably caught in the anger of the moment, but this action goes to disgust me. My home state of Tennessee, I have been informed, utilizes an obscure method of "punishment" towards teenagers who have been issued a speeding ticket. They must copy the phrase "Obedience to the Law is Liberty" 500 times.
Now an additional phrase "Speeding increases the risk of death" is also used in conjunction but thats not the issue at hand, and by all means that phrase is apt. However, I've always had a tick for forcing individuals to blindly follow the laws set in place. Every American deserves the right to question the law, their leaders, and the status quo. I know where I come from there are many high schoolers around me in my classes that have never not once in their lives ever asked "Why?" to an official or challenged a rule. While disrespect and unruly actions are not acceptable, blind following towards a rule is just as bad. If no one ever questioned a law, what would happen to the questionably legal and down right illegal laws that have come to pass in the past years?
Sadly, this conditioning of youth is continuing. A slow, but persistent, form of propaganda is making it's way down to the youth of america. The message is clear, do not ask questions, do not attempt to challenge as a doing so is some how un-American or not patriotic. Plain and simple, Failure to Question is not Patriotic, it's just stupid. In a nation that has seen fear and national security become policy foci in the past few years, I believe it more appropriate now to question. As our liberties and right s are slowly removed for "security" or at least the illusion of it, every American should wonder exactly occurs with our laws. Why are the necessary, and was my trade off in any way worth it? In all honesty, every child should be taught the quote from Benjamin Franklin, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
We can't teach children to just blindly listen to leaders and fail to question leadership. We've seen where this road leads us. While travel time is different for all nations, eventually we would all end up in a version of Nazism. The entire premise of the Nazi functionality was that no one was willing to stand up, or later die, for a principle. Nobody saw a desire to challenge the current methods, all the way to the point where they simply couldn't. We can not teach the idea of blind obedience, nor can we the idea of total anarchy. Each citizen should embody the spirit of the founding fathers, always questioning.
Obedience to the law is not liberty. Obedience to the law is ignorance. Questioning the government is by far the greatest form of patriotism.
