Obsession with National Security
America is obsessed with national security. The call to block people coming in from specific countries is just the beginning and only a small portion of this extremism. (Since this ban is focused on specific countries, it raises the suspicion that America will increase military actions in those countries.) Since World War II, America has been so obsessed with national security it has even established public policy to prevent certain economic ideologies from entering the western hemisphere, not just America, but every country that could be considered near to America. It was actually meant to keep communism out of the western hemisphere. (Fascists are opposed to communism more than anything else.) This ideology of maintaining security has expanded to “guarding” Americans from all kinds of “bad” ideas and people before they can even get into America. America also took on the role of being the world’s police force in order to make things safer for America/Americans, or, more likely, for American business interests.
America is so obsessed with nationally security that they have security people placed around the world. America is the only country that I know that requires one to go through a customs screening in another country before boarding a plane. For example, on a recent trip to Canada, which stopped over in Minneapolis, our flight connected through Amsterdam. We had to go through a TSA checkpoint in Amsterdam before we could board the plane. Then, once in Minneapolis, we had to go through customs again once we got off the flight, even though we weren’t leaving the airport. The only customs checkpoint for Canada, was in Canada. Airports in other countries have waiting areas for international passengers who are not leaving the airport and require no additional customs clearance to be in there.
Every time we have flown from Canada to America, we have had to go through customs twice, once before we board in Canada and then again after we have landed in America. It is the only country that I know of that does this. Flying back to Canada is much easier, we just go through customs after we land. In fact, crossing into America at the land crossings is far more difficult than any other country that I have travelled to. I have had more issues going into America, even as an American citizen, than I have had anywhere else. I was once stopped 100 miles from the border of Mexico by border agents to check my credentials. Why would I be stopped that far away from the border? Especially if I hadn’t even crossed that border?
America’s obsession with security has reached new levels in the last few years. The continued media hype around potential terrorist attacks has established a basis of fear that is worse than that of the Cold War. It has military bases in more than 120 countries around the world. It also went into Iraq in 2003 as an act of preemption against anyone who would pose a threat to America. This obsession with security and blaming the Muslim community for this, currently has 55% of Americans approving Trump’s recent ban on Muslims. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/10/americans-still-support-donald-trumps-immigration-ban-poll-shows/)
There is also the cost for all of this. America spends more on it’s military budget than any other country, so much more that the next eight largest military budgets equal what America spends. Add to that the more than 20,000 border agents and 47,000 TSA security officers and screeners. Because of the fear mongering that is spread daily by much of the talk radio, web sites and various televised media about the need for security, America is now in the process of building a wall on its southern boarder, that could easily cost $25 billion dollars or more.
America is so afraid that it is unable to recognise the shear amount of wasted time and money it puts into national security. People are told repeatedly that the government needs to spend less money and agree with this in ever growing numbers. They then overwhelmingly support additional spending for national security and military in ever greater amounts. Fear trumps reason in this ever growing concern. It could very easily bankrupt the country as administrations cut taxes and spend more and more on those things they claim will make America safe.
President Trump easily carries this message to the people and gives them the false understanding that he will make them safer. It may appear that they are becoming safer from terrorism, which they aren’t, all the while they are becoming more and more economically unstable, which is another kind of insecurity. All Trump needed to do was to beat this drum, loudly and proudly and many Americans were ready to “give hime a chance”. There is no doubt that Trump and the rest of congress know they can keep using this until it is too late. The question that I must ask at this point is; do they they know when it will be too late? Or will they understand it when the people of America have had too much?
thehereticpacifist 