Dear Governments of all persuasions and your agencies,
Please stop trying to keep me safe!
I do not want you to keep me safe from the threat of terrorism whether it be ISIS, the Taliban, radical Communists, the IRA, white supremacists, Kurdish, Ukrainian, Greek or other various secessionists or anyone else.
PLEASE DONT KEEP ME SAFE
You don’t keep me safe from random guys buying assault weapons and shooting me at the Mall, the Cinema, School or the bus stop. You don’t keep me safe from the danger of climate change and pollution. You don’t keep me safe from crumbling infrastructure failing. You don’t keep me safe from the spread of preventable disease. You don’t keep me safe from dangerous drugs and poorly controlled food. You don’t keep me safe from online trolls and stalkers. You don’t keep me safe from any of things that are real risks to me every day. So please don’t keep me free from terrorists either.
PLEASE DONT KEEP ME SAFE
Can we agree that you don’t have to keep me safe from terrorism and then I can have back my privacy, my phone calls, my emails, my social media posts. I want once again to feel like I can communicate freely with my family, friends and colleagues. I want to be free to state my political opinions and any other opinion without looking over my shoulder. I want to be safe but not like you think. I want to be safe from you.
PLEASE DONT KEEP ME SAFE
It’s an easy bargain and much cheaper for you. I will take my chances with terrorism the same way I do with all life’s other risks every time I get on the interstate or walk through a mall or drink and eat too much. And you can stay away from being my thought police and trying to interdict my emotions, thoughts, views and politics. And best of all keep away those hackers that you let loose on me that only want to harm me. Keep away all your creepy contractors that then sell my information. Please don’t keep me safe.