Once upon a time, the United States was a place where you felt like you had almost unlimited freedom. You could get in your car and travel from coast to coast without anyone hassling you. You could do any type of work you wanted – or even not work at all if that is what suited you. You could say whatever you wanted to say and associate with whoever you wanted to associate with. You could write mail without fearing that the government would read it and you could make phone calls without fearing that the government was listening in. It was a place where freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and freedom of movement were respected and protected. But over the past couple of decades (and especially since 9/11), things have been fundamentally changing in America. The American Dream used to be about liberty and freedom, but now it seems to be all about giving up our liberty and freedom for safety and security. Today, tens of millions of frightened Americans are cheering as the U.S. government implements Big Brother security measures that are so extreme that they would have made even Stalin, Hitler and Mao cringe. But it is not just in America where the open society is dying. It is literally happening all over the globe. In a world where real and imagined terrorism is perceived to be the greatest threat, governments are increasingly feeling the need to watch, track, trace and control everyone and everything. (Read More...)