The war that will not end

Hell Holes: Torture, starvation and murder the norm at world’s worst gulags

 This article addresses a topic that is almost to awful to comprehend. I would not post it here except for the gravity of the lesson that I believe it teaches, which is that history has shown that in every society there are those that seek power and will use any means to obtain and retain it.  They will kill and torture without limit. One can hardly believe that people would be capable of doing the things that are discussed in this piece but I wonder if we believe that we are immune from these things.  Do we think it is impossible that leaders in our country would be willing to do these things if given the power?  If we make the same choices that people in other countries did we will sadly get the same results.  How will it happen?  Perhaps by embracing torture, indiscriminate killing with no due process, and endless war in the name of the "war on terror". 
   Liberty does not erode in a day.  Like sandcastles in the rising tide, it is broken down slowly and is given up by those who do not know the tale of history and the vital need to wrest power from the tyrants who masquerade as benevolent leaders.  Liberty can only be preserved by a balance of power.  Government is force and when government is given to one man liberty is in jeopardy. 
  The reason I feel so strongly is out of the frustration I feel when people show such apathy and a complaisant disregard for small choices that erode liberty, such as allowing a president to decide when and how to start wars and do decide who our enemies are or the utter lack of value placed on privacy, property, and individual rights.  It is as though people believe that small choices have no consequences.  Everything in history happens because of small choices though.  Your voice, your opinion, your vote, your voice, and your resistance to the overreaching arm of government matters.  You, the individual, are the only thing that makes a difference.

The natural progress of things is for Government to gain ground and for Liberty to yield.
--Thomas Jefferson

Liberty Requires Individual Rights

Some politicians advocate the notion that individual rights are subservient to needs of the "greater good" of society, in other words that community rights trump individual rights.  What would this look like in practical terms?  Policies and laws that restrict or eliminate private ownership (property rights), restricting civil liberties such as outlawing free speech in the name of hate crimes or restricting the rights of parents to teach their children what they want, restricting the amount of natural resources such as water, land, or fuel, and possibly forcing you to participate in community projects.  Like so many socialist intentions, it sounds very noble but the reality is almost the opposite of what it promises.  Without respect for individual rights we will never establish good in our community.  Happiness requires individual rights, not community rights.