Why Civil Liberties Matter...Period

When I was a teenager, I used my bike as a means of transit to get everywhere. I rode to the bookstore, the comic book store, the pool, the library, the local wetland trail, and anywhere else exceptionally nerdy. I even made the hour bike ride to school and back occasionally. This was my way of being able to find my own space and create an identity. At this stage in my life, my bicycle essentially meant everything to me that the word "freedom" could mean to a person.

Well, I had been at the library for a while—I don't remember if this was while I was working there or not—and I had locked my bike up in the racks outside. When I was done feasting on knowledge, I came back out, probably with a plastic bag full of books, to find two preppy looking adolescent punks sitting next to my bicycle. I made a move to unlock my bike, and they said to me, "Hey, you! You stole my bike. We called the cops. You need to wait here until the police come."

Now, this was a bike that I had received as a present from my parents for a birthday several years previous. I had never stolen anything in my life from anyone, ever. Not even a candy bar from the drugstore. I was incredulous. I told them what I thought of their theory, however, being terrified of authority—as I was at this point in my life—I sat down as far away in the parking lot from these kids as possible, and waited for the police.

Now, I should have just said, "Call my lawyer," and left, however, I was genuinely afraid that I was going to get in serious trouble for something that I had in no way even remotely done. Therefore, when the policeman came, I, as politely as I could muster with the blood running hot in my veins, told him what I thought of this theory that I had stolen their bicycle. Now, I did feel a tiny bit sorry for this kid, because I know how I would feel if my bike was stolen. However, any tiny bit of compassion I felt for him was erased by my overwhelming anger at being falsely accused.

The policeman asked me if there was any way that I could prove it was my bicycle, which to me seemed like the most offensive possible thing he could have said. It's not my job to prove that my personal belongings are mine. "Oh, let me get out the receipt, I have it right here in my back pocket," is what I thought, however, I thought better of it and did not say that. Instead, I described how every single scrape, ding, bend, and piece of rust accumulated on my bike. I told him about how I went over a nasty spot on the Prarie Path, and my handlebars flipped upside down. I told him how I banged my bike into a tree or some such immobile object, and that is how the insignia was bent in, et cetera ad nauseam. I went on almost at the point of tears for five minutes, describing my bicyclical misadventures, and how this bike had been given to me as a birthday present from my parents, who had bought it for me from the Sports store in Lombard on Roosevelt Road.

Anyways, finally, the cop came to his senses, and told the kids, although quite apologetically, "Listen, there is no evidence that he stole your bicycle, so I can't hold him any further." As if he felt so sorry that he had to let me go on my now quite unmerry way, because he couldn't prove that I was a bicycle thief.

It is hard enough to receive deserved criticism, but being accused of a crime you did not commit, and being backed into a corner about it was infuriating to me. That is why I freaked out when they brought the drug dogs to search our high school. Of course, the Supreme Court has said that minors legally have little if no rights, but still, it hurt. As one who had attempted to follow, to the suppression of natural teen instincts, all of the preaching that he heard in chapels and special assemblies about the evils of the flesh, it stung to be treated like a common Johnny Dopesmoker.

Now, conservatives will tell you that terrorists are motivated by pure evil. This is why they do what they do. However, if killing innocent people is THE measure of pure evil, then the terrorists really have got nothing on US, do they? The truth is that terrorism is rooted in ennui. This is NOT purely economic or even racial alienation, although it is possible these factors play an ancillary role in this process. This ennui that I am talking about is they ennui of the modern, industrialized world. I will define it in the classic German sociological terms of being the difference between Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft, the gulf between community and society.

We all have to, at some point, deal with this gulf. Some of us, like yours truly, or Snotty—who has written some tremendous posts about this lately—deal with this by posting our frustrations and disappointments right onto the internet. Some deal with this ennui by making beautiful artwork or attempting to build relationships with others, or provide for the disadvantaged or less-fortunate. They are, essentially, trying to reduce this ennui for other members of their community (Gemeinschaft). Some deal with this by demonizing a group of people—Jews, Arabs, Liberals, white people, "colored" people, etc... In fact, this merely reproduces the same ennui they themselves are experiencing in their neighbors in the greater Gesellschaft.

However, there is another sub-group of these folks, who, motivated by the hatred mentioned above, turn their ennui into violence. These are the Timothy McVeighs and Ted Kaczynskis of the world. They are the Osamas and Zarqawis of the world. And the fact is, there are only so many civil liberties you can take away from honest, god-fearing—or non-god-fearing but still honest—people that will effectively stop them from doing what they do. Surely, I don’t mind waiting in line in the airport so that my plane will not blow up mid-flight, or better yet, crash into a large building inside the Beltway. (However, when I miss my flight to Chicago because it took 20 minutes to get through security at Dulles, I can be slightly disgruntled.)

Yet, what did it take to stop the Unabomber—his brother gave him up. What would it take to catch Osama—a bunch of Waziris turning him in. What seems to be a hallmark of terrorists—people who others outwardly see as good, inwardly turning to evil. Terrorists can only do what they do when good people in their Gemeinschaft do nothing.

What about that kid whose bike was stolen? Let’s say he forgot to lock it up while he was at the Popcorn Shop (now defunct)—well then, frankly, it was his own darn fault. However, what if somebody cut through his chain and walked off with his bike? Well, if no one was around, then that’s tough. But surely, if it were in public, somebody would have seen that happen and could have told the police. Or if it happened in his neighborhood the same should be true. However, since no one represented the Gemeinschaft when it was needed, then the forces of Gesellschaft stepped in, only increasing the ennui.

If the people of the world want to "stop" terrorism (of all kinds, both indigenous and imported), they need to get some sack and start condemning violence. Fatwas like this are just the start. If the Sunnis of Iraq really want to consolidate their power, it would be in their interest to start criticizing the violence. However, the true tragedy of this situation is that since America, the personification of Gesellschaft for most human beings, has failed to demonstrate restraint in our pursuit of terrorism, it only encourages those who love violence to pursue their most dangerous game.

However, if we want to be serious about changing the way we deal with each other, we need to rebuild our communities into places where bicycle thieves don’t go unnoticed, car bombers can’t find shelter, and four nice Muslim boys don’t become radicalized by a trip to their ancestral country and meet in the shadows to plan the murder of total strangers. Then we can all keep our civil liberties.