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Spielberg on Privacy, Minority Report
Staring at Nothing writes "In this ABC News story famed Hollywood director Steven Spielberg voices some concerns over the current state of privacy and paranoia in a post-9/11 world. Some of Spielberg's recent movies, like AI and Minority Report have brought us haunting views of the future, but the present may be just as scary. He mentions software being developed to monitor "abnormal behavior" and concerns about originality being misconstrued as dangerous behavior." The story has some minor plot spoilers about Minority Report.
Because after all if recent events have shown us anything it's that there are people out there who are willing to risk everything in order to acheive their goals. The frightening difference between these people and normal, less dangerous terrorists like say those in Ireland is that they don't care if they die as long as they get the job done, which means they will take any risk at all! Clearly this death wish is not normal. No sane, healthy person could be willing to give up their own life for any nonsense cause like religion. And if these people aren't normal, then we need some way to be able to find these people before they strike! That's just obvious! Do we want another 9/11? No! Profiling is a quite advanced science, as evidenced by some of the successes agencies like the FBI have had with serial killers. There is no reason, other then the squeamishness of liberals for it not to be used, and used successfully in the defense of our nation against the religious loonies that are desparate to bring it down. And so we must be prepared to accept some limits to our freedom in order to defend ourself; this is not only practical, but it is sensible, and those that argue against it are hindering national defense.
If you're so scared of another group of airplanes being crashed into Tourist Attractions, stop building tourist attractions, or move somewhere that doesn't have any.
... why does it sound to me as if you're more interested in your own freedom that those of everyone else? What about the freedom to live from fear, the freedom to be able to make your choices without having options imposed upon you by faceless terrorists?
Do these count in your book? It doesn't sound like it!
Freedom is nothing without security, because without security you cannot truly be free. Therefore freedom is dependant upon security, and for you to argue otherwise is nonsense. Our Founders understood this; just look at the Second Amendment for a fine example of how they saw the need for security as being paramount!
Like many other things that the Founders said, this was just a rhetorical device. If you really want to see what they meant and believed in you just need to look at the Constitution and what they thought was important enough to set into stone.
Why is the Second Amendment one that specifically gives us the security to defend ourself, if not to ensure freedom is preserved? The Founders knew that freedom and security were two sides of the same coin, and that sometimes we must decrease one to increase the other but that in the end it is all one and the same.
I don't expect the cops to prevent burglaries but I do expect them to catch the burglars so the burglars get raped behind bars instead of burglarizing more homes in my hood.
Likewise I don't expect the government to stop terrorists from blowing up things (it's unrealistic to think they could anyway), i do want them to go after the terrorists, their buddies, and stick it to them hard. (like they did to the talibans)
I would say to the Saudis and the Syrians and especially Arafat: Another peep out of any of you people and we declare full, unconditional war on you. With tactical nukes.
And so they get the message loud and clear, we nuke Baghdad, twice. It worked on the Japanese.
Am married to Japanese so don't go off on me about that.
We were at war then. We are at war now.
They were willing to commit suicide, fight to the death, and were fanatically following the Emperor.
They changed their tune.
Likewise with the Middle East. They need to realize that we are not some third-world country they can terrorize with screams and shooting in the air from an AK47. They have reached a point where they can no longer control themselves. If we don't conrol them, the world will just go up in flames.
I wax poetic in late afternoon...
"Piter, too, is dead."