TRAFFIC CENTER: Real goal is control, not safety

Benjamin Franklin once said: “Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” There are those who would argue that his statement has lost its context in the 21st Century. Oh sure, it may have been said during a controversy regarding the state’s authority to levy a property tax in Pennsylvania, but the premise holds true in all situations where the citizens are promised “safety” in exchange for their freedoms.

Freedom and liberty come with a level of risk. Americans have always been willing to assume that level of risk to maintain their freedoms granted to them by their creator and documented in our Constitution. Let’s not be fooled by the “harmless” and “benevolent” names given to government projects, such as a Regional Traffic Management Center that would institute a system of monitoring on our roads. The real goal is not safety, it is control — ultimately government control over every aspect of our lives.

JOYCE and GARY HENRY

Hayden