Who poses the greater threat; Usama bin Ladin or Barack Obama?

(This text was inspired by this article (written in Swedish).)

Why are we afraid of terrorists?

Is it because they can arbitrarily blow us to pieces when we least expect it?

Not for me. I don't walk around worrying that they will blow me or my loved ones up.

Is it that they may blow our aeroplane to smithereens while we're on it?

That does not worry me much either, and no, that's not thanks to the absurd security checks on the airports; it's simply because there are not enough terrorists per aircraft to really worry me.

What is it that makes terrorism so bad (except for the obvious fact that they maim and kill innocent people at random)?

What makes it so bad is this; it is generally considered a major threat to our democratic societies.

Ok.

So if a terrorist should set off a bomb that killed my family, how would that be a threat against democracy?

In no way, that's how. It would cause the loss of innocent lives, but our democracy would continue unaffected. That is, unless...

Unless our politicians decide to "fight" terrorism by supervising us 24/7, stealing our freedoms one by one... undermining our freedom of speech, gradually lowering the demands of proof for punishment by law, writing new laws that allow more arbitrary mechanisms to decide who is innocent and who is guilty...

...transforming our societies from civilizations where we were considered innocent until proven otherwise to totalitarian regimes where we're considered guilty until proven innocent...

...and who drives this development? Usama bin Ladin? No way, he merely sits hiding somewhere, if he is indeed still alive.

Barack Obama? Well, I don't see him opposing it fiercely, while people in power all across the U.S.A. spit in the face of freedom of speech, calling for or taking harsh action against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, endorsing surveillance in the name of copyright, promoting censorship in the name of "morality"... And a republican president would probably, like Obama's predecessor, only speed up the negative process.

So who poses the real threat to democracy? The terrorist or the useful idiot who allows and endorses more surveillance, arbitrary legislation, censorship...?

Don't take my word for it. Find out for yourself.

(This text was inspired by this article (written in Swedish).)

Why are we afraid of terrorists?

Is it because they can arbitrarily blow us to pieces when we least expect it?

Not for me. I don't walk around worrying that they will blow me or my loved ones up.

Is it that they may blow our aeroplane to smithereens while we're on it?

That does not worry me much either, and no, that's not thanks to the absurd security checks on the airports; it's simply because there are not enough terrorists per aircraft to really worry me.

What is it that makes terrorism so bad (except for the obvious fact that they maim and kill innocent people at random)?

What makes it so bad is this; it is generally considered a major threat to our democratic societies.

Ok.

So if a terrorist should set off a bomb that killed my family, how would that be a threat against democracy?

In no way, that's how. It would cause the loss of innocent lives, but our democracy would continue unaffected. That is, unless...

Unless our politicians decide to "fight" terrorism by supervising us 24/7, stealing our freedoms one by one... undermining our freedom of speech, gradually lowering the demands of proof for punishment by law, writing new laws that allow more arbitrary mechanisms to decide who is innocent and who is guilty...

...transforming our societies from civilizations where we were considered innocent until proven otherwise to totalitarian regimes where we're considered guilty until proven innocent...

...and who drives this development? Usama bin Ladin? No way, he merely sits hiding somewhere, if he is indeed still alive.

Barack Obama? Well, I don't see him opposing it fiercely, while people in power all across the U.S.A. spit in the face of freedom of speech, calling for or taking harsh action against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, endorsing surveillance in the name of copyright, promoting censorship in the name of "morality"... And a republican president would probably, like Obama's predecessor, only speed up the negative process.

So who poses the real threat to democracy? The terrorist or the useful idiot who allows and endorses more surveillance, arbitrary legislation, censorship...?

Don't take my word for it. Find out for yourself.

Who poses the greater threat; Usama bin Ladin or Barack Obama?