Marshall Law

What does it take for people to change their ways -- to stop trashing the earth, end poverty, defend their civil liberties, or even help one another? Forget 'people', what would make me act instead of just talk? I care. I vote. But neither affect change. Sadly, I think the majority of us need to be personally affected by something in order to make change happen. Taken to the extreme, if a national emergency were to strike and the health and safety of my family were at risk, I would damn well sure act. Marshall Law -- is that where we are headed? I hear signs of it more frequently now, thanks to my conspiracy theorist friends. I picture stock piling food, boarding up their homes and staying locked in their basements. Is it unrealistic? Why do people have to be pushed to the extreme before they'll take a stand? Why are we so glib about all of the freedom, security and luxuries we supposedly cherish? Maybe it's because we don't really care. We already have everything we need but feel compelled to want more (à la EGO), so we cling to ideals that are impossible to attain because the basics are boring.

I can't help but think of my 'ol friend Maslow again. Sometimes I feel over-privileged and out-of-touch when I hear myself go off about privacy and the right to freedom of expression when they are people who are fighting for their right to live. My cherished civil liberties are at the top of the pyramid -- they are nice to haves. They are also the first to go when survival needs are at risk. And then again, I am resentful that we cannot have one without the other -- privacy MUST be sacrificed in the name of national security. Says who? Maybe I just have to get out of this Utopian landscape I've painted for myself. Hopefully my family and I will never live to see Marshall Law. Hopefully life will get better with each passing generation. Hopefully.