Greg Broiles wrote:

Indeed - I frequently find myself wondering who really won the cold war. The "free world" seems to be adopting the totalitarian/surveillance-state tactics and behaviors usually ascribed to the nations which "lost" the cold war; but the "losers" seem to have a much better grasp of the importance of human freedom than the "winners" do. .....................................................

I think it's because, having suffered through many years of totalitarian beneficence, they know first-hand what it really means to live that way: whereas our friends & neighbors over here can only imagine the good things and "benefits" that they envision for everyone, the ones who have lived through it know what it really looks like and how it really feels to be on the receiving end. It is unfortunate that our innocence can be a drawback to realizing the effects or consequences of blanket policies, those one-size-fits-all arrangements which are supposed to "help us" into becoming better persons against our will. Reading history apparently doesn't make an impact on some people, sometimes they just have to be there, to see first-hand what it means to experience their grand designs. That's why I really wish that these people would get what they wish for - that they could live, with all voluntary parties in full consent, the kind of restrictive setups they are always calling for. I guess Singapore is the closest thing to that at this time, where they appear to live pretty much a pre-determined existence and don't leave, although they are free to do so. Too bad it's a small island and can't fit many more similarly minded types. Maybe one day in the future all the control freaks and their submissive followers will gravitate to certain parts of the world and everyone else to others, and there will be peace & happiness throughout the planet. :-) .. Blanc