{"id":851,"date":"2007-03-09T22:17:02","date_gmt":"2007-03-10T03:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/?p=851"},"modified":"2011-10-01T19:32:34","modified_gmt":"2011-10-01T23:32:34","slug":"the-drumhead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2007\/03\/09\/the-drumhead\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Drumhead”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tonight I was watching a very good episode<\/a> of Star Trek: The Next Generation<\/em>, and as I watched it I realized just how relevant it was. Allow me to sum it up with some quotes:<\/p>\n

“With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably. Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie as wisdom and warning\u2026 The first time any man’s freedom is trodden on we\u2019re all damaged.”<\/p>\n

-Captain Picard<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“Sir, the Federation does have enemies! We must seek them out!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Oh, yes. That’s how it starts! But the road from legitimate suspicion to rampant paranoia is very much shorter than we think.”<\/p>\n

-Worf and Captain Picard<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“We think we’ve come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it’s all ancient history. Then! Before you can blink an eye, suddenly it threatens to start all over again.”<\/p>\n

-Captain Picard<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“villains who twirl their mustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well-camouflaged.”<\/p>\n

“[…] she, or someone like her will always be with us – waiting for the right climate in which to flourish. Spreading fear in the name of righteousness. Vigilance, Mr. Worf: That is the price we have to continually pay.”<\/p>\n

-Captain Picard<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Read those quotes again in the context of today’s political climate and I think you’ll agree – we do <\/em>think we’ve come so far, but the barbaric practices of our past are often much closer than any of us would like to think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The first time any man’s freedom is trodden on we’re all damaged.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[385],"class_list":["post-851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal","category-politics","tag-politics","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pimUj-dJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":918,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2007\/10\/12\/never-fear\/","url_meta":{"origin":851,"position":0},"title":"Never Fear","author":"Keith Survell","date":"October 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"\"There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense.\"","rel":"","context":"In "politics"","block_context":{"text":"politics","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5747,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2022\/05\/03\/freedom-for-me-but-not-for-thee\/","url_meta":{"origin":851,"position":1},"title":"Freedom for me, but not for thee","author":"Keith Survell","date":"May 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a certain (dangerous) mindset as of late that can be neatly summed up as \"freedom for me, but not for thee.\"","rel":"","context":"In "My Opinion"","block_context":{"text":"My Opinion","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/personal\/my-opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6224,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2025\/02\/01\/existing-and-resisting\/","url_meta":{"origin":851,"position":2},"title":"Existing and Resisting","author":"Keith Survell","date":"February 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"As long as there is a breath in my body, I shall not cease to be a thorn in the side of those who would prevent others from being who they want to be, or denying the rights of others to live as they choose, or spreading hatred and fear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Opinion"","block_context":{"text":"My Opinion","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/personal\/my-opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":374,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2005\/01\/14\/creationist-textbook-stickers-declared-unconstitutional\/","url_meta":{"origin":851,"position":3},"title":"Creationist Textbook Stickers Declared Unconstitutional","author":"Keith Survell","date":"January 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. Freedom of speech anyone?","rel":"","context":"In "politics"","block_context":{"text":"politics","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":405,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2005\/02\/22\/security\/","url_meta":{"origin":851,"position":4},"title":"Security","author":"Keith Survell","date":"February 22, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Security ... what does this word mean in relation to life as we know it today? For the most part, it means safety and freedom from worry. It is said to be the end that all men strive for; but is security a Utopian goal or is it another word\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "politics"","block_context":{"text":"politics","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":498,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2005\/05\/10\/freedom-is-slavery\/","url_meta":{"origin":851,"position":5},"title":"Freedom is Slavery","author":"Keith Survell","date":"May 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"\"No longer solely concerned with driver safety, state DMVs would also be required to adopt stringent verification procedures (authenticating birth certificates and other documents) to make sure that license holders are not in the country illegally.\"","rel":"","context":"In "politics"","block_context":{"text":"politics","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}