I'm very sorry to hear about the losses your friends and family have endured. My comments below are not meant to dismiss those losses.
So, here are some questions to ask if you want to prevent fear from clouding your judgment of the security vs. freedom question:
If the authorities knew where they needed to raid already, why didn't they raid there before the attacks?
On the other hand, if they have all of the surveillance we read about in the news and more, why weren't the attacks prevented? How will more of the same surveillance work any better than the massive amount already in place?
Finally, how do you trust the authorities claims now that their emergency techniques work, if you didn't trust their techniques before?
Again, none of this is meant to belittle the losses sustained or the seriousness of the attacks. But I believe that terrorism is a social and political problem first, a criminal problem second, and a surveillance problem least. So the solutions need to be long-term social and political moves to counteract the economic and ideological conditions that breed terrorists.
So, here are some questions to ask if you want to prevent fear from clouding your judgment of the security vs. freedom question:
If the authorities knew where they needed to raid already, why didn't they raid there before the attacks?
On the other hand, if they have all of the surveillance we read about in the news and more, why weren't the attacks prevented? How will more of the same surveillance work any better than the massive amount already in place?
Finally, how do you trust the authorities claims now that their emergency techniques work, if you didn't trust their techniques before?
Again, none of this is meant to belittle the losses sustained or the seriousness of the attacks. But I believe that terrorism is a social and political problem first, a criminal problem second, and a surveillance problem least. So the solutions need to be long-term social and political moves to counteract the economic and ideological conditions that breed terrorists.