The Essential 'Next'

Nobody reads, the words are lost, the ideals are gone. Where were they to begin with? Just one form of 'liberty' being transferred to another. Another version of liberty, another iteration of it. Each iteration being a shadowy reflection of the next. It's the essential 'next'. What will the 'next' freedom essentially be?

The local DMV has it right...'Driving is a privilege not a right...'. The unfortunate ones hear this often. Recalcitrant TSA's say it....but differently. 'You must give up some liberty to fly', you could add 'to drive, to work, to live'. Each iteration, each essential 'next' requiring the passage of some legislation. The insidious maniacal chuckle after the statement, 'It's for your own good. It's your essential next'.

Porn scanners at every airport. Strip you down, rob you, take you, dehumanize you. There's human evil behind every machine, behind every bolt, every cog. "How do you destroy a nation? Pay one half of the population to kill the other half." The soul of the TSA, the soul of the DMV, the soul of Homeland. The essential next.

Interstate checkpoints. The inevitable next. "Why are you here? What is the purpose of your visit? Where are you coming from? How long do you plan to visit?" The questions, the strip-searches, full-cavity. The crimes justified in the context of security, much different than safety. Invasive and peering you are monitored from one day to the next. When you are born, when you eat, when you die. A catalog of information, a digital profile, tucked away in the bowels of a computer until...you object. You terrorist. The essential next.

So we wait, and watch for the next iteration.