It's no secret that I don't trust the government and consider them to be the greatest threat to the freedom and civil liberties of all citizens. What is not generally known is why. It wasn't my time in the Army. It wasn't just reading history books. It wasn't even seeing Congress and President Bush pass a terrible law shortly after 9-11 that infringes on us all. (i.e. the USA PATRIOT Act.)
No, it actually happened a lot earlier. I was made aware of this by, of all things, a form of popular entertainment: an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that first aired in 1991 called 'The Drumhead.' I was only 9 years old at the time but, I still got the message loud and clear. I might have been a rather clever young boy but, I give all the credit for that to the writers. That show had some truly excellent writers.
Anyway, not only is it a story that was very clearly used to make a political point, it was also my first real lesson in McCarthyism. It starts out as legitimate suspicion of various ne'er-do-wells and turns into a witch hunt. Suddenly, anyone who isn't singing the same proverbial tune as the Grand Inquisitor/Joe McCarthy/whoever is accused of being traitorous, disloyal or in league with the Devil. Oftentimes, that isn't even close to being the truth.
I'll let this YouTube clip from the episode itself explain what I mean...
See how Admiral Satee tried to use ANYTHING she could to make Picard look bad? That's what happens when you let government get too big. Overzealous individuals looking for conspiracies that aren't there somehow get into a position of authority and misuse it to menace people that cross them.
'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech
censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom
denied--chains us all irrevocably.' - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
^^^Spoken like a true scholar and champion of Justice, Captain. And that is why you were one of my childhood heroes.
- Lord Publius
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