Join The Revolution?

Recently, the news is full of stories about Americans and other first world folks who join foreign revolutions. Many are arrested and charged with conspiracy or aiding terrorist organizations. If your memory is long enough or your grasp of history is good you realize that this isn't new. Americans love revolution. We went to Spain to fight fascists, to Cuba to fight for and against Castro and now we are on both sides of the middle easts' ongoing troubles. Americans were there for the Russian Revolution as well. Many believed that Socialism was the political system of the future and when reactionary forces in the US and Soviet Union became embroiled in the Cold War we saw the same arrests and prosecutions on both sides.

The current arrests trouble me. Most of these are of young people hoping to improve the world. Yes they take up arms against our current allies - some believe in religions that differ from those of most Americans, but they are still our children. Perhaps we should arrest their parents and teachers? What about those who preach their religion, should we arrest all who spoke a truth that was not in the mainstream - not our own idea of truth?

In the 1950's the US suffered through, what was called by those it attacked, the Red Scare or if you were the attacker, the war against Soviet Aggression. In those days we had no Patriot Act or Homeland Security, but we did have the paranoia of J. Edgar Hoover and House and Senate Committees that badgered and wrote Contempt of Congress Citations for anyone who might have had Socialist leanings. Many people lost jobs and community standing and some were jailed and fined. In the end in turned out that having unpopular opinions was protected activity under out constitution and most were let off.

Having thoughts and ideas are protected activities under the US Constitution. We should be very careful about how we treat the ideas that diverge. Those who gave us our way of life and the constitution that protects it were after all rebels and dissidents who disagreed with their government.