To the Editor:

For all the years America has been a country, we have called upon our youth to fight our wars, whether noble or ill conceived. These young people have gone and done what we asked them to do, or died trying.

How does it honor their sacrifice when we so willingly give up the freedoms we asked them to defend? Did my father’s battles in WW II, my friend’s sacrifices in Vietnam or your children’s repeated deployments in the Middle East really count for nothing?

I sincerely hope not, but as I look at the behaviors of our citizens and our politicians in this new century, I have my doubts.

Nearly half of the people of voting age rearely bother to vote. And most politicians with their own agendas are trying to disenfranchise those who do. Millions upon millions of Americans readily give up their constitutional rights to feel more secure, even in the face of dubious actual threats. We fear being conquered by some vague “other” and being forced to live in some kind of unknown unfree society. We willingly give up our freedoms so they won’t be taken away by those “others.”

We are too lazy to actually read our Constitution, which is very short, by the way, and written in English. We assume we know what’s in there, but obviously most of us don’t. If we did, we would know that it was not handed down by God. It has more amendments than two, and it protects our rights to speak and write freely, worship — or not — as we choose, and have the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. We would know the slaves have been freed and that all American citizens regardless of race have been given the right to vote.

If we give our democracy to the ruling elite, the corporations, or allow big money to decide our elections and write our laws, then every salor, soldier or airman who fought to protect our constitution died in vain.

Susan Chichetto
Bath