On Keeping The Nation Secure

The Right in this country keeps claiming things like :

Democratic governments have many demands on tax dollars, but none is more important than defending the lives and security of our citizenry.

Sadly, they tend to define this in very narrow, mainly military, terms. I would like to expand it somewhat and offer the following list as belonging in that category.

• Security from bankruptcy due to medical bills
• Security from poisoning due to tainted food
• Security from poisoning due to polluted air and water
• Security from having a bank foreclose on your house even though they don't hold the note
• Security from having their email read and phone calls listened to
• Security from dying of heat because they cannot afford the electricity needed to keep them cool
• Security from being discriminated against because they want to marry someone that happens to be of the same sex

I could go on for pages but won't. I don't expect any of my conservative friends to agree with me but I do expect them to start to think a little more broadly about what security means.