Remembrance/ Memorial Day makes clear that freedom is not free

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 27, 2002

For many, today is one of ritual and homage to those who have died in military service to our nation. Grave sites will be decorated and the flag, symbolic of freedoms they defended with ultimate sacrifice, will be ubiquitous.

It is a time to reflect, if only too briefly, on what those we remember today have to tell us about the true meaning of commitment, honor, integrity and valor in the face of death. And to reflect, as well, on the freedoms they stood for in both life and death.

The freedom to speak our minds; to worship as we choose; to associate with those of our own choice; to make our own way on life's path; to defend ourselves, our liberty and our property. This is their legacy to us, just as it is the legacy of our nation's founders, and it is our obligation to embrace their enduring gift to us in a way that insures the generations to come will respect and value it in equal or perhaps greater measure.

It is our most precious inheritance. But our reflection will not be complete without thinking as well about the fact we are, in a sense, not at peace now and haven't been for quite some time.

The standoff in the Balkans beginning in the 1990s, where American troops joined others in monitoring an uneasy truce that seems precarious still, goes on -only to be overshadowed by the new century's war in Afghanistan and against terror worldwide. In all those conflicts, the dimensions of human tragedy and suffering continue.

With World War II and the Cold War now confined to history books, the prospects are thankfully remote that such a huge loss of American life on the battlefield as we sustained in those epic struggles will come again anytime soon.

But in Colorado Springs, with our high concentration of soldiers, airmen and military veterans, a large number of our neighbors know firsthand the vigilance and dedication required to maintain the security of our nation. Military people and their families live each day with the knowledge that they, too, may be asked to pay the ultimate earthly price in the service of their country as some already have in Afghanistan.

The tragic loss of American lives in all wars raises an enduring question: Does the freedom we enjoy today as individuals and as a nation justify this terrible price of death and human suffering?

With a sober eye toward history, we must say yes. Freedom does have a price, and it is worth paying. Unfortunately, it is not enough for Americans to simply assert that God has granted us unalienable rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness. Throughout history, and continuing today, there are people in control of foreign governments who desire to take away the freedom God gave man as a birthright.

We must stand guard - and thank our military for doing just that.

E-barriers

E.U. action doesn't bode well for Net

The European Union earlier this month decided to impose a new tax on products downloaded from the Internet - software, music, videos and the like. One may hope that this is just a symbolic gesture, a yawp of frustrated protest at the fact that there are certain things the vaunted bureaucrats in Brussels simply can't control and jealousy that the United States is way ahead of Europe in most high-tech fields.

If it's a serious effort, it raises numerous questions.

The first, of course, is why the European Union is so eager to punish European consumers and businesses, who will be most directly affected by this move. If the tax becomes effective - it is scheduled to kick in July 1, 2003 - it will be more expensive, more inconvenient and, for some products, impossible for Europeans to acquire the latest software. This will not only make it even more expensive to do business in Europe, it also will hurt productivity on the continent.

But the E.U. commissioners probably haven't even thought about the impact on European consumers. It's more likely they seek to hurt American companies and hope that this helps European competitors.

There are jurisdictional problems. According to news reports, the idea is that if a Belgian teen-ager downloads an MP3 file from EMusic.com in Colorado, EMusic will have to have a program that identifies the fact that the purchaser is in Belgium and add the Belgian sales tax to the purchase. Not only is that taxation without representation, it also might be so inconvenient that U.S. companies would simply decide not to sell to European consumers.

If the E.U. can't force companies outside their jurisdiction to collect taxes for them - and it's not clear that they can - would they have to set up a comprehensive Big Brother surveillance system on European computer users so they could monitor when, say, an Italian student makes contact with a foreign Website?

Adam Thierer, director of telecommunications studies at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., suggested that the E.U. might resort to selective enforcement - picking a couple of prominent e-commerce sites to hammer in hopes that smaller players fall into line.

Trying to impose special taxes on European buyers runs counter to the whole idea of the Internet as an accessible global medium that transcends boundaries.