"A nation consists of its laws."
Excerpt from something really cool William Gibson posted on Sunday:
"Are you really so scared of terrorists that you'll dismantle the structures that made America what it is?" Milgrim heard himself say this with a sense of deep wonder. He was saying these things without consciously having thought them, or at least not in such succinct terms, and they seemed inarguable.
"The fuck-"
"If you are, you let the terrorist win. Because that is exactly, specifically his goal, his only goal: to frighten you into surrendering the rule of law. That's why they call him 'terrorist' He uses terrifying threats to induce you to degrade your own society."
"Are you really so scared of terrorists that you'll dismantle the structures that made America what it is?" Milgrim heard himself say this with a sense of deep wonder. He was saying these things without consciously having thought them, or at least not in such succinct terms, and they seemed inarguable.
"The fuck-"
"If you are, you let the terrorist win. Because that is exactly, specifically his goal, his only goal: to frighten you into surrendering the rule of law. That's why they call him 'terrorist' He uses terrifying threats to induce you to degrade your own society."