The State should be an expression of the will of the people, never a source of it. To put that in words that have caused a recent kerfuffle in Congress:
The government should have no role at all in the formation of public opinion.
None.
At all.
(Seriously, I actually cannot stress this enough.)
None.
At all.
The State should be forbidden, absolutely, from attempting to influence public opinion.
The U.S. has, historically, agreed with this idea in theory (it is, after all, what the 1st Amendment is all about) but has been quite bad about it in practice (the Red Scare and McCarthyism, for example).
This particular hypocrisy of idealistic rhetoric mixed with grubby fact is probably the most ancient and durable attribute of U.S. public culture.
What with the slavery and all.
And whatever, no country has ever actually lived up to its claimed ideals.
And precious few people have either.
But the rhetoric is still important.
For ICE to feel comfortable publishing a literal claim to be thought-policing the border means that they think this particular ideal doesn’t even need to be claimed anymore.
That they think it’s OK to just say flat-out that they are the Brain Police. That ideas can now be made illegal, and that they will be the ones who choose the acceptable ideas.
That Thoughtcrime is now a real thing, and that they will separate the Rightthink from the Wrongthink.
And that is a line very few countries have made it back from after crossing.
We need a 0th Amendment that says that, with no exceptions, the State is not allowed to attempt to influence public opinion.
For any reason.
In any way.
Ever.
Because slippery slopes are real.
And this one leads to some pretty terrible places.
