We are giving the authorities an open invitation to abuse their power:

“In a democracy, personal liberties are rarely diminished overnight. Rather, they are lost gradually, by acts of well-meaning people, with good intentions, amid public approval. But the subtle loss of freedom is never recognised until the crisis is over and we look back in horror. And then it is too late.”

-Andrew Napolitano, American judge, just after 9/11

(via)