This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Twelve years ago, the U.S. government exploited the terror created by the 9/11 hijackers to rush Orwellian policies into place in the name of keeping us safe from the jihadi.

Sadly, G-men are now the ones we should fear. They have created a state where spying, invading homes, imprisoning without trial and even summarily executing U.S. citizens from the sky is the new status quo. And for what? Reducing the risk of death by a terrorist from .002 percent to .001 percent?

As I grew up during the Cold War era of the 1970s and 80s, the constant threat of nuclear annihilation was part of the culture. Those were the good old days when it was the East German Stasi and the Russian commies who we feared, not our own government.

Is this what all the millions of lives lost, trillions of dollars spent and economies were ruined for? As with Hitler's rise to power in 1920s Germany, Americans' constitutional rights are being slowly eroded, and few of us seem to notice.

The "sheeple" do a great job keeping up with the Kardashians, wondering what the reality TV sequel will bring. They should be reading George Orwell, wondering about the real-life sequel to 1984.

Jeff Johnson

Salt Lake City