Washington DC / Fortress of democracy

If the government buildings are any indication, Washington DC is a city bracing for something. Makeshift barriers surround the Capitol; men with automatic weapons stand watch over random governmental doorways and intersections. Sure, this is no different than other “significant” places in the Western world – London and Frankfurt have their share of fortresses and sentries – but as a citizen and idealist I’d hope that Washington would be different. I’d hope that *we* would do it differently.

Our lawmaking buildings were designed to be approached: Sitting at the head of the Mall’s long runway, the Capitol Building inspires further investigation. Nowadays, if a person (say, me) decides to take a picture of the fences around this beacon of democracy, that person may get reprimanded by a guy with a gun. I’m just saying: It happens.

Anyway, I hope that we’ll search for solutions to the problem of security that don’t run counter to the ideals of democracy: that lawmakers operate in the open, that anyone can see how it’s done (and indeed that everyone should see how it’s done), that people are innocent until proven guilty, and that I’m paying for those fences, dammit, so I should be able to take a picture of them without getting harassed.

UPDATE: Even the new $50 bill emphasizes the approachability of the Capitol.

Check out the little white figures climbing the steps on the left-hand side of the Capitol building. This seems to imply, to me, that people can (and should) walk up the stairs to see what’s happening within the hallowed halls of democracy.