On the fourth anniversary of a protest brutally suppressed by the British government, John Hancock declared that Americans “dread nothing but slavery. It is immortality to sacrifice ourselves for the salvation of our country. We fear not death.”

While Hancock himself did not die for liberty, he did not shy from the risk. A wealthy and well-connected businessman, he signed the Declaration of Independence knowing the British government would sentence him to hang for treason.

Though Hancock survived, around 25,000 of his compatriots, or 1.7 percent of the colonies’ population, died in the war for independence. Liberty was worth a lot in those days.

Today we are threatened by the menace of global terrorism. On Sept. 11, in the first attack on American soil in half a century, tragedy came literally out of the blue to kill around 0.0001 percent of the American population. Our nation was stirred to action.

I have never heard the case made that our civil liberties caused 9 / 11, nor have I heard how giving John Ashcroft access to my library records will make us safer. Yet soon after the attacks, we were told that unless we sacrificed some of our civil liberties we would never be safe.

Dick Cheney also tells us that voting Kerry will increase the risk of a terrorist attack, and the Republican Party has distributed bumper stickers calling Kerry Osama bin Laden’s candidate.

For those who weren’t already scared enough, a color-coded fear-o-meter was invented to tell us how scared we should be. Although it’s a mathematical impossibility, the scale has urged that we keep our fear permanently above average.

Our nation’s heroes gave much blood to win our liberties. It is cheap of us to so quickly pawn them to make ourselves feel safer.

Is the prohibition against unwarranted search and seizure, or the right to conduct political protests without police infiltration, worth the loss of three thousand lives in 9 / 11? In 1776, Americans believed so.

Bush claims it was courage to sacrifice our soldiers’ lives, our allies’ favor and our own liberties to fight terrorists. It would have taken more courage to declare that terrorism could never stop us from being America or cause us to shy away from the values — liberty, peace and shared sacrifice — that define our nation.

People talk about the Stanford bubble, an isolated mental and physical zone where students allow themselves to lose track of the outside world. Comfortable, entertained and pursuing their own success, Stanford students aren’t inclined to make sacrifices to make the world a better place.

Sometimes it looks like D.C. has developed a “Stanford bubble.” The ultra-rich have blithely taken the national credit card on a tax-cut spending spree, running up debts our generation will have to repay.

The president did not dare ask for a sacrifice to fund the war on terror, properly equip our troops, or fully fund veterans’ programs — let alone put the funds toward fighting poverty, global AIDS, mediocre public education or the American healthcare crisis.

But the bubble here on campus seems to have burst. At this writing, over 175 students have signed up with the Stanford Democrats to register their neighbors to vote. Not since the Vietnam War have so many students been involved in the club.

As a nation of ideals, we are called to make sacrifices not only to keep our country secure, but also to keep it true to its founding principles. Today, that means registering young people to vote.

The Cal Berkeley Democrats, working in coalition with other student groups, expect to register 9,000 voters before the election. If there’s any moral purpose that can light a fire under Stanford students this year, it’s beating Cal in voter registration and turnout.

As in the past, this year our nation will be inspired and led by young people, who best understand that America’s promise lies in passing on an ever-renewed American dream of liberty, peace, and prosperity.

When he made his speech on the fourth anniversary of the Boston Massacre, John Hancock, 37 years old, was 15 months past the official age limit for membership in the Young Democrats. But in tough times like these, we would have let him help out anyway.

Kai Stinchcombe is a second-year doctoral student in political science and is president of the Stanford Democrats.