Now it’s no good to have such rights if they’re not used – a right of free speech when no one contradicts the government, freedom of the press when no one is willing to ask the tough questions, a right of assembly when there are no protests, universal suffrage when less than half the electorate votes, separation of church and state when the wall is not regularly repaired. Through disuse they become no more than votive objects, patriotic lip service. Rights and freedoms: Use ’em or lose ’em.

— Carl Sagan