The Department of Homeland Security regularly warns us to be aware of our surroundings and to watch for suspicious activity. They also warn us to watch for actions that may look harmless but might also be a symptom of a more serious threat.
Some of us wonder if being so suspicious of our fellow citizens is a good thing. They say that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, and we should be ready to make judgments when we see dangerous activity. So let me take this opportunity to tell you what I see.
I see a government approaching levels of totalitarian control that were unimaginable even a few years ago. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which protects you from unreasonable search and seizure, is gone. Nude Body scanners and invasive pat down searches are a prerequisite for air travel. The Supreme Court agrees that the government has the authority to strip-search you at any time for any reason, even if you are arrested for a simple traffic stop.
I see a society willing to accept widespread surveillance previously imagined only in the most outlandish dystopian science fiction. A new government facility will centralize all electronic information about every citizen, including e-mails, phone calls, and purchase history into one easily searchable database. Virtually every citizen will have a file.
In addition, they are working with private contractors to create street lights capable of taking pictures, recording conversations, and even transmitting government messages. Linked with the NSA’s data center, it’s conceivable that the government could amass a database of citizens’ private conversations. Meanwhile, weaponized, remotely-controlled drones are becoming commonplace across the country to monitor the activities of everyday Americans.
I see a government that has subverted democracy through gerrymandering, unaccountable elections, and limitless corporate funding. It’s supported by a corporate-controlled media that doesn’t only fail to inform, but actively obscures the truth.
I see an empire that regularly and increasingly commits acts of war without congressional authorization in direct defiance of US law, international law, and the Constitution.
I see a justice system that insist that we can’t afford the cost of a jury trial. It imprisons innocent people for life even after a jury acquits them of the charges. It incarcerates more people than any other nation. It accepts slave labor as an acceptable form of punishment. It ignores widespread overcrowding and rape. Meanwhile, local governments will need to pass more draconian laws and punishments to satisfy private prison contracts that demand high occupancy rates.
I see a supposedly “liberal” and “progressive” Democratic administration which claims the authority to unilaterally and indefinitely detain without trial, anyone under the mere suspicion that they are a terrorist. Furthermore, they claim the authority to extradite American citizens to “foreign entities” where they can be tortured without limit. There is no judicial review. It is also attempting to intimidate and silence whistleblowers. To date, this administration has charged more people with crimes under the Espionage Act than all other presidencies combined.
I see a connected big-business elite, whose incestuous relationship with government has made them immune to prosecution. Even after they stole billions in tax dollars, manipulated markets, bribed public officials, and committed hundreds of thousands of cases of well documented perjury, the government has failed to prosecute any major players.
I see a central bank whose money printing, despite arguments to the contrary, has massively increased the wealth of the elite banking and investor class, while slowly destroying the value of the dollar and the purchasing power of the working poor. If a new reserve currency is introduced, it will rapidly increase this trend.
I see the use of “free speech zones” to corral and silence protesters. We have a militarized police force that uses bulldozers, rubber bullets, sound cannons, and chemical weapons on citizens whose simple demand is that the rule of law be enforced. A thoroughly corrupt government has only two ways to control the population: fraud and force, and when fraud is exposed, force is all they have left.
Almost all of these offenses are relatively new abuses. The corruption in government is accelerating quickly, and our most basic rights are evaporating. While it has always been corrupt and needing of supervision, the government now claims tyrannical powers equal to the most suppressive nations in human history. Our leaders tell us that these infringements on our civil liberties are necessary to ensure our way of life, but as Charles Hugh Smith recently noted, this is an Orwellian reversal of what the founding fathers had in mind. Civil liberties ARE our way of life.
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I've been seeing and saying the same thing for decades.
We are surrounded by idiots too busy taking handouts from the government to realize or care about what is happening. We are indeed SCREWED!
There so afraid of the truth that they want people to spy on each other, there getting desperate Thats what happens when your living a lie. The truth will come out about this fraud, but not quick enough to suit me.
The IRS sent my Tax Return back! AGAIN!!!
I guess it was because of my response to the question: "List all dependents?"
I replied –
"12 million illegal immigrants;
"3 million crack heads;
"42 million unemployable people on food stamps;
"2 million people in over 243 prisons;
"Half of Mexico; and,
"535 fools in the U.S. House and Senate.”
Apparently, this was NOT an acceptable answer.
Apparently, the IRS can’t handle the truth.
AWESOME. I LOVE IT!!
You appear to be in the military, yet you did not include yourself in the list. The military and government have always been an expense to the people of any land. They do not bring in revenue and are where a large chunk of tax money goes.
All of your training, your housing, your salary, your education, your clothing, your life long health care and your retirement benefits are all derived from taxing the people.
You are in fact a dependent of the people.
I am not necessarily in support of the cause of this website, but I think the author has written an extremely thoughtful and insightful analysis of what totalitarianism is like. It is a form of brainwashing that starts with citizens who are overwhelmed with fear created by false flag operations.
Then they are told what to believe and don't have the time and energy to think out whether it is true.
I see patriots who love this land being brainwashed into divisive segments by talk radio and talk TV. I see them being turned against one another with emotionally charged propaganda. I see in what they say and write a repeat of the same language and slogans I hear used by the propagandists in the mass media. I hear anger and hate talk wherever I go. I see treachery at the highest levels. I've lost touch with what the truth is or where to find it.
Yes, it is working. Citizen against Citizen. That is how a land is taken over.
IF WE THE PEOPLE WOULD STOP JUST TALKING ABOUT WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR GREAT COUNTRY BECAUSE OF THIS ADMINISTRATION ACTION PUTTING IT AS A THIRD WORLD NATION AND NOT OBEYING THE LAW OF THE LAND NOW IS THE TIME WE TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY BY THE BALLOT BOX OR TERM LIMITS OF ALL OF CONGRESS AND BIG COMPANY'S NOT BE ALLOW ED TO US THERE MEMBERS FUNDS TO BUY AN ELECTION AND LOBBYIST HAVE NO RIGHT TO BUY THERE INFLUENCE OF OUR CONGRESS GO BACK TO POPULAR VOTE THAT WOULD DO A LOT ABOUT WE THE PEOPLE AND LAWS THAT ARE PASSED BY CONGRESS MUST PASS THE LAW OF THE LAND MY OPINION
DNC SCHEDULE
4:00 PM Opening Flag Burning Ceremony
4:05 PM Singing of "God Damn America" led by Rev. Jeremiah Wright
4:10 PM Pledge of Allegiance to Obama
4:15 PM Ceremonial 'I Hate America' led by Michelle Obama
4:30 PM Tips on Dodging Sniper Fire , Hillary Clinton
4:45 PM Al Sharpton Leads Castrati Choir in Singing, "Great Balls of Fire"
5:00 PM UFO Abduction Survival , Joe Biden
5:30 PM Eliot Spitzer Speaks on "Family Values" via Satellite
5:45 PM Tribute to All 57 States
6:00 PM Joe Biden Delivers 100,000-Word Speech Featuring 23-Minute Question and 2-Hour Answer
8:30 PM Airing of Grievances by the Clintons
9:00 PM Bill Clinton Delivers Rousing Endorsement of Obama Girl
9:15 PM Tribute Film to Freedom Fighters at Gitmo , Michael Moore
9:45 PM Personal Finance Seminar – Charlie Rangel
10:00 PM Denunciation of Bitter Gun Owners, Rosie O'Donnell
10:30 PM Ceremonial Waving of White Flag for Iraq & Afghanistan
11:00 PM Obama Energy Plan Symposium/Tire Gauge Demonstration
11:15 PM Free Gov. Blagojevich rally
11:30 PM Obama Accepts Tony and Latin Grammy Awards
11:45 PM Feeding of the Delegates with 5 Loaves and 2 Fish , Obama Presiding
12:00 AM Official Nomination of Obama by Bill Maher
12:01 AM Obama Accepts Nomination as Lord and Savior
12:05 AM Celestial Choirs Sing
3:00 AM Biden Delivers Acceptance Speech
Note: There is one omission in the list above: Memorial recognition of Obama's surrogate son, Trayvon, will be in conjunction with the 12:05 AM event.
To Raymond,
This may be a controversial statement but it is the truth. You appear to be in the military but you do not include yourself in the list. All military and all government are financed in all lands through taxing the citizens.
They do not bring in revenue, only spend it. This is the fundamental teaching of Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations and considered the father of capitalism.
All of your education, your housing, your training, your clothing, your life-long health care and retirement benefits are derived from taxing the citizens. In this sense, you too are a dependent of the citizens of this land. While this comment may be hard to take, it is a fundamental economic truth. It is the truth that sets a nation above other nations. While your service is honored, be reminded who pays for it.