Do Americans take their rights for granted?

[Saigon]

In the past couple of weeks I've been told by a few posters about their oppression in USA.

I've seen words like tyranny and dictatorship used about the Obama adminstration in a way I find equally hilarious and disappointing. The disappointment stems from my feeling that people are both unaware of what REAL tyranny looks and feels like (a la Belarus, North Korea, Transnistria or even Russia) but also take their own luxurious freedoms for granted.

I find the US a very faulted democracy, but it's as free as any country I have been to. I don't see that anyone's rights are actually limited in any way. It seems to me that Americans can say what they like on the street or on this board without fear of arrest, people can start newspapers or political parties without disappearing, and you all seem to be free to travel, worship, work and study where you wish, no?

Shouldn't those rights and freedoms be something that all Americans celebrate - rather than pretend that you live under some kind of despotic regime?

 

[hazlnut]

Welcome to USMB.

You'll find that a certain percentage of the U.S. population finds fear and anger comforting, like a opiate. They like to live in fear, feeling anger and hatred toward their "enemy".

It's a tribal mentality.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

They're the same anti-America fools who worship Pootin, Limbaugh and Ted Cruz.

 

[Saigon]

I agree, Hazl.

At least, it seems that way to me as an outsider.

I don't see any reason for any American to fear their own government now any more than they did so under any previous administration, Rep or Dem, and yet some posters do seem to react as if the arrival by helicoptor of heavily armed Stormtroopers could take place on their rooftops at any moment. Looking back through US history, I don't find many instances of that actually happening.

 

[Votto]

In the past couple of weeks I've been told by a few posters about their oppression in USA.

I've seen words like tyranny and dictatorship used about the Obama adminstration in a way I find equally hilarious and disappointing. The disappointment stems from my feeling that people are both unaware of what REAL tyranny looks and feels like (a la Belarus, North Korea, Transnistria or even Russia) but also take their own luxurious freedoms for granted.

I find the US a very faulted democracy, but it's as free as any country I have been to. I don't see that anyone's rights are actually limited in any way. It seems to me that Americans can say what they like on the street or on this board without fear of arrest, people can start newspapers or political parties without disappearing, and you all seem to be free to travel, worship, work and study where you wish, no?

Shouldn't those rights and freedoms be something that all Americans celebrate - rather than pretend that you live under some kind of despotic regime?

I would call it a soft tyranny. You now have a government that tracks all we do and say, and they come against conservative thought in the form of IRS or regulate us into submission etc. They even passed the NDAA that gives them legal authority to round us up and have us disappear forever without representation.

Everything is in place. All we need is someone to give the order.

 

[High_Gravity]

In the past couple of weeks I've been told by a few posters about their oppression in USA.

I've seen words like tyranny and dictatorship used about the Obama adminstration in a way I find equally hilarious and disappointing. The disappointment stems from my feeling that people are both unaware of what REAL tyranny looks and feels like (a la Belarus, North Korea, Transnistria or even Russia) but also take their own luxurious freedoms for granted.

I find the US a very faulted democracy, but it's as free as any country I have been to. I don't see that anyone's rights are actually limited in any way. It seems to me that Americans can say what they like on the street or on this board without fear of arrest, people can start newspapers or political parties without disappearing, and you all seem to be free to travel, worship, work and study where you wish, no?

Shouldn't those rights and freedoms be something that all Americans celebrate - rather than pretend that you live under some kind of despotic regime?

I don't think we take things for granted but I do think we have the tendency to over exaggerate our situations like comparing Obama to Hitler or some of our cities to Somalia and Darfur.

 

[Saigon]

I would call it a soft tyranny. You now have a government that tracks all we do and say, and they come against conservative thought in the form of IRS or regulate us into submission etc. They even passed the NDAA that gives them legal authority to round us up and have us disappear forever without representation.

Everything is in place. All we need is someone to give the order.

Unfortunately, I guess most of us in western countries CAN be tracked by our governments, right or left. I have no idea how 'tracked' I am, but I am guessing the authorities know more about me than I'd prefer.

On the other hand, that doesn't freak me out, because I don't have anything to hide anyway.

I also accept that we need some laws to deal with the kind of people who go and fight for ISIS and then come back here to live. I can accept some draconian legislation to deal with people like that, providing it isn't abused with use against ordinary citizens. Is there any evidence that it really IS being abused in the US?

 

[Votto]

I would call it a soft tyranny. You now have a government that tracks all we do and say, and they come against conservative thought in the form of IRS or regulate us into submission etc. They even passed the NDAA that gives them legal authority to round us up and have us disappear forever without representation.

Everything is in place. All we need is someone to give the order.

Unfortunately, I guess most of us in western countries CAN be tracked by our governments, right or left. I have no idea how 'tracked' I am, but I am guessing the authorities know more about me than I'd prefer.

On the other hand, that doesn't freak me out, because I don't have anything to hide anyway.

I also accept that we need some laws to deal with the kind of people who go and fight for ISIS and then come back here to live. I can accept some draconian legislation to deal with people like that, providing it isn't abused with use against ordinary citizens. Is there any evidence that it really IS being abused in the US?

Like I said, we have a system in place where we trust our leaders to do all the right things, while giving them all the power to do it. Legislation like the NDAA and Patriot Act do just that.

Have fun trying to elect your most benevolent dictator.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

In the past couple of weeks I've been told by a few posters about their oppression in USA.

I've seen words like tyranny and dictatorship used about the Obama adminstration in a way I find equally hilarious and disappointing. The disappointment stems from my feeling that people are both unaware of what REAL tyranny looks and feels like (a la Belarus, North Korea, Transnistria or even Russia) but also take their own luxurious freedoms for granted.

I find the US a very faulted democracy, but it's as free as any country I have been to. I don't see that anyone's rights are actually limited in any way. It seems to me that Americans can say what they like on the street or on this board without fear of arrest, people can start newspapers or political parties without disappearing, and you all seem to be free to travel, worship, work and study where you wish, no?

Shouldn't those rights and freedoms be something that all Americans celebrate - rather than pretend that you live under some kind of despotic regime?

the paid shill hard at work.your boss sure pays you a lot of money to troll this board.Lets see,americans have been programmed by agents like you and the CIA controlled media into belieing they live in a a free country when its obvious to any thinking man we are one of the most oppressed.nice try shill.miserable fail.

 

[Unkotare]

to me as an outsider.....

An outsider who seems to be obsessed with the US, but never says a word about his own country (such as it is).

 

[Skull Pilot]

Funny how you people talk of rights yet you want to take away the right to carry arms for self defense.

People think stop and frisk is a good idea or warrant-less wire taps or SWAT team infiltration over a fucking joint or unpasteurized milk.

People who speak out against these things are called anti-government or paranoid or "extremists"

The problem isn't people taking rights for granted it's the slow erosion of those rights. Pretty soon we will be like other countries where a simple statement that the powers that be find offensive will get you thrown in jail.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

Funny how you people talk of rights yet you want to take away the right to carry arms for self defense.

People think stop and frisk is a good idea or warrant-less wire taps or SWAT team infiltration over a fucking joint or unpasteurized milk.

People who speak out against these things are called anti-government or paranoid or "extremists"

The problem isn't people taking rights for granted it's the slow erosion of those rights. Pretty soon we will be like other countries where a simple statement that the powers that be find offensive will get you thrown in jail.

yeah that troll that made this thread,its really funny he thinks this is a free country that its not a facist dictatership when if you question authority here you are either illegally wiretapped-remember the name J edgar hoover? "hell our nazi FBI worships that evil monster rascist."you're either illeaglly wiretapped and survilenced,framed and put in jail,or murdered off.

yep thats one kind of great free country thats not oppressed there.

I took trolls like him and Luddly to school on this along with the help of delta embassy on this thread.
..are we still a free country Page 2 US Message Board - Political Discussion Forum

notice how after I proved to luddly we are a dictatership after he asked me to,he ran off?lol

 

[Skull Pilot]

Tyranny etc is a continuum. Yes it is true we are freer than most but any erosion of our freedoms should be considered a step towards tyranny and should be prevented lest our freedoms die the death of a thousand cuts

 

[Saigon]

Tyranny etc is a continuum. Yes it is true we are freer than most but any erosion of our freedoms should be considered a step towards tyranny and should be prevented lest our freedoms die the death of a thousand cuts

I agree about the continuum; but there has to be some evidence that an administration - ANY adminstration - actually wishes to move towards tyranny for fear of tyranny to make sense. Otheriwse it's just paranoia.

I don't see any politician in the US actually wanting to impose any real restrictions on any of your rights.


btw. I am not against the right to bear arms, or against a right to use arms for self-defense. I just support rights also for those who choose not to own weapons.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Tyranny etc is a continuum. Yes it is true we are freer than most but any erosion of our freedoms should be considered a step towards tyranny and should be prevented lest our freedoms die the death of a thousand cuts

I agree about the continuum; but there has to be some evidence that an administration - ANY adminstration - actually wishes to move towards tyranny for fear of tyranny to make sense. Otheriwse it's just paranoia.

I don't see any politician in the US actually wanting to impose any real restrictions on any of your rights.


btw. I am not against the right to bear arms, or against a right to use arms for self-defense. I just support rights also for those who choose not to own weapons.

It's subtle but Americans are not as free as we used to be.

 

[Spare_change]

They're the same anti-America fools who worship Pootin, Limbaugh and Ted Cruz.

I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to say incredibly stupid things.

 

[Spare_change]

I agree, Hazl.

At least, it seems that way to me as an outsider.

I don't see any reason for any American to fear their own government now any more than they did so under any previous administration, Rep or Dem, and yet some posters do seem to react as if the arrival by helicoptor of heavily armed Stormtroopers could take place on their rooftops at any moment. Looking back through US history, I don't find many instances of that actually happening.

Vigilance is the first tenet of freedom.

To allow the federal government to abuse its powers, even in the most minimal of degrees. becomes the incentive for more and greater abuses.

The government will not, one day, storm down on the people with helicopters, imprisoning all who happen to disagree. Instead, it chips away, one little piece at a time, at our individual rights, all under the guise of 'protecting the people'. It is death by a thousand cuts, not a ritualistic beheading.

When we see our government using its resources, and our laws, to target specific groups of people, we shouldn't be concerned. We should be outraged, we should be furious, and we should be armed. IRS targeting of specific political groups, or refusal of the Department of Justice (an oxymoron if you ever saw one) to prosecute some laws while targeting others, MUST not be allowed. It must be resisted ... every time and every place.

 

[Spare_change]

In the past couple of weeks I've been told by a few posters about their oppression in USA.

I've seen words like tyranny and dictatorship used about the Obama adminstration in a way I find equally hilarious and disappointing. The disappointment stems from my feeling that people are both unaware of what REAL tyranny looks and feels like (a la Belarus, North Korea, Transnistria or even Russia) but also take their own luxurious freedoms for granted.

I find the US a very faulted democracy, but it's as free as any country I have been to. I don't see that anyone's rights are actually limited in any way. It seems to me that Americans can say what they like on the street or on this board without fear of arrest, people can start newspapers or political parties without disappearing, and you all seem to be free to travel, worship, work and study where you wish, no?

Shouldn't those rights and freedoms be something that all Americans celebrate - rather than pretend that you live under some kind of despotic regime?

the paid shill hard at work.your boss sure pays you a lot of money to troll this board.Lets see,americans have been programmed by agents like you and the CIA controlled media into belieing they live in a a free country when its obvious to any thinking man we are one of the most oppressed.nice try shill.miserable fail.

A lot of accusations, a lot of rhetoric, and not a single word of proof ... so, tell me, did reality escape you, or did you leave it behind intentionally?

 

[LA RAM FAN]

They're the same anti-America fools who worship Pootin, Limbaugh and Ted Cruz.

I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to say incredibly stupid things.

thats Luddly for ya.he worships whats the government tells him.

 

[BlindBoo]

In the past couple of weeks I've been told by a few posters about their oppression in USA.

I've seen words like tyranny and dictatorship used about the Obama adminstration in a way I find equally hilarious and disappointing. The disappointment stems from my feeling that people are both unaware of what REAL tyranny looks and feels like (a la Belarus, North Korea, Transnistria or even Russia) but also take their own luxurious freedoms for granted.

I find the US a very faulted democracy, but it's as free as any country I have been to. I don't see that anyone's rights are actually limited in any way. It seems to me that Americans can say what they like on the street or on this board without fear of arrest, people can start newspapers or political parties without disappearing, and you all seem to be free to travel, worship, work and study where you wish, no?

Shouldn't those rights and freedoms be something that all Americans celebrate - rather than pretend that you live under some kind of despotic regime?

I would call it a soft tyranny. You now have a government that tracks all we do and say, and they come against conservative thought in the form of IRS or regulate us into submission etc. They even passed the NDAA that gives them legal authority to round us up and have us disappear forever without representation.

Everything is in place. All we need is someone to give the order.

None of what you mention is exclusive to the Obama Administration. The looney left was saying much of the same thing about President Bush as well.

I agree with the OP to a point.