Showing posts with label 1984. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1984. Show all posts
Monday, August 07, 2006
War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength
Monday, August 07, 2006 | Original Musings by
Jen
We all knew Big Brother was here, but now it's even easier to access.
Wait until criminals get ahold of this and notice you're on vacation 3 states away.... time to come over and load up their van.
I know there's a joke in here somewhere about psycho-girlfriends, but I'm really too disturbed by this to make a light-hearted joke.
If we all don't start to put an end to what the government (and these cash greedy private firms) are beginning (the extermination of ANY privacy and rights we as American Citizens have) then the Orwell Novel 1984 will more than be fiction.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Being Spoon Fed by the Media?
originally posted on myspace.com on June 9, 2006
Ok, this is two blogs in one, though related.
The first part is disappointment that a story I feel is VERY important to the current war and the future of our military that is not being discussed. Secondly, is it not being discussed because of political power & the American public being spoon fed by those in control?
Or is this story simply not as important as I think it is?
The story I'm referring to is that the Pentagon has decided to take the Geneva Detainee rules from the military field manuals, because in a post-9/11 world, things must be done differently (so they say). Here is a partial quote and a link to the article:
"The Pentagon has decided to omit from new detainee policies a key tenet of the Geneva Convention that explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment," according to knowledgeable military officials, a step that would mark a further, potentially permanent, shift away from strict adherence to international human rights standards."
Click Here to read whole story
I heard this on a short blurb on a local station, but have no seen it discussed AT ALL on CNN, or FOX, or on talk radio (that I have listened to). Shouldn't this be debated more fiercely than the gay marriage amendment? I mean, we established that convention after ww2 and the atrocities that were experienced then. (here is a little background on the Geneva Convention if interested : Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It's interesting)
This story has much bigger ramifications than the current war. How can the US decide it no longer has to play by international rules? We then become the outlaws and see ourselves above the law.
Interestingly, the government is able to convince Americans that this is in our best interest. How do they do that? Through use of political power and the media.
There are two main sources of political power (in my opinion). 1: mass opinion. 2: money.
Money can buy soldiers. Opinion can buy unity. Opinion, not money, should be the first and main tool at all times!
Today the media is controlled by the tempters, who gain money by means of what the mass likes to hear most. There is no simpler a goal, then the control of the media. One message can be copied and sent to millions of men, while millions of soldiers would be needed to oppress millions of men. Using the military to control the people is what the stupid leader does, as it is both costly and inefficient. Mobilization of opinion is hard to start, and hard to stop; it picks up momentum. An idea can become a religion, and religion people will die for and blindly defend.
The media of today is reminiscent to me of "newspeak" and "doublespeak" from Orwell's book 1984. In todays media those methods are being used with Americans. Here are a few examples:
1) When they kill, they're terrorists. When we kill, we're striking against terror.
2) When terrorists attack, they're terrorizing. When we attack, we're retaliating.
3) When people decry civilian deaths caused by the U.S. government, they're aiding propaganda efforts. But, when civilian deaths are caused by bombers who hate America, the perpetrators are evil and those deaths are tragedies.
Fifty-two years ago, Orwell wrote an essay titled "Politics and the English Language." Today, his words remain as relevant as ever: "In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible."
Labels:
1984,
government,
liberties,
news,
patriot act,
politics,
state of fear,
terrorism,
war
|
0
comments
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Slippery Slope and the Patriot Act
originally posted on myspace.com on May 17, 2006
The slippery slope is an argument for the likelihood of one event given another. Invoking the "slippery slope" means arguing that one action will initiate a chain of events that will lead to a (generally undesirable) event later.
There are a lot of slippery slope arguments that I always find interesting, because it forces me sometimes to draw a line in the sand and say "I believe this" but "I do not believe in this". For example, a common one is about gay marriage.... if we allow gay marriage then next we'll have to allow polygamous marriage (which I don't believe).
A slippery slope argument that is on my mind today is that a small decrease in liberty will grow larger over time. Once we allow small liberties to be taken away, then it'll be easier in the future for more to be taken away. This is one slippery slope argument I can support.
Daily in the news we hear about our phone records being gathered, easedropping without warrants, and even our library records. After the Patriot Act was passed, a book club I belong to will not keep your previous orders (supposedly) on record more than 90 days. Simply because if compelled, they would have to release those records. If they don't have them, there is nothing to give to the government.
This is not the first time in our history where liberties that have taken decades to build up have been taken away from citizens. Hindsight makes the shameful internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and the FBI's ruthless prosecution of civil rights leaders in the 1960s and 1970s universally condemned. We must be mindful of those lessons today.
George Orwell was right after all. In 1984 (one of my favorite books), Orwell wrote his book as a cautionary tale to underscore the insidious danger of slowly eroded individual liberties. His Thought Police may not yet be on the march, but it's not hyperbole to point out the eerie parallels with today's America. In America today, Big Brother is watching.
Ben Franklin said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." I'll admit, after 9-11, I was more ok with the Patriot Act than I am now. I had reservations, but believed in the "greater good." I was alone in Minneapolis in my apartment, pregnant, and wondering why can't the government protect us. How far my opinion has changed since then and I question more. The so-called "Patriot Act" scares me, as does the wiretapping and eavesdropping stories we're hearing about lately. I fear that like the Galactic Senate in Star Wars (Revenge of the Sith), we're letting liberty die... to thunderous applause.
I am reminded of a news story within the last year of a pizza parlor in Israel. They were having a grand reopening on the 1 year anniversary of a bombing that killed about a dozen patrons, including school age children. Some of the patrons that were injured and witnesses the day of the bombing were present at the reopening event. In the interviews with each of them the overwhelming theme was that they were there to show the terrorists that the survivors were not scared and the terrorists did not win.
Mark Twain said once, "that courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear". If we are to be courageous and stand up to threats again us and our country, then we can not allow our fears erode our freedom. THAT is how we fight terrorism.
(oh, and obviously spell check was not used, but hopefully you get the point....)
The slippery slope is an argument for the likelihood of one event given another. Invoking the "slippery slope" means arguing that one action will initiate a chain of events that will lead to a (generally undesirable) event later.
There are a lot of slippery slope arguments that I always find interesting, because it forces me sometimes to draw a line in the sand and say "I believe this" but "I do not believe in this". For example, a common one is about gay marriage.... if we allow gay marriage then next we'll have to allow polygamous marriage (which I don't believe).
A slippery slope argument that is on my mind today is that a small decrease in liberty will grow larger over time. Once we allow small liberties to be taken away, then it'll be easier in the future for more to be taken away. This is one slippery slope argument I can support.
Daily in the news we hear about our phone records being gathered, easedropping without warrants, and even our library records. After the Patriot Act was passed, a book club I belong to will not keep your previous orders (supposedly) on record more than 90 days. Simply because if compelled, they would have to release those records. If they don't have them, there is nothing to give to the government.
This is not the first time in our history where liberties that have taken decades to build up have been taken away from citizens. Hindsight makes the shameful internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and the FBI's ruthless prosecution of civil rights leaders in the 1960s and 1970s universally condemned. We must be mindful of those lessons today.
George Orwell was right after all. In 1984 (one of my favorite books), Orwell wrote his book as a cautionary tale to underscore the insidious danger of slowly eroded individual liberties. His Thought Police may not yet be on the march, but it's not hyperbole to point out the eerie parallels with today's America. In America today, Big Brother is watching.
Ben Franklin said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." I'll admit, after 9-11, I was more ok with the Patriot Act than I am now. I had reservations, but believed in the "greater good." I was alone in Minneapolis in my apartment, pregnant, and wondering why can't the government protect us. How far my opinion has changed since then and I question more. The so-called "Patriot Act" scares me, as does the wiretapping and eavesdropping stories we're hearing about lately. I fear that like the Galactic Senate in Star Wars (Revenge of the Sith), we're letting liberty die... to thunderous applause.
I am reminded of a news story within the last year of a pizza parlor in Israel. They were having a grand reopening on the 1 year anniversary of a bombing that killed about a dozen patrons, including school age children. Some of the patrons that were injured and witnesses the day of the bombing were present at the reopening event. In the interviews with each of them the overwhelming theme was that they were there to show the terrorists that the survivors were not scared and the terrorists did not win.
Mark Twain said once, "that courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear". If we are to be courageous and stand up to threats again us and our country, then we can not allow our fears erode our freedom. THAT is how we fight terrorism.
(oh, and obviously spell check was not used, but hopefully you get the point....)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
Post-Tri Hug
You did it Mommy!
Me!
Hood To Coast Relay 2007
