Freedom

I'm going to go out on a limb today.  Some who read this post will undoubtedly say that I'm being paranoid--that I'm nuts.  My response is:  maybe, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong.

Today my post will be about some of the many ways that ordinary Americans are being marched to our own demise by our own government.   In many ways, the government is being assisted by our own stupidity, blindness, and refusal to wake up and see the darkness that has been gradually taking over our society and the world for the last few decades.  We are living in a police state, and if we don't quickly quit squabbling with each other over meaningless distinctions, join forces, and stop it, there will come a time when it can't be stopped.
Here's some evidence.

The government has criminalized protest protected by the First Amendment.  We can look around each day and see the headlines of  police being used to break up peaceful Occupy protests, brutalize protesters, and arrest both protesters and even journalists covering the protests.

The government is trying to criminalize citizens recording police interactions in public.  Recently, a 41-year-old auto mechanic in Illinois was charged with five Class One Felonies and faced 75 years in prison.  What was his crime? He videotaped police who came to his home and place of business and seized several unregistered cars that he was trying to repair. 

Prosecutors actually charged this man with sufficient offenses to result in a life sentence--for recording police on his own property.   After an Illinois trial-court judge threw out the case, holding the law that was used to be unconstitutional, the prosecutors plan to appeal.    Similar incidents are happening all over the U.S.  See here, and here, and here, and here and here.  What possible motivation would government officials have to want to put people in prison for documenting police behavior?   Suppose it's because they want the police to be free to abuse and even kill people and then be able to lie about it, as they did routinely before everyone had cell phones to prove their misconduct?   Interestingly, at the same time it's trying to stop us from recording cops whose salaries we pay, while doing their jobs as 'public servants,' the government is successfully contending that we regular people have no expectation of privacy in public places and so they can surveil us all they want with hidden cameras, GPS devices put on our cars, and other devices, all used without warrants or suspicion of wrongdoing.   Something about geese and ganders comes to mind, but of course, common sense means nothing.

The government is trying to stop people from having their own independent food sources.  We are $15 TRILLION (and counting) in debt; schools are cutting staff, increasing class size and cutting out buses; cities and counties are too broke to keep street lights.  So, why are government officials wasting time and effort trying to stop people from drinking milk, having barbecues with fresh garden produce,  and taking supplements?   Why is the government allowing huge companies to patent naturally occuring genes (yes, like DNA) of plants, animals and humans?   My own opinion is that they are trying to gain the ultimate control over us--to tell us that we do not have the right to decide what to put in our own bodies, unless it is that which generates maximum profit for their corporate overlords. 

The government is trying to revoke the rights of the American People to be free from unreasonable search and seizure and to a trial when accused.  Yesterday the Senate defeated an amendment to SB1867, the National Defense Authorization Bill.  The amendment proposed to remove new language in the bill that would allow the military to indefinitely detain any person, even an American citizen, anywhere in the world, even on American soil, without charge or trial.   Some have argued that the bill doesn't actually mean that, but one of the bill's primary proponents, warmonger Lindsey Graham (R, S Carolina), has stated on video that  believes it does.  I've read this section of the bill (section 1031).  As a formerly practicing attorney, I can say that I believe that's exactly what it means--the government can grab you and toss you in prison forever if it says you pose a terrorist threat.   The Senate will vote on the bill, still containing the detention language, later this month.

The government has already claimed the power to 'legally' assasinate American citizens.   Several weeks ago, the Obama Administration carried out the summary assasination of  American citizen Anwar al-Aulaqi, with a targeted drone strike in Yemen.  When asked to legally support its decision to execute an American without a trial, the administration said that its legal reasoning was "classified."  Isn't that convenient?  Murder someone, then classify the justification for it, so it can't be legally challenged.  If another government did this, we'd condemn them and impose sanctions for human rights abuses. 

I'm sorry to sound like one of the 'crazies.'   I've been a left-leaning centrist my whole adult life.  I squawked as much as anyone during the Bush years.   I don't live in a 'compound,' and I don't own a hundred guns.  But I'm starting to believe that the conspiracy theorists are right.   In fact, I know they are.  Look above.  If the conspiracy is to intentionally, sytematically strip rights from the American people, then it's fairly clear, isn't it?  They not only plan to kill Americans--they have.  They're writing into law that we have no right to a trial, and they don't have to prove anything before they throw us in prison.  They're systematically eroding the general Constitutional rights we thought we had, and trying to make it more and more difficult for anyone to catch them in abuses.  Is this the action of a benevolent governing body?  Or is it more akin to the action of war-mongering, power-drunk shills for the ruling financial-military-industrial complex who want to wage perpetual war to get rich and steal resources,  quash the rights of anyone who says to stop, and quash the spirit and health of everyone else who's not yet screaming their heads off?

I know which I'm betting on.

So, what do we regular people do?  Well, our enemies' best weapons are the ignorance, apathy, and silence of the many.  They can't beat an informed public, so they've co-opted most of the biggest sources of information and given us unending ways to distract ourselves from the truth of what's happening.  So far, they've been able to characterize anyone talking like I am now as a nut or an extremist, but that won't fly when lots of people start hearing and speaking the truth.  We're all not nuts.

So, first we stop being ignorant.  Tune in.  Stop looking exclusively at the mainstream 'news' media, which is owned by the same financial-military-industrial complex who's hijacked our government.  Seek out information from all sources, especially the alternative ones who have no financial interest in the game.   Read.  Listen.  And, above all, THINK.

Second, talk about it.  Bitch, moan, and complain about it.  Put your Senators' and Representatives' emails in your address book and use them often.   If you read about something you think is wrong, email the proper officials to demand it stop.  It takes about 2 minutes to search for and find a public official's email online.  Tell them we know what they're doing.  Talk about it around the water cooler.   Make comments on news stories online.  The powers that be have their shills there to make it seem like all reasonable people think its just wonderful that we're killing people left right and center to be "safe."  Let other people know if you don't agree.

Third, don't voluntarily give them your money.  If you still have accounts with any of the big banks, close them.  Use a local credit union or small, locally-owned bank instead.  Stop being the mindless consumer, especially just to save 9 cents a roll on paper towels.  Buy little, and what you do buy, buy locally whenever you can.  Shop second hand or thrift stores.  Plant a garden and grow your own safe, healthy, non-GMO food, or buy it from a CSA, a local farmer, or farmers' market when you can.   There's no reason to give them the profits they are using to buy our government and destroy us.  

Fourth, stop fighting each other.  The Tea Party started from the same principle as the Occupy Movement--that the system is gravely, seriously broken.  We may disagree about what would be better, but couldn't we work that out AFTER we get rid of current bankster-bought mess we've already got?   Ever hear that old saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend?    Remember who the enemy is.

Finally, don't hate, don't fear, and don't give up.  Hate and fear are their game, not ours, and as for giving up--well, there's still more of us 'crazies' who want to live peacefully and be left alone than there are the 'sane' people who are out blowing up the world.