Americans are soo sheepish

Here is a ost i revieved on my online board for school. Id like to here your comments.

In the days of Benjamin Franklin and the original constitution the world trade center was not being bombed nor were there characters such as Bin Laden. Now everyone wants to scream about what freedoms are being taken from them and how invaded their privacy is. This is America and we are already taken each and everything in our country for granted. We beleive every paice of hype that the media gives us although we know it to be false. We all know it is not healthy to have the members of a society speaking out against the rules of the society. Rules are established for order. If you took these same protesters to another country would they be doing the same? The bombing that devastated so many lives happens everyday in other countries. Be thankful. Be thankful you are able to make decisions on your own about your life without it being already decided. Politics is something very complex. We see see what they want us to see not what is really true. America has changed. I bet you Benjamin Franklin didnt cheat to win the Presidency or had to worry about satisfying his greed for oil in foreign countries. Security is what we need. Not more freedom of destructive ideas from citizens with a hidden agenda.

Yes, we "American's" tend to prefer lots of grass.

regards
seekerof

The forefather's ideas and philosophies transcend time and current events. What they said over 200 years ago still rings true today, and always will. There is no excuse for this type of crybaby I-want-my-mommy security bull#. No one is secure... get over it. You won't live forever. I'd rather live a free and risky/insecure life than a secure life in a prison block, thank you. Just because you want to live a "secure" life doesn't mean you have to put me in your jail cell.

[Edited on 30-9-2003 by Sanders]

Something is very odd here as I don't remember BENJAMIN FRANKLIN EVER RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT!!

I replied with this

The impression I am getting from you is that the constitution is not relavent now that it is something of the past. That the ideal that founded this country are no longer useful since we have such a big strong government to protect us. Yes many Americans are just meerly sheep following the general populace and the media, but do not mistake these people with the same people who speak out. These "sheep" are the ones who see speaking out as a bad thing. But is it really? No, of course its not. The founding fathers were the ones who spoke out. They defied the rules set up by the monarchy of England. What if we were speaking out agianst opressive laws then would it be alright??? It would be too late. Also there are protesters in every country. From the Iraq to China protesting for essential liberties they do not have. In America were are doing nearly the same thing but we are protesting to keep the ones we already have that are slowly being taken away from us.

I think that was a stap for bush i noticed that too. I decided to omit that from my reply cause i think the women new that at least i hope so. Hell she probly thinks he is cause he is on the money

How much dope did this kid smoke? Ben Franklin never became prez, duh. And thier incoherent ramblings make it hard to understand exactly what this idiot is trying to point out.

oh yes the government should have total control of the people, what sort of school is this?? i would leave it after reading that, it's pushing people to conformity

hopelessly passing your time in the grassland away
only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air
you better watch out there may be dogs about
I've looked over Jordan and I've seen
things are not what they seem
what do you get for pretending the danger's not real
Meek and obedient you follow the leader
Down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel
What a surprise! A look of terminal shock in your eyes
Now things are really what they seem
No, this is no bad dream.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
He makes me down to lie
Through pastures green he leadeth me the silent waters by
With bright knives he releaseth my soul
He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places
He converteth me to lamb cutlets
For lo, he hath great power and great hunger
When cometh the day we lowly ones
Through quiet reflection and great dedication
Master the art of karate Lo, we shall rise up
And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water.
Blasting and bubbling I fell on his neck with a scream
Wave upon wave of demented avengers
March cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream.
Have you heard the news? The dogs are dead!
You better stay home And do as you're told
Get out of the road if you want to grow old
Sheep by Pink Floyd

i thought that tune fitting for the thread

actually its a course on the internet(a real breeze one) but the question was about cyber terror and the Patriot act. But yea im bout to check what they replied with if they had the guts 2 lol

The content in the first piece you posted is disturbing QS, but your reply is pretty well reasoned.

It also indicates that we can't make sweeping generalizations about sheepishness to all the citizens of one country or another.

The most disturbing trend I see is the voice given to 'patriots' who want to stop enquiries, quell dissent and accept daily incursions into freedom and civil rights as the norm. That is, those who have swallowed the whole "War On Terror" package of lies hook, line and sinker. The more there are, the less intelligent discussion about specific isues becomes, as the author of the first piece demonstrated so well.

here she goes again.

Does everyone really think that the government has the time and money to waste on looking at everyday Joe Blows who are just banking, chatting and checking email? I certaintly hope not. I had a class once and John Doe was a computer expert, I mean he could do it all. He builds computers, is part of a hacking team...etc. Now he like yourself did not like what the Patriot Act was describing. My question is if you know that the software that you are selling by Microsoft is being illegally copied and distributed by yourself and freinds and you are hacking into sites and hard drives that you have no authority to do so, then why would you be able to express you disliking of the law? Becdause of freedonm of speech. We all have freedonms but in different ways are they used. The government is not literally in your homes watching ypou go to the bathroom and traccking you travl to work or your way to school. They are specifically interested in those who are breaking or potentially breaking the law. Trust me if someone can get away with the 911 events and nothing happen to the with in all this time, I am sure that they do not have time to look and find out what size shoes Nedra has bought from Nike's website and where they will be delivered. Model citizens dont have to be worried. The question to ask before everyone has the opprotunity to say "It's not right," is am I a model ctizen? If you are not you have given up your rights anyway.

and there more

It seems that the common question is what is there to be afraid of if you are not breaking the law? Now you made a good point about terrorist finding a safe haven. There is no type of policing of the internet that will keep them away. At least the Patriot Act is a great start. I dont mind anyone watching as long as the purpose is positive.I am with you I have nothing to fear!

[Edited on 10^1^03 by Quicksilver]

not only is this person ignorant, but she cant spell for shyte!

hey watch the critisizing of bad speller

Here she goes again

Do the government measures such as the Patriot Act erode your privacy and freedom of speech?

I believe that I could answer this question just from the top of my head but I took some time out and went to the electronic Frontier Foundation�s web site (www.eff.org) and saw what they had to say.
It almost seems that they have taken this issue of the Patriot Act (signed by President Bush in 2001). The most important thing I noticed was that the Patriot Act was for as a result of the September 11th, 2001 attacks.

Although I believe that the Act was formed for the protection of the American people, the EFF organization does not believe the same. They believe that it is indeed a great injustice done to the American population and their rights to privacy. They also state that the Act eliminates Government accountability because it is very difficult to be aware of the actions that government is taking.

The government has been �looking in� on us for quite some time now. Most of us do not really give it much thought since we are just executing daily tasks with our PC�s or entertaining ourselves. The question I have for the EFF is what should we all be worried about if we are not breaking the law? I would believe that the average citizen would be more worried about Joe Blow looking in on us than the government. Lets be real, if you are not breaking the law just what could be so private that the government could not peep in? The government already has all of your information, we voluntarily give that up and don�t have much to say about it. I can�t remember the last time that someone was not going to give the IRS his or her social security number because of privacy. However, I am sure we would not be too happy about a malicious foreign individual hacking into our lives and entertaining themselves at our expense.

As for freedom of speech, everyone has got something to say and someone else doesn�t want to hear it. That is just life. The government just does not want to hear anything slanderous in reference our country. Again, if you are not doing so then what is the issue? The government has many more important issues at hand to deal with. I am sure they will not be watching everything I do on a computer if I am not breaking the law in anyway.

In conclusion, after the EFF�s web site and their informative presentation, I still do not believe that the Patriot Act of 2001 will/or has eroded my privacy or my freedom of speech.


Will the measures cause you to distrust the Internet less and ultimately damage the Internet�s value as a communication medium?

No. Government has tapped our phones (landline and mobile) and flagged certain people because of the types of books we check out in our public libraries for quite a long time now. No one has seen a decline in the use of either as a result of what government does. The government created the Internet. I cant possibly see how some of us think that since it is more advanced and available to the public that the government would not have some type of surveillance. My confidence is not shaken.

She says "the average citizen would be more worried about Joe Blow looking in on us than the government"

The government is Joe Blow. I don't know a single goverment official personally. And if I did it would probably be at a very low level. So they are strangers with large amounts of power. Or maybe the government is just full of voyeurs. In that case, check it out *drops pants*.