Is America a Police State?

DISCLAIMER
This is NOT a bash America thread.

I´d like to keep this thread civil, without personal snarky remarks and attacks.
i will alert mods to any post i feel is an attack and hope they will take appropriate action.

what i wanted to discuss is.

is the USA a police state?

my answer to that question would be yes.
the following article explains the why behind my opinion much better then i ever could.

article

You know you live in a police state when the president allows the military to continuously harass a prisoner against whom no crime has been proven by interrupting him every five minutes of the day to ask him, "Are you okay?" and forces him to stand to attention naked at roll call. What it can do to one man it can do to every man.

Guantanamo Bay is what i instantly thought of...

You know you live in a police state when the government punishes, rather than honors, whistle-blowers who reveal its crimes such as the U.S. massacre of civilians in Baghdad that Bradley Manning exposed.

exactly.
men like Bradley Manning should be applauded.
and for the nay-sayers.
don't bother giving me crap about the endagerment of 'national security'.

You know you live in a police state when the president orders the assassination (i.e., murder) of American citizens without bothering to arrest them and bring them to trial.

NDAA.
nuff said.

You know you live in a police state when police forces across the country attack unarmed and non-violent citizen protesters with pepper spray and clubs.

so many examples, i didn't know wich one to cite.

You know you live in a police state when hundreds of thousands of citizens are rotting in prisons for victimless "crimes" such as smoking pot and your country leads the world in incarcerations with 2.3 million behind bars and when hundreds of thousands of these prisoners are sexually assaulted.

incarceration is bussines.

You know you live in a police state when you can be barred from flying in an airliner on suspicion of "terrorism" that has not been proven and which is impossible for you to challenge.

the TSA.
for lack of a better word; the sexual assault agency.











the article sites more examples but i made my point citing these three.

so what do you think ATS?
why does or doesn't this make the US a police state?

i'd like to ask you once more..
please keep it civil!

because i know this is a touchy subject.
discuss!

BAH! No America is not a police state. It really is not as bad as you think. At least I don't think so. None of my rights have been taken away or violated. Annoyed sometimes at things like the TSA, but oh well, that's not bad.

So I would say no.

Are we a police state? No. Are we well on our way to becoming one? yes. And really we have no one to blame but ourselves. No candidate for public office will ever be the messiah, there will always be some stand they take that we will disagree on. But the single issue voter is perhaps the worst possible thing a citizen can be. And this country is full of them, they will vote against their best interests in an attempt to exert control over someone else's life because they are powerless in their own.

reply to post by kn0wh0w

It's the same all over. This video is old but pertinent to the US, the UK, much of Europe and possibly the world.

I think we all know the US is not just a police state - its a military state, now more than ever.

Now they have just militarized the police

And its always been a "police state", example:

The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre or the Kent State massacre[2][3][4]—occurred at Kent State University in the U.S. city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970. The guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis.[5]

en.wikipedia.org...

Hell yeah we are..just was you said about our prisons, we have TONS of people on cannabis charges while molesters and murderers get out early..this is a spit in the face of true justice and it just reeks of an agenda.

Nothing will be done though, the American people, for the most part, wholeheartedly believe that a "Dope" (God I hate it when people call it that) crime is on par with rape and murder....then a few minutes later light up a cigarette,get a dip of skoal, or a drink of beer with no idea of their own hypocrisy..("Yeah smoking that damn evil Dope plant is tearing down our nation! Now hold on while I light my tobacco filled cig and I'll keep telling you how evil that damn Dope is!").

There is no hope, our country as a goner and most people are too docile and obedient to a corrupt system to EVER talk out against it.

Yes it is now a police state, but thats about to change for the worse. It will soon become a private military state litterally run by ex-Nazis.

Dont forget, most of those in charge are direct descendents of ex-nazis and nazi sympathizers. The same people who are running the show in the US are nazi offspring and eugenics followers.

Also the much publicised crack down, and cases of police brutality involving the many occupy protests.

It proves what the response would be if all of the public have a grievance with their government.

Just wait and see, its just not in the mainstream, but its there - and its going to be rearing its ugly head very soon.

Unless you Americans manage to get the legend that is RP in to office, I fear we are all doomed.

America is no police state. The very fact you can still ask that question online, in public or shouted from a street corner anywhere in America without arrest or explanations demanded proves it better than anything else. When you must first stop and think about it before heading out to shout such a thing and make a fool of yourself, then and only then will it be a valid question regarding a Police State.


I think there is some confusion in terms and concepts here because the U.S. has aquired all the tools, training and manpower it might seem would be necessary to enforce such a police state. However, it only seems that way to some. It's still a nation of over 300 MILLION people with every U.S. Soldier, Airman and Law Enforcement officer in existence, still falling woefully short.

Anything that happens here must pretty well happen under dire crisis or by the choosing of the people, at least half way. Anything DIRECTLY against the majority might see that numbers ratio come into play for the shortest fight in the history of mankind.

The day we privatized prisons and made filling bunks a priority over keeping the peace/rehabilitating 'criminal' behavior was the day our trip down the road to becoming a police state began.

From Wiki: The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world.

In 2006, $68,747,203,000 was spent on corrections.

...half of all persons incarcerated under state jurisdiction are for non-violent offenses.

And it gets worse every year.

Some might say...gee, well the population increased too, so isn't that graph indicative of per capita arrests? No, sadly it is not, population grew exponentially at 2.8%, incarceration increased 20%.

Another eye opener.


My vote goes to Yes, or at the very least, well on its way. We may not be a police state yet, but we are definitely an arrest and incarceration state. For all their trouble it doesn't seem to have done a whole lot of good....

Prisons, Schools, Medical Care....anything and everything in this god forsaken land is a damn business or scam anymore. Profiting off of peoples need to learn and their need of medicine is only hurting ourselves...well hurting the ones actually going through it.

Country of the Free eh? LMFAO best damn joke I've heard in a while

youtu.be...

Police state? Yes. There are hundreds of new laws passed without the consent of the people every year. Most entail how you are "free" to conduct your business or live your life. If that isn't policing, I don't know what is. Just because our country doesn't look like the violent full blown out police state NWO vids on you tube doesn't mean the underpinnings aren't there.

no, it's 50 police states unified under a 2 party totalitarian regime.

Originally posted by Sirconspire
Police state? Yes. There are hundreds of new laws passed without the consent of the people every year. Most entail how you are "free" to conduct your business or live your life. If that isn't policing, I don't know what is. Just because our country doesn't look like the violent full blown out police state NWO vids on you tube doesn't mean the underpinnings aren't there.

Exactly! They don't have to shove guns in our faces because they'd have to get our cell phones, Ipads, video games, and television shows out of em first..we keep ourselves down while they don't have to lift a finger. Now if any REAL dissent starts to happen thats when you'll see some Police State manners of olden times.

Capitalism can be a dandy tool of oppression if used right can't it?

It all depends really.

If you're a Democrat, and a Republican is in power - yes we're in a fascist police state.
If you're a Republican and a Democrat is in power - we're in a fascist police state (and they wanna take our guns!)
If you voted for the party in office - No, we're not in a police state.

Just wait, we saw this under Bush, we're seeing it under Obama, and we'll see it when the next President takes office.

deleted ... simple answer is.... YES

reply to post by kn0wh0w

Is America a Police State?

No snarks. promise.

We often bat the 'police state' term around based on the gradual whittling away of our constitution. But the fact remains that once we DO become a genuine, for-real-deal police state, we won't be here to talk about it.

In fact, once the police state really arrives, many of us here could well end up simply disappearing. There won't be much time to say... 'Uh oh, here it comes' as it rounds the bend and we can actually see it. By that time, it will be far too late.

So, no. The US is NOT yet an actual police state but it is gradually, slowly, inching its way in that direction with each new act that limits liberty and hands the federal government more power.

Originally posted by redoubt
reply to post by kn0wh0w

 

Is America a Police State?

No snarks. promise.

We often bat the 'police state' term around based on the gradual whittling away of our constitution. But the fact remains that once we DO become a genuine, for-real-deal police state, we won't be here to talk about it.

In fact, once the police state really arrives, many of us here could well end up simply disappearing. There won't be much time to say... 'Uh oh, here it comes' as it rounds the bend and we can actually see it. By that time, it will be far too late.

So, no. The US is NOT yet an actual police state but it is gradually, slowly, inching its way in that direction with each new act that limits liberty and hands the federal government more power.

You're talking about a supreme tyrannical dictatorship. There are profound differences in how our country is run as compared to how the founding fathers intended it to be. At least you admit there are boundaries breached that could qualify us as being a police state. Even if it's just one of many ideologies qualifying as criteria for a police state, it is what it is and that's called a POLICE STATE.

Those of you who think the Land of the Fee and the Home of the Slave is NOT already a police state are in serious denial. Isn't the very definition of a police state one where cops can arrest and jail you without trial, everywhere there are cops demanding your "papers, please", militarized cops perform random searches all over, you often pass through scanners and/or full cavity searches, there are video cameras spying on you everywhere, ALL phones, email etc. are monitored at all times, and there is a giant govt spy agency watching everyone?

If that's not a police state, what is? How brutal does it have to get before you will admit it? Is it only a police state if they speak German? And you actually think any of this stuff will EVER be repealed, or eased off in any way? You are dreaming. They will perpetually and gradually ratchet everything tighter and tighter, just like they have been doing. The old frog in the pot scenario, working out fine. 90 percent of the sheeple think they are free, and will even fight to maintain the system.

What's really insidious about how much we are becoming a police state is just reading people here say "No" or "My rights are fine", yet you read and see it happening all over to others but just bury your heads in the sand telling yourself they must have deserved it somehow. You walk through TSA checkpoints anywhere you travel and convince yourself it's not a "police state". It's simply proof right there in front of you. The tip of a very large iceberg.

The media is used to help you dismiss it all and giggle smugly or demonize those that dare question a corrupt government much less stand up in any way.

You've lost some serious rights just recently, Posse Comitatus was important for a reason, yet most think it was only an antiquated historical remnant. The only terrorists in our country are within our own government, Left and right alike, it's just theater while the main agenda presses on. That agenda is not your best interest I promise you.

Governments selectively enforce the myriad of laws at will. You break six laws crossing the street, and by making almost everything a crime, it's easier to attack anyone when they want when they want.

So enjoy your life, maybe you'll get lucky and never have to face any opposition for a while, but sooner or later, it'll happen and you'll feel the same outrage you mock others for having now. Our children's children will shake their heads in disgust at how inept we all were.