The Philosophy of a Police State / It Causes me Anxiety

I just wanted to take a moment and remind everyone about the events in the past decade or so - and see what other people think. There is one facet that I believe makes the cornerstone of a police state, and that is the idea that you could be guilty for a crime that is really only something that could potentially be used for a crime.

The easiest example is checking out a book on a watch list. You might just be interested in reading the book. But it isn't until after you read the book, and even after you execute something illegal, that you are then put on trial and found guilty if that is what the jury decides -but of course, being questioned over why you are reading the book is kind of the new thing.

In other words, a distinction can be made - you are not only guilty until proven innocent, but guilty for the crime that you may not have even been intending to do in the first place.

In order to understand where we are going, we have to understand where we have been. So I am going to share with you some things I remember about the past decade and a half in order to hopefully help, and show how this line of thinking has developed over the past decade or so.

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When I was in middle-school, there were the Columbine shootings and during that period of time, some friends and I used to go into the library during lunch and program adventure games that included some violence in them, as we were into Star Wars and science fiction at the time. This was a golden age, and it was not considered a problem at the time. No one, including us, thought making computer games during lunch had anything to do with carrying out violent acts.

However, a week or so after Columbine, I remember the librarian telling us that we had to tone down the violence in the games because it was now against school policy - although she thought it was silly, she still had to follow through.

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Then, when I was in High School, a sophomore, the 9/11 attacks happened and security started to be a major concern at airports - where people were now searched and treated like criminals, sometimes even randomly cavity searched nowadays, and these people were by far mostly paying customers on the flights.

Around the same time, in High School, the school started putting up security cameras - even in secret locations like air vents - in order to keep an eye on students. In addition to this, cell phone jammers were placed on the roofs of the buildings in order to prevent cell phone use during school hours.

Between the two instances, our opinion as high-schoolers at the time was that the nation was trying to indoctrinate us into thinking a police state was normal over time. In other words, we didn't think that the security measures in schools and airports were about safety, but about conditioning. Introducing security measures in schools, we thought, would be important for conditioning people to be used to them later in life.

Some schools started putting in metal detectors and even prison fences around their property in order to ensure the safety of their students - although this was about when I switched to private schools. What is it like these days?

I remember locker searches and the like as well. One time, I was hanging out during lunch by a stream with some friends on school property where people were (apparently) known to use drugs - when the security officers found us, they searched our bags and the like and let us go because we were not drug users -

When I went to college, I became friends with the Campus Safety officers, so I had less trouble - even so, I would get called in for strange "thought crime"-esque stuff on occasion - basically things I did that could be considered something that might be part of a larger crime that I didn't even know was a possibility.

Has anyone else here read The Secret - here's a question - what is the likelihood that treating people like criminals is going to make them feel like, and then act like, criminals later? In my case, it won't happen, but it sure seems like there's been a lot of pressure to be a criminal.

reply to post by darkbake


I think it was around 2008, and even more in 2012, where at least in my life I started to experience thought crimes (that is things that are part of larger crimes but not actually crimes themselves, and could actually be used by innocent people) meriting police attention.

For example, I moved to a different state, and while there, I made friends with a group of people and we would have quite a few board game nights and game nights at our house - between that and my mother coming over, the police somehow got the idea that we were running a drug ring.

This resulted in a flopped drug raid on the house only a few months back, which affected my anxiety and self-esteem irreparably. It definitely could be repaired, but it isn't at the moment -

This affected my anxiety for obvious reasons, and my self-esteem for less obvious reasons - because it made me feel as if I was a criminal and made me confused about what kind of things are allowed or not in this country - which affects self-esteem in a major way, because one of the biggest downers is wondering if something you are about to do that is beneficial, like gaming, could be considered a crime.

Ever since this experience, I have been both more afraid than usual to do gaming, and more afraid than usual to invite the guys over to my place. I have also become agoraphobic.

It was around this same time that I started getting pulled over by the police quite a few times - one time, I had been using my navigation system and they thought I was drunk and pulled me over - I had to do a bunch of field sobriety tests, but of course, I wasn't drunk -

It was earlier in the year that the N.S.A. leaks happened, and we all got to learn that the N.S.A. basically had its ears in everyone's business - and although Obama and his administration do claim that the information is not used inappropriately, I think that claim remains unfounded - Reuters did a special report, for example, on the DEA using the N.S.A. intelligence in order to catch minor drug users - later leaks show this program was likely centered around text messaging.

It was at this point that I started to experience major anxiety (has anyone else experienced this lately?) during things like police pull-overs (which happen to me a lot for sketchy reasons, and tickets, never) when I will start shaking because, although I am doing nothing wrong, I don't know what the police consider wrong. After all, they do pull me over and not give me a ticket, am I right?

I had to start talking to my counselor, who also began to experience being pulled over quite often, about this anxiety because it began to get crippling. When people say "It doesn't matter if you aren't doing anything wrong" I have two replies to that - it does matter, because it increases my anxiety, and it does matter, because I'm not doing anything wrong and my day is still being interrupted by police on a fairly frequent basis.

At this point, I'm wondering if anyone else experiences any anxiety over this, or anything similar.

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With the revelation of the N.S.A. spying I also noticed a lot of my friends getting much less trusting. I don't know if anyone remembers what life was like in the past, but at least I recall a life where people got together and talked openly about things. Now, it seems more as if people are not willing to discuss anything because they want to protect themselves.

One of the later aspects of a police state that shows up is similar to the one showed in Fahrenheit 451 - a movie about book burning - where people who collect books are considered criminals - and that is the aspect where neighbors are expected to turn each other in for "suspicious" behavior, even if it isn't criminal behavior.

I have not seen too much of this yet - anyway, these are my thoughts. My analysis of my thoughts is that I am prone to anxiety already - and this kind of thing, although not a big deal, affects my day-to-day life.

One time, I had to go through airport security, for example, and I had a panic attack - right at the checkpoint - I started shaking and sweating - luckily, the T.S.A. let me through just fine - but man... talk about an escalating situation. This is another case where I'm doing nothing wrong, but because I know a bit about physiological profiling, situations start running through my head that escalate the panic attacks.

Wow!

Sorry to hear about your situation Darkbake.

I am naturally paranoid around the police, esp when I'm driving and they are behind me. Also, I'm suspicious of them if they pull me over.

I don't mind if they want to ask questions when I'm a potential accident witness or when riding a bicycle at night.

Can you give us an idea of the area you live in so we can avoid your local law enforcement?

reply to post by darkbake

Wow darkbake, I am sorry for all that you have gone through...I can see where the anxiety from such seemingly repetitive events comes into play. I have a family member who deals with crippling anxiety at times, and I know what a toll it can take.

I have read The Secret, and I am glad that you mentioned it, because it is the information within that I am hoping might help you to reverse any pattern you see appearing. You must have read that thoughts & feelings are energy, and thus, like attracts like. Did you notice, that as soon as this theme of events began, that you focused on them more often? And if not the events themselves, then maybe you focused on the emotions and anxiety they produced? If so, then that is why you continued to attract certain similar events to yourself. The energy you sent out via thoughts and feelings found matches and brought to you that which you focused on the most. Which became a snowball effect, with each new event feeding the anxiety in a never ending cycle.

If you can change the thoughts & feelings - the energy you emit will change too, and hopefully stop those types of events from coming your way in the future. For example, the minute you start to feel anxious, say to yourself "STOP, this feeling is no longer welcome in my being." and focus on something positive/do an activity that makes you happy. If you replay past events that triggered anxiety, say to yourself "STOP, this event has passed and the thought of it is no longer welcome in my being." and focus on something positive.

I will admit it takes discipline in the beginning, being on guard for every thought/feeling. I have used this technique successfully in the past, myself, in dealing with negativity. It really becomes second nature, and you will find your energy going into a whole new direction of good experiences and anxiety should become a thing of the past. Just keep those thoughts and feelings positive! Surround yourself with positive people whenever possible. Some among us are energy vampires; you will know them when you are left feeling worse after speaking with them. Though as long as you remain positive and send good thoughts and energy, those of a like mind will find you (much like the police did in the anxiety prone scenarios). I wish you well in taking your energy in a new direction.

I am not going to get into a discussion about whether drugs should be legal or not but didn't you say last year that you and your friends were arrested for a combination of probation violations and drug charges? Perhaps the police had a reason to believe that you were selling drugs. I wasn't there so I don't know. Just an observation.

Also you mention being pulled over for using your navigation system while driving. Were you swerving? Did your tire cross the line? If so, is that not a justifiable reason to pull someone over? You've never been driving, seen someone swerve, and then think "I bet or wonder if they're drunk."

As for cameras in schools. They do more then "watch" children. Schools have a right to protect their property. Cameras catch burglars in the act, help identify trespassers, catch thieves in the act, vandals etc.

Schools have thousands of dollars of property which is paid for by tax dollars. Cameras help identify suspects, solve crimes, and recover property/gain restitution.

Do you feel the same way about security cameras in a grocery store? Or a bank?

I am not saying that there are not issues with the government (if I didn't think that I wouldn't be on this site) I just don't see how this equals a "police state."

reply to post by darkbake


I definitely have anxiety when around law enforcement. I have NEVER been in any type of trouble and was always a good kid, but even I have been harassed by police.

A good example is the time that me and my friends went to a concert in a town 2.5 hours away when I was 17. On our way home, I got a flat, so I pulled over and luckily there was a sherif present who was nice enough to change my tire. He asked if I'd ever driven with a donut tire before and I said no, so he advised me to go slower than usual.

We start back home and I'm going about 10 miles under the speed limit when a cop pulls me over and asks why I'm going so slow. I tell him why... But he insists that I'm drunk (though none of us had anything). I told him it was probably my air freshener because it smelled oddly like alcohol. I offered to let him smell it but he told me to keep my hand down because any sudden movements might cause him to get his gun (by this time I'm terrified and crying). He then asked why I needed an air freshener and implied I was trying to mask the smell of marijuana. I told him because I wanted my car to smell good (like most people). He makes me get out of the car and go to the back to do a sobriety test. I pass and go back to my car and wait for further instructions.

While I waited he called for backup (on 3 girls and a gay guy). By this time I'm crying pretty hard and he comes over to my window and asks if I need an ambulance and laughs. He was basically making fun of me. Then, he goes to the other cop and does who knows what, and comes back to my window only to accuse me of being high. He says "Mam, why are your eyes so red" and I roll my eyes and say "maybe because I've been crying this whole time?" Then, he informs us that there is a curfew for everyone under 18, which we were not aware of. However, we could have been out of their town long before curfew had he not been an ass. He kept us on the side of the road for about an hour. He then told me I couldn't drive home, so my mom and dad had to drive over to get us all because I was the only one of my friends who could drive a stick.

He wrote me up for all kinds of stupid things... Which were later thrown out. Instead of spending his time bullying a young girl, he could have been catching people who actually were driving drunk like the guys who offered to change my tire before I found the sherif to do it.

I have had numerous run-ins with cops, but none of them justified. I no longer trust them. My grandmother just said the other day that it's sad that you have to fear the people who are supposed to be there to protect you. I'm sorry that you have had bad experiences too. It is a shame that it's getting to be this way.