[ Home | Contents | Search | Post | Reply | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Michael Vik
Date: 10/27/2003
Time: 10:08:45 AM
Remote Name: 199.44.215.199
One more thing. If we (the American public) feared our government, I think we would see a lot of dead press correspondents, riots, and civil warring. If the government feared us, the people would not be allowed private ownership, religious freedom, the right to bear arms, or the right to assemble peacefully. This is not to say that the US hasn't ever done oppressive things in the past, like the forceful and racist use of force to break down peaceful civil rights activists in the 1960's for example, but life here could be a lot harder, and Big Brother could be a lot stronger than it is. The ability for our government to be flexible through amendments to legislation and the constitution is one of our strongest points in this respect. As for the previous comment, it is possible for our government to be a "sham," in theory, but it is hard for a working political illusion to exist for two hundred years (though I am not saying we don't have our fair share of corruption, our politicians, right and left, are people after all) without anyone not noticing something's up, especially in today's era of modern communication.