Libertarian
boosted
Banning vaping might be acceptable if everything wasn't already illegal.
Bombing Iran might be okay if the US wasn't at war with the entire world.
Increasing the debt might be understandable if the USA wasn't bankrupt.
Banning vaping might be acceptable if everything wasn't already illegal.
Bombing Iran might be okay if the US wasn't at war with the entire world.
Increasing the debt might be understandable if the USA wasn't bankrupt.
Libertarian
boosted
Deficits mean future tax increases, pure and simple. Deficit spending should be viewed as a tax on future generations, and politicians who create deficits should be exposed as tax hikers.
The government has shut down again.
At least, parts of the government have temporarily shut down over President Trumpâs demand for a $5 billion border wall.
Yet while these political games dominate news headlines, send the stock market into a nosedive, and put more than 800,000 federal employees at risk of having to work without pay, nothing about this government shutdown will diminish the immediate and very real dangers of the American Police State with its roadside strip searches, government surveillance, biometric databases, citizens being treated like terrorists, imprisonments for criticizing the government, national ID cards, SWAT team raids, censorship, forcible blood draws and DNA extractions, private prisons, weaponized drones, red light cameras, tasers, active shooter drills, police misconduct and government corruption.
Shutdown or not, war will continue. Drone killings will continue. Surveillance will continue. Censorship and persecution of anyone who criticizes the government will continue. The governmentâs efforts to label dissidents as extremists and terrorists will continue.
Police shootings will continue. Highway robbery meted out by government officials will continue. Corrupt government will continue. Profit-driven prisons will continue. And the militarization of the police will continue.
Indeed, take a look at the programs and policies that are not affected by a government shutdown, and youâll get a clearer sense of the governmentâs priorities, which have little to do with serving taxpayers and everything to do with amassing money, power and control.
Not even NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command that tracks Santa Clausâ route across the globe, will have its surveillance efforts curtailed one iota.
Surveillance will continue unabated. On any given day, whether youâre walking through a store, driving your car, checking email, or talking to friends and family on the phone, you can be sure that some government agency, whether the NSA or some other entity, is listening in and tracking your behavior. Police have been outfitted with a litany of surveillance gear, from license plate readers and cell phone tracking devices to biometric data recorders. Technology now makes it possible for the police to scan passersby in order to detect the contents of their pockets, purses, briefcases, etc. Full-body scanners, which perform virtual strip-searches of Americans traveling by plane, have gone mobile, with roving police vans that peer into vehicles and buildings alikeâincluding homes. Coupled with the nationâs growing network of real-time surveillance cameras and facial recognition software, soon there really will be nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
Government spying will continue unabated. Government shutdown or not, the National Security Agency (NSA), with its $10.8 billion black ops annual budget, will continue to spy on every person in the United States who uses a computer or phone using programs such as PRISM and XKEYSCORE. By cracking the security of all major smartphones, including iPhone, Android, and Blackberry devices, NSA agents harvest such information as contacts, text messages, and location data. And then there are the NSA agents who will continue to use and abuse their surveillance powers for personal means, to spy on girlfriends, lovers and first dates.
Global spying will continue unabated. The NSAâs massive surveillance network, what the Washington Post refers to as a $500 billion âespionage empire,â will continue to span the globe and target every single person on the planet who uses a phone or a computer. The NSAâs Echelon program intercepts and analyzes virtually every phone call, fax and email message sent anywhere in the world. In addition to carrying out domestic surveillance on peaceful political groups such as Amnesty International, Greenpeace and several religious groups, Echelon has also been a keystone to the governmentâs attempts at political and corporate espionage.
Egregious searches will continue unabated. Under the pretext of protecting the nationâs infrastructure (roads, mass transit systems, water and power supplies, telecommunications systems and so on) against criminal or terrorist attacks, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) task forces (comprised of federal air marshals, surface transportation security inspectors, transportation security officers, behavior detection officers and explosive detection canine teams) will continue to do random security sweeps of nexuses of transportation, including ports, railway and bus stations, airports, ferries and subways. Sweep tactics include the use of x-ray technology, pat-downs and drug-sniffing dogs, among other things.
The undermining of the Constitution will continue unabated. Americaâs so-called war on terror, which it has relentlessly pursued since 9/11, has chipped away at our freedoms, unraveled our Constitution and transformed our nation into a battlefield, thanks in large part to such subversive legislation as the USA Patriot Act and National Defense Authorization Act. These lawsâwhich completely circumvent the rule of law and the constitutional rights of American citizens, re-orienting our legal landscape in such a way as to ensure that martial law, rather than the rule of law, our U.S. Constitution, becomes the map by which we navigate life in the United Statesâwill continue to be enforced.
Militarized policing will continue unabated. Thanks to federal grant programs allowing the Pentagon to transfer surplus military supplies and weapons to local law enforcement agencies without charge, police forces will continue to be transformed from peace officers into heavily armed extensions of the military, complete with jackboots, helmets, shields, batons, pepper-spray, stun guns, assault rifles, body armor, miniature tanks and weaponized drones. Having been given the green light to probe, poke, pinch, taser, search, seize, strip and generally manhandle anyone they see fit in almost any circumstance, all with the general blessing of the courts, Americaâs law enforcement officials, no longer mere servants of the people entrusted with keeping the peace, will continue to keep the masses corralled, under control, and treated like suspects and enemies rather than citizens.
SWAT team raids will continue unabated. With more than 80,000 SWAT team raids carried out every year on unsuspecting Americans for relatively routine police matters and federal agencies laying claim to their own law enforcement divisions, the incidence of botched raids and related casualties will continue to rise. Nationwide, SWAT teams will continue to be employed to address an astonishingly trivial array of criminal activity or mere community nuisances including angry dogs, domestic disputes, improper paperwork filed by an orchid farmer, and misdemeanor marijuana possession.
Overcriminalization will continue unabated. The government bureaucracy will continue to churn out laws, statutes, codes and regulations that reinforce its powers and value systems and those of the police state and its corporate allies, rendering the rest of us petty criminals. The average American now unknowingly commits three felonies a day, thanks to this overabundance of vague laws that render otherwise innocent activity illegal. Consequently, small farmers who dare to make unpasteurized goat cheese and share it with members of their community will continue to have their farms raided.
The shadow governmentâ a.k.a. the Deep State, a.k.a. the police state, a.k.a. the military industrial complex, a.k.a. the surveillance state complexâwill continue unabated. This corporatized, militarized, entrenched bureaucracy that is fully operational and staffed by unelected officials will continue to call the shots in Washington DC, no matter who sits in the White House or controls Congress. By âgovernment,â Iâm not referring to the highly partisan, two-party bureaucracy of the Republicans and Democrats. Rather, Iâm referring to âgovernmentâ with a capital âG,â the entrenched Deep State that is unaffected by elections, unaltered by populist movements, and has set itself beyond the reach of the law.
These issues are not going away.
They are the backbone of an increasingly aggressive authoritarian government, formed by an unholy alliance between the mega-corporations with little concern for the Constitution and elected officials and bureaucrats incapable or unwilling to represent the best interests of their constituents.
When it comes right down to it, no matter how long a government shutdown lasts, it will remain business as usual in terms of the governmentâs unceasing pursuit of greater powers and control.
So where do we go from here?
If public opposition, outright challenges, and a government shutdown donât stop or even slow down the police state, whatâs to be done?
Do what you must to survive.
Go to work, take care of your family, pay off your debts.
All the while youâre doing those things which allow you to survive from one day to the next, plan for the future and strive for freedom.
Pay attention to the political structure that is being created in the shadows, the economic system that is chaining us down with debt, and the feudal, fascist society borne out of the marriage of government and big business.
Avoid the propaganda mills posing as news sources.
Express your outrage, loudly and tirelessly, to the governmentâs incursions on our freedoms.
Act locallyâtaking issue with any and every encroachment on your rights, no matter how minor, whether itâs a ban on goat cheese or installations of red light cameras at intersections and on school busesâbecause reclaiming our rights from the ground up, starting locally and trickling up, remains our only hope.
Boston Globeâs Naomi Martin and James Pindell report that all of 2020âs formally declared âmajor partyâ presidential candidates say they support legalizing marijuana at the federal level. Yes, that includes President Trump.
Great idea! But why should the nearly two-thirds of Americans who want marijuana legalized spend the next 20 months listening to these candidates promise to make it happen? At least eight of them are in a position to get the job done now.
Cory Booker, D-N.J., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are U.S. senators. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, is a U.S. representative. Any or all of them could introduce and sponsor/co-sponsor bills to legalize marijuana.
Donald Trump is the president of the United States. Any time he cares to pick up the phone and summon the Republican Partyâs congressional leaders, or maybe just Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., over to the White House, he can lean on them to get a bill moving for the same purpose, then sign it when it passes.
There are opportunities here for all these politicians. The first one to make a big move would get the most credit for ending the federal war on marijuana. The others could earn some brownie points (yes, I went there) for joining in. We could enjoy a rare âbipartisanâ love-fest where political opponents come together for the good of the country.
Of course, the candidates who donât really mean it when they say the favor legalization would be put on the spot. Theyâd have to either follow through or look like the liars they are. Thatâs a feature, not a bug. Let this issue winnow the field of candidates who thought they could run the clock out on it and then go back to business as usual.
So far, 10 states have defied the federal governmentâs ban on marijuana and outright legalized it for recreational use, while another 13 have âdecriminalizedâ it instead of treating it as a serious offense. Itâs legal for medical use in 33 states and the District of Columbia and another 13 states have relaxed restrictions on one of its most useful ingredients, CBD.
Marijuana legalization is an unstoppable parade. Time for the presidential candidates to run for the front of that parade instead of just standing in the crowd hoping the voters will throw them some candy.
The slow decline of the US is about to turn into a steep dive.
You hate to cry wolf, but there is no hope for the US now.
The writing is on the wall.
Biden or Trump won't save the US.
The USA is an immoral bankrupt warmongering police state.
There is no rule of law. The US is not a democracy. Everything is illegal.
The wars are not being ended.
The debt is not being reduced.
Politicians won't repeal laws.
Courts uphold every law.
Americans are too moronic, depraved, degraded, immoral, distracted, or divided to care.
Governments don't build police states and armies if they don't intend to use them.
Do you think record debt will end well?
You know that the US is doomed when vendors fear selling goods to the government because the government could just accuse businesses of fraud and then steal their property and arrest them.
You know that the USA is doomed when you are not sure if you will be jailed today.
Do you really think every day after today will look the same? Do you see any resistance from Americans? Do you see anything in the USA that indicates hope? Is anything improving at all?
You know that the USA is doomed when the government is building a wall, is about to declare a National Emergency, close the border, and construct concentration camps and Americans think only illegal aliens will be affected.
What if gun bans are not to keep you safe from niggers, but to keep the elites safe from the 99%?
The ruling class wants you dead.
Do you honestly believe that DUI laws, DWI checkpoints, seatbelt laws, car liability insurance laws, neighborhood watch groups, mandatory minimums, IMBRA, 3 strikes laws, curfews, police militarization, teen boot camps, school metal detectors, private prisons, chain gangs, nanny state laws, the Patriot Act, NSA wiretapping, no knock raids, take down notices, no fly lists, terror watch lists, Constitution free zones, stop and frisk, kill switches, National Security Letters, DNA databases, kill lists, FBAR, FATCA, Operation Chokepoint, TSA groping, civil forfeiture, CIA torture, NDAA indefinite detention, secret FISA courts, FEMA camps, laws requiring passports for domestic travel, IRS laws denying passports for tax debts, gun and ammo stockpiles, laws outlawing protesting, Jade Helm, sneak and peek warrants, policing for profit, no refusal blood checkpoints, license plate readers, redlight cameras, speed cameras, FBI facial and voice recognition, tattoo databases, gun bans, the end to the right to silence, free speech bans, searches without warrants, CISPA, SOPA, private prison quotas, supermax prisons, FOSTA, sex offender registration laws, and sex offender restriction laws don't exist? Do you think this is all a fun game that isn't happening? Is anyone connecting the dots? Do you think that you are above the law? Do you feel safer now?
There comes a point when hypothetical tyranny becomes real tyranny and possible collapse becomes actual collapse.
Americans who once thought that the USA would last another 100 years are rapidly becoming more pessimistic.
No one has a crystal ball and knows the future, but why not be on the safe side and leave?
Have Americans never read a history book before?
The window is closing. Save yourself and get out of the US before it's late.
Do you think that the US wouldn't launch drone strikes on Idaho?
Would you rather be a German living in Chile or be a German living in Germany in 1933?
Would you rather be a Cambodian living in Mexico or be a Cambodian living in Cambodia in 1975?
All the lines have been crossed.
Stop being complacent.
Wake up.
Pass the word.
Tyranny might sound nice in the short term, but tyranny ends in slavery.
Living in a police state is like living in a prison. The education, clothes, food, and housing are free and prisons are safe.
The problem is that the hardworkers quit and the police state becomes a real prison with slavery.
Some say the civil war will start when the economy crashes and Americans are starving in the street, but what if the elites are not going to wait that long?
The USA is already a police state.
What if the ruling class will use some kind of real or fake emergency like Russia or Ebola to force Americans to willingly go to the concentration camps?
What if Fargo is liquidated by the US Army? Will Americans revolt or will they just shrug?
If the US armed terrorists to overthrow Assad why doesn't the USA arm the French so that they can overthrow Macon?
Who will supply American rebels when the US Civil War 2.0 starts?
The elites always sell tyranny as something that benefits you and only punishes others.
Checkpoints were sold as a way to stop evil drunk-drivers, but now checkpoints are for everyone.
TSA groping, CIA torture, kill lists, and NSA wiretapping were sold as a way to stop Muslims, but now they are for everyone.
Forfeiture was sold as a way to stop drug users, but now is used for everyone.
Gun bans will be sold as a way to stop negroes from shooting people, but they will soon be for everyone.
Free speech will be banned to stop flag-burning, protesting, porn, reporting, advertising, prostitution, and hate speech.
Concentration camps and the wall are sold as a way to control illegal immigrants, but they will soon be for everyone.
Americans will never learn.
The US is no longer a democracy and voting doesn't work when your only choices are either a Nazi or a Commie.
Do Americans fire the first shot on soldiers and the Gestapo now or will Americans just cowardly tolerate tyranny like the Chinese, Cubans, Cambodians, Vietnamese, and North Koreans do?
Americans today should either be leaving the USA or planning for the collapse.
This tyranny cannot go on forever. What kind of life is this?
- Libertarian
- https://neinchan.com/pol/
Joined May 2019
