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Tsukiyumi wrote:
As does this:

Cpl Kendall wrote:...How old are you?

I think we should take a self-imposed break from this topic for the time being.

Why? Your age has a direct bearing on how you view the world. Younger people often feel disenfranchised by their government.

Cpl Kendall wrote:Get in touch with your Rep.

That is not terribly effective.

Cpl Kendall wrote:Lets see shall we:

Ignorance of how the SC functions? Check
Statments that the government can the consitution at a whim? Check

That's just from the handy history thing at the bottom of the reply page.

Again with the sarcasm. Be as naive as you want: if the Supreme Court was on the take how would anyone know?

Explain how you believe me to be ignorant of how the US Supreme Court works when I've seen it first-hand. Explain where I said "at a whim". I said it would be gradual, subtle, and a hundred years from now this country won't have nearly the freedom it does now.

Cpl Kendall wrote:Why? Your age has a direct bearing on how you view the world. Younger people often feel disenfranchised by their government.

My disenfrachisement has to do with my significant experience dealing with this government. I'm 27, currently.

Cpl Kendall wrote:Seafort has addressed this but I have to ask: how can so many people be ignorant of how their own government works?

The US has a horrible school system. One of the worst of the first world societies I believe. I know many people who don't even know what the three branches of government are(Military, cooperate, and Hollywood )

If they're being opressed, they're hardly going to just sit back and say "meh" to it.

Don't be so naive.

ChakatBlackstar wrote:

If they're being opressed, they're hardly going to just sit back and say "meh" to it.

Don't be so naive.

Any evidence to support a theory that people would sit back and say "meh" if they were being oppressed?

Sure, if other people were being oppressed, I can easily imagine it - "First they came for the Jews..." as the poem goes. People tend to be a lot more vocal when it's their rights, real or imagined, that are being restricted, rather than someone else's.

Rochey wrote:If they're being opressed, they're hardly going to just sit back and say "meh" to it.

No, like I said, they'll say "Baa".

...Roughly translated, " American Idol is awesome! Britney Spears is Awesome! We don't give a crap about real issues, give us more pictures of Angelina Jolie's kids! Who's Lindsay Lohan doing this week?"

Tsukiyumi wrote:

Rochey wrote:If they're being opressed, they're hardly going to just sit back and say "meh" to it.

No, like I said, they'll say "Baa".

...Roughly translated, " American Idol is awesome! Britney Spears is Awesome! We don't give a crap about real issues, give us more pictures of angelina Jolie's kids!"

True story

ChakatBlackstar wrote:

Tsukiyumi wrote:

Rochey wrote:If they're being opressed, they're hardly going to just sit back and say "meh" to it.

No, like I said, they'll say "Baa".

...Roughly translated, " American Idol is awesome! Britney Spears is Awesome! We don't give a crap about real issues, give us more pictures of angelina Jolie's kids!"

True story

Exactly.

By all means, show me a society in history where the majority of the populace were being opressed and did nothing about it.

History is being made right now, brother. At no time in history have governments had more power to control the populace than they do now, thus, no historical precedent. Mind-altering drugs are commonplace, even among children. The government can easily hear what you say in your own home, and monitor what you do at all times. This power is something relatively new, and shouldn't be taken lightly, or left unchecked.

Tsukiyumi wrote:*snippy tinfoil hat BS*

Provide examples as requested or concede the point.

I won't concede shit if you won't list what points I've recently made that you disagree with. Especially if you're going to resort to insults as well.

Time for a fucking break if we're all going to start tossing around insults. Period. I guess we'll call this a stalemate.

Rochey wrote:By all means, show me a society in history where the majority of the populace were being opressed and did nothing about it.

Russia? Germany? Iraq? Cuba? Just in recent times. Basically every dictatorship or monarchy type of government.

At no time in history have governments had more power to control the populace than they do now, thus, no historical precedent.

Uh, wrong. They have a greater ability to observe us, due to technological advancements, but control has severely lessened.
As I said, show me a historical government that did not suffer a revolution despite oppresing the majority of it's populace.

Mind-altering drugs are commonplace, even among children.

The hell?
Could you clarify this, at all? Because I sure as hell haven't heard of stuff like this.

The government can easily hear what you say in your own home,

Funny, I don't recall the government placing listening devices in anyone's home. In fact, I believe that that was specificaly ruled unconstitutional in the US.

and monitor what you do at all times.

Which is, of course, why no criminals have ever escaped the government.
Oh, wait....

This power is something relatively new, and shouldn't be taken lightly, or left unchecked.

I think you're confusing power with ability.
The modern governments of the world, particularly in the west, have a myriad of technology that could monitor us wherever we went, and what we do at home.
Yet they are not able to do that, due to laws and the will of the people.
Thus, they have the ability to do these things, but they do not, and thus do not have this power.

I won't concede **** if you won't list what points I've recently made that you disagree with.

I think he meant he disagreed with your whole post.

Russia?

The Soviet Union, you mean?
In the USSR, there was actualy a very strong feeling of pro-communism. Although it was far stricter than the West, there wasn't nation-wide hatred of their leaders.
Thus, not a valid example.

Iraq?

Under Hussein?
He was actualy far more liberal than his neighbouring leaders. He didn't impose Sharia law, and allowed religious freedom. Iraq wasn't all to bad under Hussein, unless you were on his "to kill" list, of course.

Of course, the US had to go in and make things even worse. Thanks a lot, Bush,

Cuba?

Under Castro? The government there is actualy quite popular.

Note, though, that the former dictator, General Batista, was deposed.

Basically every dictatorship or monarchy type of government.

You'll also note that many of those were overthrown at some stage or another.