land of the free?

[catfish]

I just scanned over the titles of the threads in this section, the first thing that poped into my mind was what the heck is happening to our freedoms. Democrat, Republican I wouldn't give a plug nickel for any of these crooks. Someday all americans are going to wake up and have a realization that we now live in the book "1984" and we will have nobody to blame but ourselves.

[Will_S]

Yep this is it. Pilot chipping programs are already in place for "the sake of the children" and when those kids grow up, they'll be chipping their kids. Video cameras are everywhere and autonmous remote controlled observation drones are a reality. If you go to an MD complaing of feeling out of sorts or discontent, chances are they'll offer you the latest in mind control medication. Everybody has a number. Rfid chips are already in passports and will soon be in everything we own. Buy Coke, watch american idol and keep whatever humanity or individuality you have managed to salvage under your hat or they'll take it from you, it stands in the way of you being a good consumer.

[Jbailey]

Quote from Bill Hicks

“Go back to bed, America, your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed America, your government is in control. Here, here's American Gladiators. Watch this, shut up, go back to bed America, here is American Gladiators, here is 56 channels of it! Watch these pituitary retards bang their f***ing skulls together and congratulate you on the living in the land of freedom. Here you go America - you are free to do what well tell you! You are free to do what we tell you!”

[RETSF]

A friend of mine sent this to me. The author is unknown.

Panem et Circenses

Mrs. du Toit
The title of this post literally translates to “Bread and Circuses” and originates from:

… Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man,
the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time
handed out military command, high civil office, legions - everything, now
restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things:
bread and circuses

It was written by the poet Juvenal in the 1st/2nd century AD.
It is as true today as it was when it was written, and it will be true tomorrow and for all the tomorrows to come.
I cannot think of a phrase and a citation that more clearly articulates what is Man and what is society.
The use of the phrase then (and the use now) translates to a panacea, something that serves to distract the populace from what is truly important. In Roman times it was literally the handing out of bread and the circus (the performances at the Coliseum).
Politicians knew then (and know today) that all they need to do to placate and pacify a people is to throw them a few crumbs of bread. They need to make sure the populace are entertained and fed, with a few bricks of welfare cheese, a promise of free TV and radio, food stamps to buy boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and tax breaks for the rest of us, so we might adorn our bodies and our children with stuff to make life tolerable.
As long as their bellies are fed, at least partially, they won’t pay attention to the erosions of their freedom or feel the hand in their pocket that takes their money or fondles their sex organs.
It is, in essence, whatever distracts Man from doing what is right, be that the “selfish” interest of obtaining sustenance for himself, or the escapism he finds in watching the misery and torture of others. Whether he is caught up in the gossip of the latest scandal or crime, or hiding out in his head, dreaming of lofty ideas of what could be, it is still a circus and still simply a distraction, a slight of hand. If everyone would just behave the way he believes they should, or if he were in charge, or his policies or theories were put in place, all would be well. In not unusual moments of fancy, he might even choose to imagine that they really are, en masse, basically wonderful beings.
We watch the never-ending broadcasts of modern incarnations of the gladiators of the Coliseum in shows such as Survivor, Intervention, or the great passions of soap operas; marvel at gizmo extravaganzas, or any number of things that make our lives easier or filled with greater status symbols, and base materialism. We focus our attention purely on the business of getting – paying little or no attention to what we are giving away in the process.
And so it goes from generation to generation, from society to society, and the baton of whatever panacea is in fad or fashion, whatever tasteless gruel is filling their bellies, the masses are placated, even while they watch their civilizations erode, eventually to the point of ashes, while chanting timeless phrases of “Burn down the mission!” “They had it coming!” or “Now things will be fair!” It is a constant litany of the excuse to destroy that which others created and left for their progeny to destroy. It was first recorded as chants as warnings in choruses in the Greek plays, and heard above the cacophony of traffic and ear bending and mind-numbing music at any protest march of today. Voices shouting. Voices chanting. Always the same chants, always the same trespasses, all giving way for Bread and Circuses.
If that were all there was, I’d slit my wrists tomorrow. Man has not changed at all since time began and he will not change at all when time finishes.
Knowing that could cause all of us to slide into the darkness of depression, of misery, and of the sheer hopelessness of it all… so we distract ourselves, to whatever degree we can tolerate, to whatever takes us away from that gloomy portrait of all that we are, all that we have done, and all that we hope to be.
Perhaps.
Some of us do not do that, but we are also firmly aware that others do. Our awareness of that truth and all that it entails does not at all dissuade us. In fact, we find the randomness and rarity of it all the more encouraging. We’re not about numbers, in fanciful talk of quantity. We’re all about quality.
We know that among the masses a few will shine through, for no reason at all. There will be a few, a very few who will choose, and choose everything, differently. The are the very few exceptions to the rule. And it is for those, and those only, that we hold on, and for them we do what we do. No one else matters.
We have to resign ourselves to the reality of it all, and find a reason to go on, to find a purpose in our lives, and the lives of a precious few, who we find among the muck, the misery, the *****graphy, and the graffiti. That’s what we hold on to, and take it upon ourselves to protect all that is good and worthy for the next generation.
For the next will need it to rebuild, too, so that their lives can be focused on passing along the little bit of wisdom Man has acquired over the millennia, all the beauty and purpose he has discovered, and each generation then will have a handful of people who will take that baton and protect it, as best they can, until such time as they find a willing taker with whom they can share all that the baton holds. If he cannot find someone to hand it to, he will bury it or hide it, knowing that at some future point someone will find it, and will understand its value, and it will go on. That, too, is a certainty.
Every now and again we will find that person in history or in the present, that rogue individual, that rare exception to the rule, and all that we have done and all that we have learned will be guarded and treasured by him, until such time as he is no more.
And that, as they say, makes all the difference, and more than enough to go on in happiness and peace.

[Will_S]

The difference being that the technology and control now exist to find those who shine through and medicate or otherwise blunt them before they have a chance to make waves.

[taltos]

I am concerned that soon many people will find out the true value of the Second Amendment as in protecting the people from their government.

[sanfrantreat]

I just want to say what is in canada we ban certain fats (can't remember name) from fast foods and what not for our own good. We ban smoking in doors for our own good, soon in april they are banning the direct public view of tobaccana for our own good. They are thinking of banning smoking in public areas ie parks, sidewalks, soon we'll be sneaking puffs up north in a tent scowling around to see if the rangers are after us. And this is all for our own good! oh btw I dont find its for my own good rather in fact I find it detrimental to my own good, I like flavour put the fat back in.

[Spect]

Originally Posted by r-ice

soon in april they are banning the direct public view of tobaccana for our own good.

I just noticed this first hand. I was in the airport on Friday looking for something to read. I couldn't find a damn thing so I though maybe I could stomach a copy of Cigar Aficionado if I could find it. When I did finally see it, it was just above the "Men's Magazines" next to the P0rn mags with one of those dark pieces of plastic covering all but it's title.

[Aladdin Sane]

Land of the free????


The only politician who knows / respects the meaning of those words is Ron Paul.


Ron who???..........EXACTLY.....

.....Back to your regulary scheduled program.....

[Mark C]

A few hundred years ago when people got pissed in England, they hopped a boat and came over here.... where are we supposed to go now?

[RETSF]

Originally Posted by Mark C

A few hundred years ago when people got pissed in England, they hopped a boat and came over here.... where are we supposed to go now?

SPACE......THE NEW FRONTIER

[catfish]

What bothers me on top of loosing the freedoms is that nobody seems to see what I see and nobody cares.

[RETSF]

Originally Posted by catfish

What bothers me on top of loosing the freedoms is that nobody seems to see what I see and nobody cares.

See "Panem et Circenses" above

[sanfrantreat]

Originally Posted by catfish

What bothers me on top of loosing the freedoms is that nobody seems to see what I see and nobody cares.

thats because every statement is followed by "for your own good.."

[Dr_Trac]

Originally Posted by Mark C

A few hundred years ago when people got pissed in England, they hopped a boat and came over here.... where are we supposed to go now?

Canada!