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I Don't Feel Safe These Days

Submitted by ms zola on June 16, 2006 - 9:50pm.

I don't feel safe these days. It isn't about crime or terrorism. it isn't about the war or aging airplanes. It isn't about killer bees or bird flu. It isn't about road rage or illegal aliens crowding into our cities. It isn't about gangs or drugs or other such things.

I don't feel safe anymore because I don't feel free. The country I grew up in is not the same country I am living in today. When I was a kid and in fact most of my adult life, I never feared speaking out. It was one of the privilages guaranteed by the constitution. But that was then. Today, I read about people being arrested for protesting or placing protest flyers up in public. These are quiet people protesting quietly. I read where one college student was expelled because he turned his back when the president walked onto the stage. What is so bad about that? What is so wrong with the student's right to protest?

I don't feel safe because I feel the tether tightening around my feet. I miss the days when I felt it was okay to criticize and protest. I miss the days when I could check any book out of the library and it was no one's business. I miss the days when a properly executed search warrant meant innocent people had nothing to fear.

Do I fear so much for myself? No. I fear for the future generations who have to live in a 1984 world filled with mistrust and fear.

Posted in constitution | Fear | politics | protests | safety | A Touch of Wisdom............. | delicious | digg | reddit | 304 reads »

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lloyd Says:
June 17, 2006 - 7:23am

:>]You're reading it right. The New World Order will enslave the entire world and then you'll feel their boot on your neck while asking you why you didn't work the full 20 hours the day before.

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o ceallaigh's picture
o ceallaigh Says:
June 17, 2006 - 8:06am

... for example, I seem to recall many instances of attempted muzzling that went on during, to name one, the Nixon years.

But on the other, those attempts were shouted down then. Now?

    This is the way the world ends,
    This is the way the world ends,
    This is the way the world ends,
    Not with a bang but a whimper.

Somewhere I blogged about an episode at Williams College in 2002 or '03, where the students bodily removed faculty protesting the impending Iraq invasion from the college commons - and a Bushie praised the patriotism of the students to the skies. Just like Hitler praised the agents of Kristallnacht.

We must remember that each one of us bears some responsibility for what has happened, and this must temper our response. But that responsibility does not force our acquiescence either. Quite the opposite. It is not too late to awaken ...


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ms zola's picture
ms zola Says:
June 17, 2006 - 11:59am

It is just something I feel. I even think the press is powerless.


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o ceallaigh's picture
o ceallaigh Says:
June 17, 2006 - 12:11pm

in the 60s and 70s, the profit was in protest.

today, it's "keeping access to your sources" - ie the moneyed types. and incidentally the press is declining in large part thanks to internet resources like bloggers and craigslist. which are relatively "free" in both money and speech, not to mention more efficient (if more scattered) means of expression.

I think there are many reasons to hope. we just need a wakeup call. maybe you've noticed that in my writes ... :)


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ms zola's picture
ms zola Says:
June 17, 2006 - 12:31pm

I love bloggers. The majority of them are very interesting people who are never at a loss for words (or opinions). Thanks!


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o ceallaigh's picture
o ceallaigh Says:
June 17, 2006 - 12:33pm

[replying to your PM]


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