While I want to write my thoughts down, that the
fact that the American government surveils society at random, tortures
information from people, and restricts people from speaking too loudly on
critical topics makes me leery about putting my thoughts onto a computer... yet
here we are. I cannot avoid the risk of
my government potentially blacklisting me unless I were to type this out on a
typewriter somewhere. As an open-minded,
educated American, I can sense some of the horrors our government experiencing
these days and am constantly seeking new information. Though, when that information stuns me into
silence I find cause for concern. I
don't often find that a topic would confound me into silence, but when I could
put myself at risk and those I love at risk by simply using my voice, it
strikes fear into my very being. After
seeing Naomi Wolf's documentary End of America, I realized that I have no idea
not only what the American government is capable of, but what they are actually
taking part in to keep our society in check.
Personally, I have always been a bit of a squeaky wheel. If something is morally wrong I will be one
of the first to speak my mind about it, however, after seeing the horrific
things this country sweeps under the rug makes me want to think twice before
opening my mouth at all.
When America was still an infant we were run by
another country. From all the way across the Atlantic Ocean we had to live by
rules and demands set by someone else and this wasn't okay for America. When the Patriots took hold of America and
decided to make it our own place with our own set of rules, they created a
democracy; a government for the people where they could be respected and heard.
We became America: The Land of The Free.
This was not the first time democracy was used, but the people of
America seemed to know exactly what they wanted and needed to be successful and
democracy was what suited those best.
What most people don't know is that America has been on a very dangerous
path for a long time. Naomi Wolf pointed
out that there were essentially "ten steps a [government would take] to close
down an open society" and that America was following all ten steps - which
gives me my own personal set of nightmares.
Could we be compared to Stalin's Russia, Mussolini's Italy, and Hitler’s
Germany? America? It couldn't be possible, yet apparently it is
so.
The Department of Homeland Security for example: A
department in our federal government created in response to the terrorist
attacks on September 11, 2001. A
department created to ensure the level of safety of American citizens -
essentially to control the fear levels of American citizens. Naomi Wolf explained how other countries also
have to face terrorism, but how they deal with it in a calm way without
generating fear in all of its citizens. "[Other countries] take pride in
not frightening the citizens and having daily life go on without fear." -
Seemingly a very hard concept for America to understand. Instead we drive fear home with each and
every news story ever made. Bombings, terrorist attacks, murder, threats,
homicide, abuse - it is never-ending and also a way of life for Americans. As if we didn't have enough problems without
imminent threat looming over our heads all the time. Just over month after the attacks on 9/11,
Congress pushed forward the USA Patriot Act which largely reduced the
restrictions that law enforcement agencies had in the gathering of personal
information on any citizen of the United States of America. With this law in
place citizens lost their privacy at the blink of Congress' eye; people can now
be invaded upon "all without having done anything wrong and all without a
warrant."
Yet
the trepidation doesn't stop there.
Every day people who stand up for what they believe in have been
ostracized without any regard. Anti-war
groups, anti-death penalty, environmental groups, and even less aggressive
non-violent peace groups have been targeted by our government. The groups become infiltrated by a mole and
the mole relays back all of the groups activity, cause trouble within the group
or even to break up the groups. These surveillance and infiltration acts were
kept in check by the American Civil Liberties Union or ACLU whose job it was to
defend and preserve the rights of every person in this country by the
Constitution and laws of the United States. "Surveillance and
Infiltration... it's a psychological pressure point not just a tactical
one." Another notch added to the
American belt of fear and another way to keep the American people quiet and
underneath the thumb of its government.
Sometimes as a joke or in casual conversation I will suggest a radical
idea and then say aloud "Uh oh, I bet you the government heard me say
that," but I suppose it isn't a joke or even a comedic response, because
while they aren't listening to every conversation, I am certain they are listening
to a wide variety of them and one day that conversation could be my own.
Those ten steps to closing down an
open society are prime reasons why I would love to no longer be a part of this terrifying
place which we call a country; a once a magnificent place that people came to
for freedom… for a chance. In the last fifteen
years (roughly) we have broken ourselves as a country and in a disparaging
manner. We have marred ourselves with
our treacherous actions and shut up the very people who recognize the
destruction and want to fix it. My heart
breaks for this country. This country
where my ancestors came for their shot at happiness and never in their wildest
dreams would have believed that it would be a place their grandchildren would
run from – in fear. I tell people all
the time that I want to leave America and while to some that may sound
incredible to others it makes sense.
“…We lost our way – we just need to find our way back to the path that
served us well for so long…” Together,
as Americans, we can make anything happen… if only we weren’t so afraid to do
so.
