Maurice Ali
Joined: 14 Nov 2003 Posts: 7699 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2004 12:50 pm Post subject: Psychology Of The Patriot Act |
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Psychology Of The Patriot Act
By Maurice Ali, Journalist
There is nothing patriotic about the Patriot Act! The Patriot Act sucks! It is not my intention to examine the act into all of it's many infringements of American rights and freedoms, but it is my intention to examine the psychology behind it as it advances the agenda of the Bush administration and quells dissention.
The Patriot Act was a quickly enacted piece of legislation brought in just after 911 in order - as they say - to fight terrorism. The legislation was quickly passed under the paranoid atmosphere that was prevalent at the time. The act was supposed to aid the government agencies in protecting and preventing terrorist attacks against Americans and American interests.
"Those who would trade freedom for security deserve neither freedom nor security." - Benjamin Franklin
However, every "terror alert" never seems to have dates, places or ways and means.....so just what did the American public get for their suspension of their rights and freedoms.....they got fear!
Human beings are naturally fearful creatures, the fear has to be trained out of them or they will act in typical primate ways. Note the nationalism and racism and hate for that which is unknown in the weeks after 911.....all products of instinct and fear. This psychology was used to good effect to further their agenda in making war with Iraq; now they had an excuse to introduce legislation aimed at quelling dissention at an unpopular war. Bush and his people knew history; they saw the impact of independent journalists covering unpopular wars.....so we got "imbedded journalists" and censored reporting. They remembered the impact on much publicized demonstrations against the Vietnam war.....so they introduced the Patriot Act as a tool of fear and quelling of dissention for the war with Iraq. More to do with Americans than terrorists, the Patriot Act works like a self-censor in the minds of most Americans.
Americans are not stupid, they know their freedoms are infringed, but most fear the possible consequences. Is this fear justified? In almost all cases it is not, but my guess is that they maintain the old credo: "Why take the chance." So American society is no better today than Cuba or Russia, and in fact Russia seems to have become friends with the U.S.A.. Take away the slight economic advantage of Americans and you would be hard pressed to see difference these days.....all live in fear! Many kid themselves that the government's agenda is theirs; but that is not the point. It is the point to know that you can be opposed to your government's agenda and not fear anything - that is the basis of a free society.
You will never be free until you push past your limits of fear into the world of limitless expression." - Maurice Ali
Hey look above - I am in the same league as Ronald Reagan and Benjamin Franklin.....hehehehehe..... All kidding aside; it is true that freedom is still within every American's mind - if they just learn to push past that barrier of fear that keeps them a slave to their government. Test the waters of dissent, push back a little. In this way you will train the fear out of you and replace it with rational thought. You will then make actions based of results and not fear of punishment. We train dogs by punishing and thus instilling fear to control them. By eliminating fear, you have eliminated a government's passive control over it's populace. Want the proof.....
I live in Canada and do not have the absolute rights and freedoms that many have in the States. Yet I feel no fear in writing this report or running a free-speech advocacy organization. There are no sunset clauses in our terrorism legislation.....yet I have no fear to speak my mind - I am free!
I keep telling people that Fortress Of Freedom is not a fortress of bricks and mortar; it is a fortress of the mind - the true key to freedom. It is within all of us.
ACL Synopsis Of The Patriot Act
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