I'm terrified..

I'm terrified to speak out about terrorist groups such as Hizbollah, and I'm terrified to speak about countries that my country is having problems with, like Iran.

I feel as if I could be traced, watched, investigated, put on a list of dissenters, or any number of crazy things may happen to me if I were to speak about such things in a way that was against my government's opinion and policy.

So at least let me ask you, which is more terrifying to you,

1) your government
or
2) Hizbollah?

A simple reply or "1" or "2" will suffice, along with the country that you live in. No other info is requested. I want to know how others feel about this.

i know this isn't what you asked for, but since i joined these forums, im terrified of everything! sorry.... err i would have to say i need to do more research but im my opinion its the governments of the world who have all the power (in terms of followers, money, arms...), so potentially they are more scary! i may be wrong.

I think you can tell from my user name that I'm a bit of a paranoid, and I have some major issues with anxiety. But really, what I post on ATS is the least of my worries.

I'm of the opinion that it's my government, and as a citizen of Canada, I have a bit of responsibility to keep them honest. If I see my elected officials not acting in the best interest of the people they serve I have a duty to expose their actions for the betterment of everyone they serve.

Never fear your leaders, they serve at our discretion.
The true power is always in the hands of the people, and we can string them up if they abuse the power we grant them.

Originally posted by runetang


So at least let me ask you, which is more terrifying to you,

1) your government
or
2) Hizbollah?

A simple reply or "1" or "2" will suffice, along with the country that you live in. No other info is requested. I want to know how others feel about this.

#1.

I live in the US.

yes, the power of the people.... i forgot about us, the people. well, i fear everyone! i don't fear about what i'm writing about on here, or that i'm being watched (probably am....) it's just that since i started reading the forums, i've been told to worry about what the government are planning, etc. etc. new world order.... if i hadn't come on here i wouldn't be worrying about this at all. having said that, it is good to flex the brain muscles (so to speak) and find out what people think of the same issues as me.

in conclusion, i'm scared of everything except myself .... no, i'm scared of everything!

Originally posted by purplecoral
yes, the power of the people.... i forgot about us, the people.

While you're at it, don't forget that there has never been a successful revolution that was not preceded by famine.

Originally posted by phoenixhasrisin
While you're at it, don't forget that there has never been a successful revolution that was not preceded by famine.

what famine preceded the american revolution?
from what i've studied the 13 colonies were some of the nicest parts of the british empire at the time

Originally posted by runetang
So at least let me ask you, which is more terrifying to you,

1) your government
or
2) Hizbollah?

A simple reply or "1" or "2" will suffice, along with the country that you live in. No other info is requested. I want to know how others feel about this.

1 - United States. Easily.

And in keeping with the moderator's one-liner policy I'll briefly add that this is a direct result of the Bush administration's actions - the patriot act, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, and the administration's apparent contempt for the Bill of Rights.

2.

I am not scared of the Australian government. After all, I am alive and living pretty much happily. And I am sure many Americans are in the exact same state of affairs as me, so why be scared of the government?
You are VERY VERY lucky to be living under a stable government. Think of some of the African countries where the ruling party kills people to get at aid food, or where a coup can take place and hundreds of thousands are summarily executed because they went to school or wear glasses, or living in a place where there is an agency with the power to break down your door at 4 in the morning and take you off to an underground prison from where you are never heard from again.


What are you scared of?


Do you even have a right to be scared, compared to the countless millions of others that have wrongfully lost their lives because of their governments?
Americans as I see it always hide behind their Constitution. The slightest breach, and they cry bloody murder; but how about those many many countries that don't even have one?
I mean, sure, the U.S. President could do with a few more years of schooling, but honestly, it is very sad that anyone of a civilized nation feels 'scared' of their government. Go and experience what it is like to stay in a third world country.

It is pretty hard to appreciate how lucky we are until you see what it's like on the other side.

Originally posted by watch_the_rocks

What are you scared of?

Do you even have a right to be scared, compared to the countless millions of others that have wrongfully lost their lives because of their governments?
Americans as I see it always hide behind their Constitution. The slightest breach, and they cry bloody murder; but how about those many many countries that don't even have one?
I mean, sure, the U.S. President could do with a few more years of schooling, but honestly, it is very sad that anyone of a civilized nation feels 'scared' of their government. Go and experience what it is like to stay in a third world country.

It is pretty hard to appreciate how lucky we are until you see what it's like on the other side.

The original poster asked if we were more scared of our own government or Hezbollah. I stand by my answer.

I've been to WA a few times and liked it. Though I don't know much about your contry's leadership, I don't get the feeling your government is malevolent. Perhaps some of your countrymen (including the original inhabitants) feel differently.

Our government, on the other hand, has shown it is capable of the most atrocious lies in order to achieve certain goals - see "Iraq." It allows entire segments of the population to live in poverty and squalor while giving tax breaks to the extremely wealthy. It installs puppet dictatorships in third world countries which result in the kidnappings and executions you speak of. It consumes a higher percentage of the world's natural resources than any other country. It erodes the Constitution you seem to casually dismiss, the very document that is a beacon of cooperation and statesmanship and held in reverence by many, if not most, Americans.

Does our government do some good things? Of course. I don't believe we have regressed to a dictatorship. Yet.

I would be foolish not to fear an entity that has the capability - and the means - for wrongdoing our government has. Further, I would be a coward not to oppose them on it.

[edit on 27-2-2007 by befoiled]

One should never fear anything. Fear is merely consciousness probing into unknown space...know that all is one, all is consciousness, and that there is really no unknown, there is nothing to fear!

To answer the topic question, government most definatly!

Without doubt #1

The biggest terrorists I can think of are Blair and Bush. Closley followed by CNN, FOX and the BBC.

The governments use fear to control us by presenting us with terrorist threats and then offering a freedom sapping solution. Think about it, if they really cared about us, they would supress stories of terrorism to prevent it from having its desired effect. Rather than have every mainstream media outlet pushing their sensational scaremongering BS on us every day.

The problem is people in general beleive it and are happy to accept their rights being raped, as long as it's in the name of freedom!?!. If everyone switched off to the media, they would loose all power. Unless they go the whole hog and actually go overtly facist and start rounding us up for "re-education" you shouldn't worry.

As long you are beleive the hype Runetang, you're playing right into their hands.

#3 I fear waking up in a world without coffee.

Terrifies me to the point I have to go back to sleep.

I dont care if they kill me, imprison me or whaever else they can think of, but please let me have coffee!!!

Quite frankly being scared is what both want. Think about that for a moment...a gov't. derives its powers from our, the citizens, fears. Fears of many things, not just terrorism.

The terrorists also want us to fear them, hense the name terrorist. This is how they derive their power.

If we don't fear them for one reason, they'll try to find another. Or another. All we can do is live our lives, and stare the bastards down, if only metaphorically.

I'd have to say neither. I live a happy life and am not afraid of the government. I get pretty ticked off at them, but am not afraid. Why should I be? I think people let themselves get way too worked about it.

And why should I be afraid of Hezzbola? They're too busy messing with Isreal.

All in all I'm feeling pretty safe and secure right now. Sometimes I wonder what our future will be like with the road we are going down globally, but it's not worth worrying about. I'd rather just do what I can and try to make a difference by being a good person and doing nice things for others. if everybody would do that we'd have a much nicer world to live in.

What am I really afraid of? Spiders!

I don't fear either of them.

But if I were a coward, I would fear #1 more.
Logically.





[edit on 27-2-2007 by WTC7SmokingPile]

If we are terrorfied then the 'war on terror' has been a failure.
I'm not really arfraid of much in the way of 1 or 2. I would call it a morbid curiosity of what will become of us. Living in fear is not really living.

I don't fear my government because I can pretty much see them coming and get out of the way if I can. As far as Hizbollah they are not a consern in my daily life.

What worries me are the knuckle dragging scum that try and pick us off one by one. The criminals are who we really need to watch out for.

Originally posted by seagull
Quite frankly being scared is what both want. Think about that for a moment...a gov't. derives its powers from our, the citizens, fears. Fears of many things, not just terrorism.

Agreed, but Hizbollah (or however you spell it) wouldn't have a soap box to stand on if the war on terror wasn't so prominent in the media. Remember North Korea threatening to nuke the west? It was like no one was listening because they were obsessed with Muslims and Saddam.

The terrorists also want us to fear them, hense the name terrorist. This is how they derive their power.

But no terrorist group that I know of has ever declared themselves that. They might call themselves freedom fighters or Jihadists. It just depends what side of the fence you are on.

If we don't fear them for one reason, they'll try to find another. Or another. All we can do is live our lives, and stare the bastards down, if only metaphorically.

Most of these bastards have been egged on by western governments funding Israel and suplying them with wepons to be used against Palistinians. Its like another Holy crusade, no wonder the genuine terrorists are p*ssed. If someone came here and bombed, murdered, illegally detained and tortured my family with bombs and sexual abuse, I might try something viewed as extremist.

Originally posted by shadow watcher
If we are terrorfied then the 'war on terror' has been a failure.
I'm not really arfraid of much in the way of 1 or 2. I would call it a morbid curiosity of what will become of us. Living in fear is not really living.

Good post, it is what our "leaders" should have been promoting all along! That is why I choose to fear but one thing in life.

Starbucks going out of business!



Edit: Had to fix my bug eyed guy.

[edit on 27-2-2007 by LoneGunMan]