We do NOT live in a police state! Please move on.

Try to reply with anything but one-offs or videos showing some meager injustice. Just put some thought into your reply and really think about what it is you say. Insulting me is perfectly fine and a bit of anger is good as it shows some passion.

WE DO NOT LIVE IN A POLICE STATE, for those continuously profess that we live in a police state, it funny that you can say that without a smile or a smirk. It highly amusing to me that you can be so plied with ignorance. So far away from reality and so far under the tin-foil umbrella.

For as long as I have been alive I have not known anyone, or been subjected myself to any form of harassment in a public place and forced to submit to present or show any identification or "papers" by a government official or have them demand I declare to them what I am doing or where I am going and what I intend to do once there. I have never been arrested or thrown into a prison or a cell without being formally charged (I have never been charged with anything ever just to clarify) without access to a legal representative. I have never had my home invaded by government officials, searching through my belongings and my life without a warrant present (never had this ever done, just to clarify). I do NOT know anyone that has, beside criminals or terrorist suspects. I have never been subjected to a random search or a "pat-down" ANYWHERE (except passing through an airport) ever or do I know anyone that has. At NO point has there been a knock at my door for any unsympathetic opinion towards my government or for my views on any religious beliefs I hold or NOT hold, at no point have I been submitted to human rights abuses at the hands of government officials for any reason whatsoever. NOR has anyone I have ever known or currently know.

Now, obviously there are a very FEW who may of experienced some of these things in the USA and yes there have been terrorists suspects locked up indefinitely without DUE PROCESS and yes some of them have undergone serious breaches of human rights. YES there have been people wrongly accused or picked up for something they have NOT done. YES there have been people that have been forgotten about in a prison cell for 5 days without food and water and sanitation.
BUT these are few and far between in a population of over 310 million. NOT even 1 percent.
Yes these few isolated cases have been terrible and NO they should not of happened! So of course there are things that need addressing. Certainly there are. Guantanamo bay should never of happened or at least not they way it was set up and run, especially outside the boarders of the USA so as too bypass certain regulations (i imagine).

HOWEVER, to say we live in a police state is such egregious and down right ignorant statement. IT is so far from the truth that I can not even understand how such things can be presented by people without any substance to go on. AND here is why?

IT takes away the tremendous hardship and suffering of those who have in the past and currently do live in a POLICE STATE. Where fear is an everyday imposition. Where fear of being stopped and hauled away for nothing are as real as the nose on your face. Where beatings in a cell day and night are the NORM. Where if you are suspected of something there is NO due process. Where your family can be arrested and put in a labor camp because of YOUR political views, your radicalness, your stance on something the government does or doesn't do. Where you can be rounded up and placed in a camp to die horrifically just because the government deems you a threat to their ideals.

In North Korea this is EVERYDAY life for the citizens. Labor camps, showing papers and ID everywhere. BEing subjected to random searches and house calls by government officals for something as little as viewing YOUTUBE.

IN China if you oppose the government in any manner you can taken away in the middle of the night and placed in a camp or worse. You must present ID everywhere and any back-chat to a gov official is warrant enough for a beating or a charge that can lanf you 60 days or more in a hard labor camp while your possessions are taken away!!

Do I even need to get into what East Germany was like back in the day? I think most of you that actually know where East Germany was don't need reminding.

By YOU claiming you live in police state only goes to show how ignorant you can be to the plight of others around the world who find themselves in that situation for REAL.

Right now as of 2014, you can travel abroad, view the internet at will on sites like this, visit friends and have a BBQ, own a car and house and boat and come and go (barring checks at airports) FREELY. You can voice opinion and state dislike towards your government. You can choose 1200 different ice-cream topping and choose what to watch on TV while eating that ice cream. You can date who you wish, shop where you like (if you have the money) apply for jobs or NOT work and sponge of the government. You can purchase guns and weapons and ammo and knives and tazers. Does this sound like complete control? The constitution is still a living and breathing things in the USA.

So, please do think of those who do live under the totalitarianism and social control of their governments before labeling yours equally the same.

Who knows what the future hold maybe in a few years you could be subjected to the horrors of complete government control. But for the time being you are NOT!!

yet i did not see a reply from you in the topic about the woman who was "thrown or fell out of the moving police car"...after being manhandled....you cant have it both ways you know....

more and more every day we are moving toward a police state you just have to open your eyes

Your right. Things are seemingly better here than elsewhere. But it used to be better.

If we wait till we are a absolute police state then you will never here anyone complain about it because their voice will be silenced and locked away. plus what media vehicle would be used to protest a police state?

Be happy we are not living in a real police state but also realize that keeping our leaders defensive about us becoming one might be the only thing that will stop it from happening. Once it happens nothing can be done to stop it.

thats my 3 cents anyway.

Yes, you are correct. We do not live in a police state. We live in the beginning stages of an emerging police state. Does that count for anything in your view?

Exactly HOW do you know that injustice only happens to a few people?

WHAT YOU KNOW OF IS THE INJUTICES THAT HAVE BEEN EXPOSED - WHICH ARE FEW.

There was a woman a few months ago who complained about being stripped searched by a group of male cops (which is against the law).
This only case being expose on the news gave the courage to many other woman to come forward.

Cops aren't going to beat up someone with connections who can expose them. They target the poor and people who otherwise lack credibility.

As for you not knowing people who have been subject to abuse; you very well may know them but they choose not to share their experience with you. Let me introduce myself - now you know someone.

I had a lot happen to me in my childhood and adult life. I NEVER DISCUSS THIS WITH PEOPLE. Only my family and a few other people know.
Why? First, most people probably wouldn't believe me unless they experienced something similar. People like you find it hard to believe because you have been so brainwashed by the media and tv programs. Second, I'm afraid of retaliation - it happened before and it really terrifies me.

I don't get how you can admit there is people that are going through exactly what you are saying NO ONE is going through? Do you not see how that doesn't make sense?? It saved me a lot of reading which i appreciate. If you give them an inch, they will take a mile. If it is happening to ANYONE then it is unjust, and just because it hasn't happened to you yet does not mean it isn't happening..

reply to post by projectbane


Can I ask you a very serious question?

Are you a middle class white male, from a small town or suburb, practice a popular religion and hold normal political views?

Whether you admit it or not, I bet you never fell into one of the vulnerable groups.

Be a part of a vulnerable minority or get on the wrong side of connected person and see how fast your freedoms disappear.

The only difference between the US and other countries is that we are supposed to be free - so they have to be a little more sneaky about it.

reply to post by projectbane


Yes we live in a police state. You're defensiveness and denial of the facts belie the truth of the matter. We even have a new Posse Comitatus forum on ATS focused on just such issues.

Obviously you do not remember an America free of surveillance cameras and seem unaware of the national epidemic of police brutality. Perhaps you've never been to an airport where you're NOT groped or never been to NYC and been subjected to "stop and frisk."

Maybe unlawful checkpoints seem normal to you and living in a country with militarized police SWAT teams who break down doors and kill innocent people and the pets is not a "police state."

Just to make sure you understand I say again (as I've posted before) I've lived in two foreign countries that were pure dictatorship complete with military checkpoints with automatic weapons. America has become worse and much more unsafe and less free.

But hey, what do I know?

Ask any black person who grew up in the projects if we(the USA) are living in a police state. Per Capita the US jails more than any other country.

We are not a total police state, however there seems to be growing concern that we could go that way. There are plenty of people who are completely blind of a possible emerging police state and their only negative encounter with a law enforcement officer will be a traffic stop, those people make up the majority and are blind to the injustice system.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.
Martin Niemöller

We may not live in a police state at the moment.

But history teaches that we must always be wary--that government
power must be held in check by the people, lest history repeats and
revolution is called for to re-establish freedom.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the
blood of patriots and tyrants.

The vigilant and wary postpone the inevitable.

The lazy and self-absorbed facilitate the
establishment of tyranny.

So because X hasn't personally happened to you, it therefore doesn't exist?

Logic fail.

That's like saying because I have never been raped rape doesn't exist.

As another poster stated, we live in an emerging police state. It's in its toddler years, or more likely adolescence.

Police violate rights w/o consequence every day. That's a a valid example of an emerging police state.

Not to mention an increasingly FOR PROFIT prison system.

reply to post by projectbane


" We do NOT live in a police state! Please move on "

Well then.

How much does all government (local, state, federal) spend on anything police related ?

$100 Billion maybe?

Add the jail and prisons and it's got be more.

And don't forget all the "police" type oppressive and "privacy" laws.

The US has the worlds highest prison population per capita
Per capita incarceration rates

The US has for profit prison systems & judges that game that system to line their pockets
Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit

US police officers regularly receive more lenient or non-existent penalties when compared to their civilian counterparts even when caught red-handed on video
Ex-California policemen acquitted in beating death of homeless man

Our government collects virtually every communication we participate in on an average day - including but not limited to: emails, texts, phone calls, internet history, gps data, credit card data, income information, etc.

You can find your own links for that one, there are tons of them & if you don't know by now you've had your head in the sand for the last year...

If these conditions alone do not constitute a "police state" then a police state does not exist on this planet.

And to state that a police state does not exist simply because you haven't had the pleasure of experiencing it first hand is beyond ignorant

What is this then???

Man gives 75 cents to homeless person;
Minutes Later, He Was in Handcuffs in the Back of a Police Cruiser.

reply to post by projectbane


From Wiki.......

A police state is a state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic, and political life of the population. A police state typically exhibits elements of totalitarianism and social control, and there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive.

The inhabitants of a police state experience restrictions on their mobility, and on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement. Political control may be exerted by means of a secret police force which operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional state.

I personally disagree with your thread title.

It is my opinion that the US currently exhibits all the signs of a police state.

US foreign policies are also a reflection of this.

reply to post by projectbane


Go back to your desk Mr. NSA man

I don't know where your line is for police state classification but give it a few more years and I'm sure it may be reached

hopenotfeariswhatweneed
yet i did not see a reply from you in the topic about the woman who was "thrown or fell out of the moving police car"...after being manhandled....you cant have it both ways you know....

more and more every day we are moving toward a police state you just have to open your eyes

This is covered in my post (a few situations that are atrocious) yes. But my post was we are NOT in a police state. Moving towards or possibly one day still doesn't make my post wrong!

caterpillage
Yes, you are correct. We do not live in a police state. We live in the beginning stages of an emerging police state. Does that count for anything in your view?

In light of my post that I state we DO NOT live in a police state, against the tide of threads on here that claim otherwise I would say that all countries go through rough patches where governments can act improperly here and there. In the great USA people are free still. Until that is NOT the case my post stands.

reply to post by projectbane


But you admit people classified as "terrorist" are taken away without due process...

Just keep looking the other way... It will all be ok one day