Has America embraced totalitarianism?

Discussion in 'World Events' started by fadingCaptain, May 1, 2003.

  1. fadingCaptain are you a robot? Valued Senior Member

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    1,762
    I saw this poll on CNN today:

    Should entertainers keep their political opinions to themselves?

    Yes or No were the options.

    I was surprised that 61% of the respondents had said Yes!

    I can see no other reason people would want an entire group of individuals to be politically silent other than embracing totalitarianism.
     
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  3. goofyfish Analog By Birth, Digital By Design Valued Senior Member

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    Grow Up, America.

    To most of my friends in other lands (Norway, Holland, Great Britain, Trinidad, Barbados), Americans are merely continuing to prove to them they haven’t a clue about the meaning of democracy. And the unwashed twits and asses that burn Dixie Chick CDs and toss French wine into gutters merely confirms that a large part of our electorate is a mindless pack of hateful, spiteful philistines. What's tragically ironic is these very same shortsighted people are most likely the same ones who scorn and condemn citizens throughout the world who burn American flags and effigies of Western leaders as an expression of their disgust & anger.

    How sad they can't see themselves in the mirror and wonder...

    Bourgeois artists are generally characterized by individualism, not political enlightenment. If she had been making a strong political statement that had any meaning at all, no one would have paid attention to it because the media would have ignored it.

    :m: Peace.
     
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  5. SuperFudd Registered Senior Member

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    Fading:
    I see your point and tend towards agreeing.
    However I suspect most folks feel that they have no soapbox to expess them selves from so why should entertainers be able to do so. After all they, on the average, are not any more likely to know what they are talking about than the average person.
    Then they really get ticked off when the entertainer comes across as thinking they are so much smarter than the rest of us so we should shut up and listen to them.
     
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  7. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Unaware

    Americans wouldn't know totalitarianism from their assholes. Remember, napalm and atomic bombs are "merciful".

    I think it's a sad result of stupidity. If Americans were smart enough to understand what they were doing, they would be horrified and ashamed.

    Unfortunately, we'll only know exactly how far gone the American people are when they snap back to reality; whatever the toll is then, they will choose to be angry instead of horrified and ashamed. In a world where liberty has existed, it cannot ever fail to exist again. There will always be at least one person burning brightly like a torch.

    The dream is never over. America can survive. It's a gamble, but you can't play your hand if you fold. And you know the other side's got nothing but junk.

    :m:,
    Tiassa

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  8. fadingCaptain are you a robot? Valued Senior Member

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    goofy,
    And maybe that is why many would want silence. They would prefer only politicians or scholars talk about politics! How pathetic is that?

    super,
    You are probably right. But wanting others to be gagged simply because you haven't a voice seems an even worse case. This is looking like a lose/lose scenario no matter what the reasons are.

    tiassa,
    I think its more of a testament to the extreme degree a populous can be influenced/shaped by its government. Maybe I am defensive as I am a citizen, but I have a hard time accepting that America is full of 'stupid' people. I admit the educational system leaves much to be desired but I know many intelligent people here that would likely vote 'yes' on that poll. It is not so much a question of education or intelligence as it is control of the media and information.
     
  9. dsdsds Valued Senior Member

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    1,678
    It is the "folks"who give the entertainers soapboxes. If folks do not want to hear enetrtainers' opinions, the media would not report it.
    I agree
    Why would anyone care if the entertainer thinks he/she is smarter than the rest of us? I know how smart or how dumb I am and I judge other people's intelligence. How does this affect us enjoying the entertainers' products?
     
  10. Prisme Speak of Ideas, not of things Registered Senior Member

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    The only reason...

    That entertainers are under fire by the media (aka CNN) is because the majority of them do\did not support the war in Iraq. If singers and actors were to give free shows to U.S. personel in Iraq, their support would be welcomed.

    This said, every citizen has a right to express themselves no matter his status.
    I think its funny a nobody like me can talk as much as I want, but someone that will actually change something in the country should feel obliged to keep his mouth shut.

    Proof, just like fishy said, that the U.S. has lost their truest definition of democracy and that the poll was most likely made in a republican state that has no clue of what democracy really means.

    Prisme
     
  11. Prisme Speak of Ideas, not of things Registered Senior Member

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    ...

    Yes but can someone please explain to me why Bush is using 'the protection of democracy' as an excuse for war?

    Prisme
     
  12. Carnuth i dont Registered Senior Member

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    hell i dont know, i didnt vote for him. If any of you have seen "The Daily Show" clip of Gov. Bush vs. President Bush, you'd see why I am particularly pissed off at that idiot.

    About the celebrities, blame the news, not the Americans. Remember that those polls are not scientific, the people watching the news are the people most pro-war. Even those like me who opposed the war wouldnt even bother to vote at such a stupid question. Dont believe everything you see/hear, especially on American media...
     
  13. justiceusa Registered Senior Member

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    prisme

    "please explain why Bush is using "the protection of democracy" as an excuse for war."
    ____________________________________________________

    Because "we want to kill Saddam and take the Iraqi oil" would not have had much support.
     
  14. Carnuth i dont Registered Senior Member

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    oil oil oil, thats all i ever hear these days.

    Venezuela is weaker than Iraq, could we not simply instigate a coup and create a more friendly and puppet regime there than a country half a world away?
    We already have troops in Kuwait, why not invade Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, they are both right next door to each other with troops already in them?

    Why not drill Alaska? If you havent noticed, this war costs BILLIONS per month, it would be far cheaper to tap alaskan oil and/or contruct more oil rigs in the Gulf.

    If oil is so important, why the sudden enourmous emphasis on alternative energy? I am seeing more and more hybrid cars daily and since the invention of the automobile, the amount of fuel consumptiom has gone down dramatically? With fuel dependancies decreasing at a slow but constant rate, we would need Less oil rather than more.

    It is FAR cheaper to contruct dozens if not hundreds of oil rigs worldwide than to invade and occupy a country. An oil rig doesnt cost 75 billion dollars.

    WHy does everything have to be a conspiracy? Or maybe Im too skeptical of conspiracies.

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    Or maybe...
    Baby Bush's plan is to flood the world market with Iraqi oil, forcing OPEC to cut prices and increase production to compete, leading to a massive drop in the price of oil worldwide, destroying the oil-dependant economies of the arab world as well as Russia, destabilizing the region and thus making the world dependant on American help? Am I on the right track ? eh? eh?
     
  15. Kunax Sciforums:Reality not required Registered Senior Member

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  16. justiceusa Registered Senior Member

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    Carnuth

    If the only natural resourse in Iraq was "figs" do you really believe we would have invaded that country?? Iraq has the 2nd largest known reserves of oil in the world. Saudi Arabia has the largest reserve. If we control Iraq we control the middle east.

    Before invading and controlling any country we need an excuse. In this case getting rid of Saddam (even though we had put him in power) was our excuse. Liberating the Iraqi people, although the reasoning was lame, was good enough to convince a dumbed down America. It remains to be seen whether we can pacify a violent religiously divided country whose people fire AK47's into the air to celebrate a childs birthday party

    This is all about oil. World wide there are dozens of oppresed peoples living under heavy handed dictators. We do not invade unless there is a pay back or a general public support. But we do install puppet govenments whenever we have the opportunity, as we did in Venezuela.

    There was also a deal made with Mexico whereby they will sell us more oil in return for our allowing more immigrants.
     
  17. Carnuth i dont Registered Senior Member

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    we'll see what happens next, meanwhile im hoping the depletion of fossil fuels in the next 25-100 years will end the madness then

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    or maybe just the absence of baby bush as the next president
     
  18. justiceusa Registered Senior Member

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    Carmuth

    I Agree with that your last post 100%.

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  19. Vortexx Skull & Bones Spokesman Registered Senior Member

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    Goofyfish, be carefull when you call dixie chick wichhunters "philistines", it's the Hebrew word for "palestines"
     
  20. edgar Registered Senior Member

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    dude, you dont need a police force to keep americans from critisizing the government. people already are so brainwashed here that they do it them selves. its like blasphemy to speak out agasint the president here. i hear people saying that you should be kicked out if you say something about the pres.
     
  21. Persol I am the great and mighty Zo. Registered Senior Member

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    Most americans do not think for themselves. This is not an american fault however, as the people of most nations don't believe for themselves. This is a larger problem then reactionary americans not understanding what their nation's beliefs mean.

    Lmao... calling-the-kettle?
     
  22. justiceusa Registered Senior Member

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    Chicks

    The Dixie Chicks have survived their brush with a Bush. I just heard on the news that their summer tour is a sell out.

    What is really scary is how easily the general American public fell prey to simple P.R. tactics that left them totally brainwashed to the point that they did not see that "It's the economy dammit".

    Hmm we had the Monroe Doctrine. Now we have the Bush indoctrination.
     
  23. Clockwood You Forgot Poland Registered Senior Member

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    Why do we have to be brainwashed? Maybe, just maybe we believe in something. Our economy is still one of the best in the world and the dollar is still supreme.
     

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