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Now, I feel more and more afraid to leave even a comment on any swoden related articles. This is not normal.

by hartator 13y ago

tomchristie 13y ago
Say what you think and say it loud. If everyone stays quiet, nothing changes.
- pmr_ 13y ago
  Yes, or everyone that said something is simply getting arrested, barred from speaking about his charges, and possibly thrown into one of those cozy off-shore facilities with unclear legal status. There is an understandable fear that a large bureaucracy is simply going to go through with whatever they think 'is the law' no matter how many people state their request. This isn't some irrational fear out of the blue, people see it happening in their daily lives on much less threating topics and history has seen it happen on an existential level. Not everybody is important enough to be granted temporary asylum by some adversary of the 'Big Satan' and some of us life in countries that have already handed over their own citizens to some of its torture facilities without asking questions. Simply encouraging people to say things out loud when the system has already spun out of control so much is endangering them. We should rather educate people on forms of protest which are not going to be subdued so easily.
  - thaumasiotes 13y ago
    Let a hundred flowers bloom, right? You would have done well under that policy. I'd like to see a little more public noise before we get to the point where the government can have everyone who's publicly backed a certain viewpoint summarily executed, though. If you're too afraid of that endpoint, you end up actually helping to bring it about. We can provide enough background struggle that it never comes within the government's power to remove it all.
eliasmacpherson 13y ago
If you're that paranoid, I don't know how you can bring yourself to look at the articles. In for a penny, in for a pound.
- junto 13y ago
  Ah, but you can read the articles and be in agreement with the government, rather than a dissenter. Commentary (i.e. dissent) makes you a marked man, reading does not.
  - eliasmacpherson 13y ago
    Only a miscreant would read such articles, no?
    - junto 13y ago
      What about the NSA reading these articles from a critical viewpoint? Surely they couldn't classify themselves as dissidents.
      - eliasmacpherson 13y ago
        Negative indicator, potential dissident miscreant in NSA ranks. Anyhow, they are more likely to store url history than parse comments.
  - chris_mahan 13y ago
    Don't they know what websites you visit, how long you stay on there, what links you click? You bet reading only is dangerous.
  - SimHacker 13y ago
    The Guardian Blocked By The Army After NSA Stories http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/28/army-blocks-the-guardian_n_3515374.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/28/army-blocks-the-gua... Army Blocks Entire Guardian Website For Troops In Middle East And Asia http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/02/army-guardian-blocked-troops_n_3533036.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/02/army-guardian-block... Why a Government That Collects Everyone's Private Data Won't Let Its Employees Access Public Information http://reason.com/blog/2013/06/28/why-a-government-that-collects-everyones http://reason.com/blog/2013/06/28/why-a-government-that-coll... Ban on federal staff reading WikiLeaks hampering work, says US official http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/10/us-ban-staff-wikileaks-official http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/10/us-ban-staff-wi... US air force backtracks over WikiLeaks ban http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/08/us-air-force-wikileaks-families-banned-classified-material http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/08/us-air-force-wi...
forgottenpaswrd 13y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came... "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing. " A .Einstein "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it." M.L King "So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. " In Soviet Russia first they went after people at night, without shoes so no noise was heard. It only became easier after that.

Now, I feel more and more afraid to leave even a comment on any swoden related articles. This is not normal.

tomchristie 13y ago

Say what you think and say it loud. If everyone stays quiet, nothing changes.

pmr_ 13y ago
Yes, or everyone that said something is simply getting arrested, barred from speaking about his charges, and possibly thrown into one of those cozy off-shore facilities with unclear legal status. There is an understandable fear that a large bureaucracy is simply going to go through with whatever they think 'is the law' no matter how many people state their request. This isn't some irrational fear out of the blue, people see it happening in their daily lives on much less threating topics and history has seen it happen on an existential level. Not everybody is important enough to be granted temporary asylum by some adversary of the 'Big Satan' and some of us life in countries that have already handed over their own citizens to some of its torture facilities without asking questions. Simply encouraging people to say things out loud when the system has already spun out of control so much is endangering them. We should rather educate people on forms of protest which are not going to be subdued so easily.
- thaumasiotes 13y ago
  Let a hundred flowers bloom, right? You would have done well under that policy. I'd like to see a little more public noise before we get to the point where the government can have everyone who's publicly backed a certain viewpoint summarily executed, though. If you're too afraid of that endpoint, you end up actually helping to bring it about. We can provide enough background struggle that it never comes within the government's power to remove it all.

eliasmacpherson 13y ago

If you're that paranoid, I don't know how you can bring yourself to look at the articles. In for a penny, in for a pound.

junto 13y ago
Ah, but you can read the articles and be in agreement with the government, rather than a dissenter. Commentary (i.e. dissent) makes you a marked man, reading does not.
- eliasmacpherson 13y ago
  Only a miscreant would read such articles, no?
  - junto 13y ago
    What about the NSA reading these articles from a critical viewpoint? Surely they couldn't classify themselves as dissidents.
    - eliasmacpherson 13y ago
      Negative indicator, potential dissident miscreant in NSA ranks. Anyhow, they are more likely to store url history than parse comments.
- chris_mahan 13y ago
  Don't they know what websites you visit, how long you stay on there, what links you click? You bet reading only is dangerous.
- SimHacker 13y ago
  The Guardian Blocked By The Army After NSA Stories http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/28/army-blocks-the-guardian_n_3515374.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/28/army-blocks-the-gua... Army Blocks Entire Guardian Website For Troops In Middle East And Asia http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/02/army-guardian-blocked-troops_n_3533036.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/02/army-guardian-block... Why a Government That Collects Everyone's Private Data Won't Let Its Employees Access Public Information http://reason.com/blog/2013/06/28/why-a-government-that-collects-everyones http://reason.com/blog/2013/06/28/why-a-government-that-coll... Ban on federal staff reading WikiLeaks hampering work, says US official http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/10/us-ban-staff-wikileaks-official http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/10/us-ban-staff-wi... US air force backtracks over WikiLeaks ban http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/08/us-air-force-wikileaks-families-banned-classified-material http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/08/us-air-force-wi...

forgottenpaswrd 13y ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came... "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing. " A .Einstein "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it." M.L King "So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. " In Soviet Russia first they went after people at night, without shoes so no noise was heard. It only became easier after that.