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Freedom Or The Slaughterhouse? The American Police State From A To Z
Submitted by John Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,
“Who needs direct repression when one can convince the chicken to walk freely into the slaughterhouse?”—Philosopher Slavoj Žižek
Despite the best efforts of some to sound the alarm, the nation is being locked down into a militarized, mechanized, hypersensitive, legalistic, self-righteous, goose-stepping antithesis of every principle upon which this nation was founded.
All the while, the nation’s citizens seem content to buy into a carefully constructed, benevolent vision of life in America that bears little resemblance to the gritty, pain-etched reality that plagues those unfortunate enough to not belong to the rarefied elite.
For those whose minds have been short-circuited into believing the candy-coated propaganda peddled by the politicians, here is an A-to-Z, back-to-the-basics primer of what life in the United States of America is really all about.
A is for the AMERICAN POLICE STATE. As I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, a police state “is characterized by bureaucracy, secrecy, perpetual wars, a nation of suspects, militarization, surveillance, widespread police presence, and a citizenry with little recourse against police actions.”
B is for our battered BILL OF RIGHTS. In the cop culture that is America today, where you can be kicked, punched, tasered, shot, intimidated, harassed, stripped, searched, brutalized, terrorized, wrongfully arrested, and even killed by a police officer, and that officer is rarely held accountable for violating your rights, the Bill of Rights doesn’t amount to much.
C is for CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE. The latest governmental scheme to deprive Americans of their liberties—namely, the right to property—is being carried out under the guise of civil asset forfeiture, a government practice wherein government agents (usually the police) seize private property they “suspect” may be connected to criminal activity. Then, whether or not any crime is actually proven to have taken place, the government keeps the citizen’s property.
D is for DRONES. It is estimated that at least 30,000 drones will be airborne in American airspace by 2020, part of an $80 billion industry. Although some drones will be used for benevolent purposes, many will also be equipped with lasers, tasers and scanning devices, among other weapons.
E is for ELECTRONIC CONCENTRATION CAMP. In the electronic concentration camp, as I have dubbed the surveillance state, all aspects of a person’s life are policed by government agents and all citizens are suspects, their activities monitored and regulated, their movements tracked, their communications spied upon, and their lives, liberties and pursuit of happiness dependent on the government’s say-so.
F is for FUSION CENTERS. Fusion centers, data collecting agencies spread throughout the country and aided by the National Security Agency, serve as a clearinghouse for information shared between state, local and federal agencies. These fusion centers constantly monitor our communications, everything from our internet activity and web searches to text messages, phone calls and emails. This data is then fed to government agencies, which are now interconnected: the CIA to the FBI, the FBI to local police.
G is for GRENADE LAUNCHERS. The federal government has distributed more than $18 billion worth of battlefield-appropriate military weapons, vehicles and equipment such as drones, tanks, and grenade launchers to domestic police departments across the country. As a result, most small-town police forces now have enough firepower to render any citizen resistance futile.
H is for HOLLOW-POINT BULLETS. The government’s efforts to militarize and weaponize its agencies and employees is reaching epic proportions, with federal agencies as varied as the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration stockpiling millions of lethal hollow-point bullets, which violate international law. Ironically, while the government continues to push for stricter gun laws for the general populace, the U.S. military’s arsenal of weapons makes the average American’s handgun look like a Tinker Toy.
I is for the INTERNET OF THINGS, in which internet-connected “things” will monitor your home, your health and your habits in order to keep your pantry stocked, your utilities regulated and your life under control and relatively worry-free. The key word here, however, is control. This “connected” industry propels us closer to a future where police agencies apprehend virtually anyone if the government “thinks” they may commit a crime, driverless cars populate the highways, and a person’s biometrics are constantly scanned and used to track their movements, target them for advertising, and keep them under perpetual surveillance.
J is for JAILING FOR PROFIT. Having outsourced their inmate population to private prisons run by private corporations, this profit-driven form of mass punishment has given rise to a $70 billion private prison industry that relies on the complicity of state governments to keep their privately run prisons full by jailing large numbers of Americans for inane crimes.
K is for KENTUCKY V. KING. In an 8-1 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that police officers can break into homes, without a warrant, even if it’s the wrong home as long as they think they have a reason to do so. Despite the fact that the police in question ended up pursuing the wrong suspect, invaded the wrong apartment and violated just about every tenet that stands between us and a police state, the Court sanctioned the warrantless raid, leaving Americans with little real protection in the face of all manner of abuses by law enforcement officials.
L is for LICENSE PLATE READERS, which enable law enforcement and private agencies to track the whereabouts of vehicles, and their occupants, all across the country. This data collected on tens of thousands of innocent people is also being shared between police agencies, as well as with fusion centers and private companies.
M is for MAIN CORE. Since the 1980s, the U.S. government has acquired and maintained, without warrant or court order, a database of names and information on Americans considered to be threats to the nation. As Salon reports, this database, reportedly dubbed “Main Core,” is to be used by the Army and FEMA in times of national emergency or under martial law to locate and round up Americans seen as threats to national security. As of 2008, there were some 8 million Americans in the Main Core database.
N is for NO-KNOCK RAIDS. Owing to the militarization of the nation’s police forces, SWAT teams are now increasingly being deployed for routine police matters. In fact, more than 80,000 of these paramilitary raids are carried out every year. That translates to more than 200 SWAT team raids every day in which police crash through doors, damage private property, terrorize adults and children alike, kill family pets, assault or shoot anyone that is perceived as threatening—and all in the pursuit of someone merely suspected of a crime, usually some small amount of drugs.
O is for OVERCRIMINALIZATION. Thanks to an overabundance of 4500-plus federal crimes and 400,000 plus rules and regulations, it’s estimated that the average American actually commits three felonies a day without knowing it. As a result of this overcriminalization, we’re seeing an uptick in Americans being arrested and jailed for such absurd “violations” as letting their kids play at a park unsupervised, collecting rainwater and snow runoff on their own property, growing vegetables in their yard, and holding Bible studies in their living room.
P is for PATHOCRACY. When our own government treats us as things to be manipulated, maneuvered, mined for data, manhandled by police, mistreated, and then jailed in profit-driven private prisons if we dare step out of line, we are no longer operating under a constitutional republic. Instead, what we are experiencing is a pathocracy: tyranny at the hands of a psychopathic government, which “operates against the interests of its own people except for favoring certain groups.”
Q is for QUALIFIED IMMUNITY. Qualified immunity allows officers to walk away without paying a dime for their wrongdoing. Conveniently, those deciding whether a police officer should be immune from having to personally pay for misbehavior on the job all belong to the same system, all cronies with a vested interest in protecting the police and their infamous code of silence: city and county attorneys, police commissioners, city councils and judges.
R is for ROADSIDE STRIP SEARCHES and BLOOD DRAWS. The courts have increasingly erred on the side of giving government officials—especially the police—vast discretion in carrying out strip searches, blood draws and even anal probes for a broad range of violations, no matter how minor the offense. In the past, strip searches were resorted to only in exceptional circumstances where police were confident that a serious crime was in progress. In recent years, however, strip searches have become routine operating procedures in which everyone is rendered a suspect and, as such, is subjected to treatment once reserved for only the most serious of criminals.
S is for the SURVEILLANCE STATE. On any given day, the average American going about his daily business will be monitored, surveilled, spied on and tracked in more than 20 different ways, by both government and corporate eyes and ears. A byproduct of this new age in which we live, whether you’re walking through a store, driving your car, checking email, or talking to friends and family on the phone, you can be sure that some government agency, whether the NSA or some other entity, is listening in and tracking your behavior. This doesn’t even begin to touch on the corporate trackers that monitor your purchases, web browsing, Facebook posts and other activities taking place in the cyber sphere.
T is for TASERS. Nonlethal weapons such as tasers, stun guns, rubber pellets and the like, have resulted in police using them as weapons of compliance more often and with less restraint—even against women and children—and in some instances, even causing death. These “nonlethal” weapons also enable police to aggress with the push of a button, making the potential for overblown confrontations over minor incidents that much more likely. A Taser Shockwave, for instance, can electrocute a crowd of people at the touch of a button.
U is for UNARMED CITIZENS SHOT BY POLICE. No longer is it unusual to hear about incidents in which police shoot unarmed individuals first and ask questions later, often attributed to a fear for their safety. Yet the fatality rate of on-duty patrol officers is reportedly far lower than many other professions, including construction, logging, fishing, truck driving, and even trash collection.
V is for VIPR SQUADS. So-called “soft target” security inspections, carried out by roving VIPR task forces, comprised of federal air marshals, surface transportation security inspectors, transportation security officers, behavior detection officers and explosive detection canine teams, are taking place whenever and wherever the government deems appropriate, at random times and places, and without needing the justification of a particular threat.
W is for WHOLE-BODY SCANNERS. Using either x-ray radiation or radio waves, scanning devices are being used not only to “see” through your clothes but government mobile units can drive by your home and spy on you within the privacy of your home. While these mobile scanners are being sold to the American public as necessary security and safety measures, we can ill afford to forget that such systems are rife with the potential for abuse, not only by government bureaucrats but by the technicians employed to operate them.
X is for X-KEYSCORE. One of the many spying programs carried out by the National Security Agency (NSA) that targets every person in the United States who uses a computer or phone. This top-secret program “allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals.”
Y is for YOU-NESS. Using your face, mannerisms, social media and “you-ness” against you, you can now be tracked based on what you buy, where you go, what you do in public, and how you do what you do. Facial recognition software promises to create a society in which every individual who steps out into public is tracked and recorded as they go about their daily business. The goal is for government agents to be able to scan a crowd of people and instantaneously identify all of the individuals present. Facial recognition programs are being rolled out in states all across the country.
Z is for ZERO TOLERANCE. We have moved into a new paradigm in which young people are increasingly viewed as suspects and treated as criminals by school officials and law enforcement alike, often for engaging in little more than childish behavior. In some jurisdictions, students have also been penalized under school zero tolerance policies for such inane "crimes" as carrying cough drops, wearing black lipstick, bringing nail clippers to school, using Listerine or Scope, and carrying fold-out combs that resemble switchblades.
As you can see, the warning signs are all around us. The question is whether you will organize, take a stand and fight for freedom, or will you, like so many clueless Americans, freely walk into the slaughterhouse?
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Nah, this nation was built on slavery (including northern shipping interests) and genocide. Same as it ever was.
Started working at home! It is by far the best job I have ever had. I just recently purchased a Brand new BMW since getting a check for $5476 this 8-week past. I began this 10 months ago and I am now bringing home at least $87 per hour. I work through this link. Go here... www.earnmore9.com
Killedbycops.net shows that today, the 195th day of 2015, cops have killed 620 civilians in the US. Each killing documented by media accounts. This is a private database, since cops aren't required to report deaths to the feds in standardized form. USA, RAH RAH RAH!
Your next door neighbor working for the State is murdering the Liberty of millions everyday.
The problem with America isn't the police. It's the criminals. Have you ever lived in Chicago? The thugs are turning the country into a police state.
I saw more police and Coast Guard boats (with mounted machine guns pointed forward) on the Ohio River in front of the ball park for the All Star game tonight than I saw civilian boats. I also saw a news clip about the Cincinnati Fusion center the other evening. It sounded so benign compared to this. But then, I also have seen the news clip of the white guy being beaten by a gang of black thugs. And I saw the prosecuter say just because it was unprovoked and he was white and they were all black, it was not a "hate crime". Where is obama, the just-us dept, fbi and all the rest? Every single day there is a black shooting in Cincinnati and yet the city was cited as a model for Baltimore PD to follow by obama's just-us dept.
Doesn't Jade Helm start today or something?
they came for your neighbor and he was jerked from the couch watch'g americas got freaks and said wasup dude...
then they came for me overlooking ruby ridge\
ha, ...
i know they're monitoring my bowel movements. but am i getting enough roughage?
That which can not be sustained, will not be, period.
Apache helicopter circled my neighborhood on Monday night, looking for a LZ.
Copters are outlawed in this airspace, used to be around all the time, now, not so much.
"As a result, most small-town police forces now have enough firepower to render any citizen resistance futile."
Well, duh. What do you think the purpose is in giving all this stuff out.
The coast guard has been showing force for some time. Sightings of them on a residential lake in nc with 4 armed men and boat equipped with 2 machine guns as they were checking for open containers of booze. The majority of the people are retired and out on pontoon boats.
Its because of those notorious Carps here in NC. Watch for yourself a lawman tell about them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xwJe11DzKA
cookie
the real thugs are in Wall Street and Washington, they've taken all the cash and have left the crumbs for over 300 million people to fight over.
The amount of money thats gone to welfare is the fart spittle from a fly's moistend buttocks dripped onto the windshields of Ben Bernanks motorcade as it drives to another meeting where virgin frau grois is served cold over the nipples of prepubescent boys. Trillions of your dollars have been malinvested or straight up stolen by Wall Street and the MIC since 1913 and now as the USSA wanes in its ability to strip enough wealth from the rest of the world to service all its citizens in the ponzi scheme you've all grown accustomed to over the last 100 years the bath is draining and all those swimming with a cock in their mouth are starting to see the third world you actually are without strip mining and global murder as your go-to method.
sucks to be second last........again.
If you by criminals are referring to the oligarchy class – the banksters, their puppet politicians, the money-masters etc. – I agree.
And if you mean look at what they did to the former proud and industrious city of Chicago I also agree.
Otherwise you’re either very dumb, misinformed, a (willing?) tool or a paid troll.
cookie:
In 46 years I have been detained against my will, kidnapped, inprisoned, had my proerty stolen, had my money stolen, been the victim of violence, threatened with a loaded handgun, and endless amounts of verbal abuse. In eaxh case it was a Law Enforcement Officer that committed each offense. I have never in my 46 years transgressed another human being, committed any crime, or any act of violence against any living sentient being.
I have NEVER experienced any of the above behavior from my fellow civilian citizens.
The Police are just the muscle for the Criminal Gang Writ Large known as The State. They are nothing but parasites that feed of the wealth, production, and labor of the individual and deserve no better fate than any other parasite.
The State is just a tool. A tool in the wrong hands is – like a gun – not accountable. It’s the people misusing the tool that should be frowned upon.
Right now it’s a fascist state = a tool for and by the big corporations/the banksters.
PS. I didn't downvote you. I very seldom vote on comments/replies - it's silly to vote for whats right or not. Truth is not a democratic matter.
In my 62 years I have NEVER been accosted or even been insulted by police.
I have been raped and molested by federal, state and local taxing entities however.
Oppression occurs on many levels. The slave with a benevolent master is still a slave.
I'll bet $1000 that you KNOW people that have been accosted, etc, etc, etc, etc ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
Article left out biggest clue to a police state. We've got more people incaracerated and we're got most people incarcerated per person of any developed country in the world. We ARE a police state. There is no question about it.
Are you my brother?
Loggedin just to respond.
Website malfunctioning...who is watching the watchers?
derp
Erkme: Killedbycops.net shows that today, the 195th day of 2015, cops have killed 620 civilians in the US. Each killing documented by media accounts. This is a private database, since cops aren't required to report deaths to the feds in standardized form. USA, RAH RAH RAH!
Play nice now...ok? Repeat after me ISIS is a threat...ISIS is a threat.... you NEED more goobermint...you NEED more goobermint.
Killedbypolice.net - sorry, had the wrong link...
Nothing wrong with a shooting as long as the right people get shot.
Some might think you are the right one. Fast and furious.
Some might not, slow and slickery
So you favor summary executions by cops eh? And you don't see how that can be abused? Which, by the way, it already has.
erkme, slight correction, it's not "Killedbycops.net " but rather http://killedbypolice.net/
It should keep track of how many jelly donuts they've eaten. Cops are scum.
@ ultimate. Good idea. You should work at home. Just stay there, and never come out. Thanks.
You filthy marxist pig. Go suck your Mother's ass.
Let me guess. Are you descended from Virginia slaveholders? Maybe Andrew Jackson?
Let me guess; GED on EBT? Maybe a rest stop cack suker who needs assistance finding your nearest federal public feeding trough? You and your family are fucking ObamaTicks. Bloodsuckers have no reason...
Yes, were I a descendent of a slave holding Founder, I'd be proud. BTW, slaves didn't build shit you pathetic indoctrinated BrainStem. Were I a descendent of an African grub eater tribal chief rounding up millions of my brothers and sisters in exchange for trinkets, I'd claim not a drop of said blood.
D is for discrimination
Starbucks, Alaska Air Group, Microsoft, Cintas, CVS Health, Hilton Worldwide, HMSHost, JCPenney, JPMorgan Chase, Lyft, Macy’s, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Taco Bell, Target, Walgreens and Walmart launch initiative to hire 100,000 young workers by 2018
...but only youth who are black or hispanichttp://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/morning_call/2015/07/starbucks-alaska...
http://www.wsj.com/articles/starbucks-leads-multi-company-initiative-to-...
Wow, imagine ordering a fagfabulous creme Latte from a GhettoPhat who might greet you with Melpuuuu?
Now, imagine boycotting every one of those motherfucking racist organizations...
Now, DO IT!
Darkies all work while da white folk play....
Andrew Jackson was from Tennessee and was our greatest President. If he were alive today and on ZH, he would have a zillion up arrows and the Fed would be in the shitcan of history.
Hohum is more right than most may yet realize... we Zeros frequently reference the Matrix movies...indeed, ponder again the alphabet Rutherford's Whitehead has stunningly compiled still one more article putting it in our faces the prison doors being implemented as we speak. The suspense to September/October is unique, perhaps moreso than previous "biggie" years like the 2012 Dec 21 countdown ... and the Comet Elenin way back years....time flies, eh Zeros....remember the first Greek "blip" on the radar from the Tylers....the Color Revolutions and the attack on Libya's Qadaffi (seriously, I still don't visualize one persistant spelling of his name) as he led his surrender caravan in Tripoli...only to have the NATO jets strafe him and the thugs that pulled him from his car and videotaped the brutal murder of this man....
HoHum ....wasn't that Aquarius's signature?
DF is for dental floss. Do not forget to stock up.
I've got paracord. Seemed more useful for some reason.
No DF is for donefucked (whitey)
Starbucks, Alaska Air Group, Microsoft, Cintas, CVS Health, Hilton Worldwide, HMSHost, JCPenney, JPMorgan Chase, Lyft, Macy’s, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Taco Bell, Target, Walgreens and Walmart launch initiative to hire 100,000 young workers by 2018
...but only youth who are black or hispanic
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/morning_call/2015/07/starbucks-alaska...
http://www.wsj.com/articles/starbucks-leads-multi-company-initiative-to-...
So will Obama's EEOC investigate? Just look at Obama's appointments to the EEOC:
Jenny R. Yang, Chair: Asian female who represents the agency on the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
Constance S. Barker, Commissioner: Caucasian female who focused on the occurrence of worksite rape and sexual assault against young women and girls
Chai R. Feldblum, Commissioner: Jewish female who worked to advance lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights
Victoria A. Lipnic, Commissioner: Caucasian female who previously acted as in-house counsel for labor and employment matters to the U.S. Postal Service
Charlotte A. Burrows, Commissioner: black female who served as associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice (DOJ), where she worked on tribal justice, voting rights, and implementation of the Violence Against Women Act.
David Lopez, Legal Counsel: Hispanic male who coordinated EEOC's enforcement and outreach on employment discrimination issues affecting immigrant and other vulnerable workers
Comforting words for some...
the surprising revelation that Soros put something like a reported $33 million into making the Ferguson situation escalate into the cluster it became, with the burning buildings and all .... is this really the best way this organization could figure out how to spend such millions? wow, really stuck in a tiny box thinking ....but if said organization intends to intensify the private prison complex, it may make sense. Minority Report. the dvd has director background interviews with the futurists of the day (2001) who made the movie with trends that we see today clearly...
The really neat part is when these mechanisms are turned against the elite that enacted them into law like Hastert. Thousands more to follow. We will come rejoicing bringing in the thieves.
what larger benefit has the political system seen since the Hastert money laundering scandal? seems like a major chilling effect for any potential "free" speech amongst the elected representatives and senators. probably all power positions in congress are compromised in some manner or form of this type ...
The only hope is to become a 'gray man'. Don't protest too loudly, don't use social media, don't stick your head out of the foxhole. There is no way to replace the current rulers while they can print unlimited fiat. After the inevitable war or economic collapse, then it will be time to pull out your copy of the Constitution.
In our dysfunctional Orwellian fascist police state, anonymity is priceless.
Fuck. I really need to stop reading ZH articles like this knowing my razor blades are mere feet away.
Always a good idea to keep your prep supplies (like razor blades) handy!
I made $3 billion an hour selling instructions from home on how to make a guiotinne from razor blades and duct tape!
"You never feel completely sad or completely happy. You just feel kinda satisfied with your products, and then you die."
— Louis CK on Life in America
you need to go to church and get those emotions roiled...
nothing quite like some false hope.
Omar Shariff recently passed away. One of the things I remember most about Dr Zhivago is how rapidly the rules changed once the communists took over. McMansions became apartments for the peasants. Bank accounts for the wealthy went away. Sure, these are socialist ideals - but aren't we much closer to socialism today than we are to democracy? And isn't wealth inequality as great as it has been in -- well -- about a hundred years?? (or since Dr Zhivago's time!)
Try this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqhDFYSlj0U
We are full speed democracy, an evil system.
You’re – together with the rest of the world – as far from socialism as you can get.
Capitalism is defined by who owns the shit-show – who owns the trade, the industries, the ‘means of production’ etc. In US – and the rest of the world – there’ve been a major privatization epoch. Everything under former democratic control – even central banks – have become privatized. There’s almost nothing left productive that’s not owned by private entities (and most of it by the 0,01%). There’re small ‘islands’ left (like trinkets in Greece) that still ‘needs’ to be handed over to the ownership class (the capitalists).
The problem with many on ZH is they don’t know what ‘capitalism’ and/or ‘socialism’ is – they just automatically associated the former with ‘freedom’ and the latter with ‘statism/totalitarianism’. It’s silly.
The size of the state/state intervention, how ‘free’ the market is and whether or not you have ‘rights’ or not is irrelevant in relation to what economic system you live in. And right now we are living in a capitalist economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production.
Yes, it’s not the utopian version of capitalism supported by ‘libertarians’ (the US version = the right-wing version. And not the true left-wing version dominant in the rest of the world), but it’s still capitalism by any meaningful definition.
All "isms" are simply tools for herding people in large groups towards centralization of power. They are all fiction based upon unobtainable perfections that DO NOT EXIST in nature. If we are to ever achieve this perfection, it will require the elimination of man and replacement by machines, and these machines will need to be programmed by an alien intelligence.
This is all bullshit designed to incentivize each and every one of us to voluntarily abandon our individual freedoms and surrender to the collective. Even capitalism requires some level of this, as ultimately the necessary "governance" required to make it "function" requires our submission.
Please note that the one commonality of all of these "isms" is submission to authority. Authority that ALWAYS grows until it consumes its host.
So keep trumpeting how your beloved "pure" ism has not been achieved and therefor unfairly judged. As each if us demands this pursuit of the perfection that our favorite "ism" promises, at least admit that it comes at a significant cost to the individual.
Freedom has no "isms".
Very valid points. I – almost – agree. There is however some “isms” that see this trap of inherent ‘totalitarianism’ in most ‘isms’ (and may I add especially communism and capitalism): anarchism (there’re many versions and I respectfully think ‘libertarianism’ – the US-version - is the wrong version if freedom is your goal).
The above comment is only in response to the misuse of ‘socialism’ to describe our current predicament. The obfuscation of our language narrows our vision and our ability to communicate.
@NoWayJose
This is important. The use of the proper terms in describing our current and past situations.
Democracy is a means of POLITICAL organization. It says NOTHING of economies or anything else for that matter. Majority rules, voting, participation only means that and in the worst case scenario-even void of any and all correption such as vote fraud-it can and most likely will descend into mob rule or in other words two wolves and a lamb deciding what's for dinner. Get 50.00000000000001% of "the vote" and without the protection of the individual ANYTHING becomes "legal".
Everything that came to pass in Nazi Germany was "legal". Does this sound similar to what we experience today here in the United States? Such is the fasle god of democracy. See Hans Hoppe for that one.
SOCIALISM is a means of economic organization in which "the state" OWNS the means of production, the resources, and thus the labor by default (that is my elaboration and not a classic definition)
One may have a democracy AND socialism. See most of Western Europe. France might be the closest with its state run industries (AirBus, trains, etc). Many nation states are mixed LIKE THE USSA in that a company like GM is partially OWNED by the state through bailouts (they would have been dissolved in a free market) in addition to things like Amtrak and The USPS.
We organize A REPUBLIC trough a process of democracy. Yes, I know it still sounds funny but at least that is the design.
What we have and what is most common is called FASCISM. This is marriage of The State and EVERYTHING. WHile the state may not technically OWN the means od production or all wealth THEY HAVE COMMAND OF IT through regulation, intervention, and participation in what would otherwise be free markets. That particioation by definition makes said markets and economy NOT FREE OR OPEN but controlled and influenced by THE STATE.
Now this participation has the theoretic potential to be both benign and benevolent. Hence the parade of "...poets, priest, and politicians..." - to quote a rock song-that cling to the belief that the reason for the 100% failure rate of said idea through History is just a lack of the RIGHT people being in charge. The problem with that lies again with the pesky individual AND the means by which any and all of these Ideas are implemented. The common means has always been through the use of coercion and force. It is the state's monopoly on voilence and the use of force that then becomes the defining characteristic of the political and economic system.
In a Fascist state thsoe with access to that power-the use of violence and coercion-can emply that to their economic benefit through syndicate, regulation, cartelization, etc. One perfect present day example would be the case of UBER in relation to the taxi/car service industry. In a free market "government" would have no say in whom or what I choose to drive me around.
But we do not have either a free market or a free society.
We live in a Fascist Police State and work and toil in a Crony Capital Crypto-Socialist/Fascist economy. Musch like every other nation-state on the planet.
I did not down vote you.
we struggle for terms and definitions to our systems of voluntary enslavement. No one makes us do these things, they simply make it easy and attractive.
how about a free phone????
The safest simplest communist ( freedom fighter sorry ) cell is the Number One... no leader to turn you in. nobody to give you orders, no traitors no planted agents...
Individual actions birthed 1776.
None of this will be addressed until politicians are afraid every morning on their way to their respective Dumas and Politburos.
Very true... that's why I said when the shit truly hits the fan, they won't be even able to stand upright in public without getting shot at.
Texans!...Come Read Our Mission Statement...Come Join Your Fellow Texans Who Are Awake & Prepared...Operation Texas> www.OpTexas.org ... Awaken for the Journey to Reconstruction
This beats the snot out of Mr. Snyders lists.
However, let's get real here. All of these police state charades like Ferguson and Boston and countless others are just *peacetime* sideshows.
If the shit truly hit the fan, every government thug from the Federal alphabet soup clowns on down to your local tax collector would suddenly have a virtual bullseye painted on his back and would not be able to stand erect without getting his head blown off by millions of heavily armed and highly motivated American citizens fighting for keeps on their home turf (not fighting for a fiat money paycheck like gov't mercenaries).
Positive Vibrations
Yes 22 soon the tax-collectors will be wearing masks like the swat teams.
When ignited, those masks go up like Roman candles ;)
wait - that means the printing press would have to break for that to happen. I'd really like to avoid that WTFUD scenario above
Umm the SWAT teams are just tax collectors by another definition.
Criminals all.
And the cops in Baltimore are now being criticized for not pursuing criminals aggressively enough. Convulsions of a cancerous system.
When you give up an inch of your rights Government put the squeeze on you indefinitely, just like the playground bully.
If I didn't know any better (but of course I do) I'd think they all hated me for my Free-Dums.
yes, they who have removed our "free=dums" perhaps are indeed the very ones who hated us for utilizing them.
Nutty Y - was he convincing about the harsh thoughts regarding our Iranian decision today? maybe there's another thread on that topic....
Move to Australia. I'm on a road trip at the moment. I've travelled 3800km and not had ajy interaction with the police. There is plenty of fresh food. Ocean caught fish, Aberdeen Angus steak in the shopping centres, unhomogenised milk all over the place.
Make the move.
Oh please. You a millionare or do you possess an extremely scarce skill? Otherwise, unless you;re a muslim you aren't getting in that Progressive shithole to live.
Says the resident kikeroach
that's what Apple co-founder S Wozniack did, move to Australia, with his entire family....i think he indicated the trends in California are not to stay there...
Only pussies who allowed the government to confiscate their firearms live in Australia.
only pussies and cowards and impotent asswipes need guns to feel manly
That is why I keep the Flame Thrower handy...for people like you.
Legal in the USA.
Sure you do, you little punkass Americunt asswipe. LOL
Round here we just hang um high.
The important thing is to submit and depend on your government for protection.
Sounds VERY manly to me.....
Collecting entitlement payments from citizens of a country you claim to despise while mooching off of a Socialist Democrat Nazi sympathizer society. Template for our future.
Dutchboy is off his meds again. Somebody should tell his mother.
Or his children.
Its terrible that children must watch their parents go through this. Aging is a bitch. We used to see children on milk cartons and now its geriatrics.
Don’t take my word for it. Take the word of someone who lead a successful revolution and managed to kill millions of his perceived enemies. “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” Mao.
You my friend have surrendered your political power to the would be omnipotent and omnipresent state. You are not a free man. You are a subject. Your very survival depends on the benevolence of a capricious bureaucrat you have never met. Should he or she develop a dislike for you, you are done.
Ment in response to DutchBoy
only pussies and cowards and impotent asswipes need guns to feel manly
All you need is $15 million or so to buy your Aussie citizenship.
"P" should be for pensions. As in you'll be paying for these cops pensions for the rest of your life. Retire at 40 and suck on the public teat for the next 50.
A-Z nice list, I agree with all of it, does that make me a liberal?
wwxx
Respect my authoritah! (Compilation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1vKDM7wfiA (1:20)
How about 'F' - for Failure.
Failure of our country to uphold the constitution
Failure of our politicians to take advantage for their own self-interest
But above all - Failure of we the people to let this all happen and not do a damn thing about it.
We are no longer a nation of self-governed; we are a nation of serfs.
Get Article V in gear, grab your pitchforks and let's get back to our founding principles.
A is for Avtomat Kalashnikova. You can still get a good one for under $600. Buy now and avoid the rush. You're welcome.
Speaking of new toys, I just bought the new Glock 43 so I thought I would save everyone some pain and money!!
I tried it out last night for the first time and it is damn snappy and it bites your middle finger to bleeding and pinches the hell outta your trigger finger too (and I have small hands and it still does it). I think it kicks more or less about the same as my 357!! A tidy little package though for sure if you want Glock reliability and if you aren't going to be shooting it everyday, or too long a distance, as it conceals/holsters and sits in my small hands very nicely. Perhaps a round or two of grip tape might do the trick (as per the suggestion of Hickock45).
Cheers!
The bad news: Americans are the fattest, dumbest, laziest people on Earth.
The good news: Americans are the fattest, dumbest, laziest people on Earth.
The government is a reflection of the character of the people, which is a reflection of the government.
There really is nothing to fear, like Donald Trump it will all reach a shreiking crescendo, then collapse like a fart souffle. DC will offer no resistance to the III...
Trump fucked up big time slagging off the Mexicans. I think El Chapo just broke out just to make him eat his words.
Run Donald Run!
A Trump supporter downing comments on ZH! Wow. How things change.
It never ceases to amaze me at how blind people truly are. A simple Google search into Donald Trump will show that his daughter is married to the son of a criminal Jew. Of course Trump is bought and paid for. He would not have made it that far if he were not.
And of course, there will be Jews in the media who act like they are against him and that he is a Nazi. That's so that the gullible goyim falls for it and does not catch on to the reality of the controlled situation. The Jew run media is using him as a counterbalance to Bush 3., but ZOG already knows who is going to win.
If you think elections are free and fair, you live in a fantasy land!
Correct, the ZioNazis always play both sides and the final candidates will both support Israel.
Israel is in FACT a bunch of racist, thieving, lying, deceiving exploitative psychopaths and their minions that run the USA are spawns of satan and serve it to you with a smile.
Netanyahu caught on hot mike ''The Christians in America are useful idiots, but don't tell them that, we need them right now''
And you need money like you need another hole in the head.
Bottomguy, where are you from?
A classmate of mine, a sikh with long hair went to America,
He was shot dead on street becuz he looked like a muslim.
That is pretty ''sikh''
When you try and tell Americans that the terrorist attacks were done by CIA/Mossad/FBI using Arab patsies they call you a 'tinfoil hatter''
They say HATE is bad but Americans are the biggest haters on the planet.
And the worst too, don't forget the worst.
Yes, it is difficult to understand why so many people will abandon the peaceful streets of their home ME nations to brave the violent racist streets of America.
How many has Obama imported so far this year???
Slavery is an element of the human condition. Not sure what kind of fairy land some of you are hoping for, but the well-constituted only vie to be the masters.
slaves to our actions
.
accountable to society
.
turnkey sociopath waivers for success
.
call me crazy
Good morning Crazy.
There is an old saying ''If you stay in the shithouse long enough, you no longer smell the stench''.
This best describes many Americans, who actually believe they live in a free country .
Their brains are mush and actually believe owning guns is FREEDOM.
Owning guns is freedom DB, freedom from oppression, tyranny, and the government our forefathers ran away from, stood up to, and claimed their independence from in 1776. Without guns in the hands of citizens to hunt, to protect from wrondgdoings of citizens themselves, and protect themselves from a tyrannical British world colonization aka today's America, the Constitution itself would not exist and guessing where you and or I or anyone else would be today is like pissing in the sea. WAKE UP, its 1775, again...but worse, far worse.
hahab pure lunacy, for all your guns then why is the USA a goddam fascist police state?
You think your fucking popguns will stop a clusterbomb?
Idiot!!!!!!!!!
hahab pure lunacy, for all your guns then why is the USA a goddam fascist police state?
You think your fucking popguns will stop a clusterbomb?
Idiot!!!!!!!!!
Silent coup is silent. That is why. Every false flag that has occurred was a step toward one thing - getting the guns. Doesn't take a genius to realize this is the end of our road. When you have nothing to lose, you lose it and that is what the PTB fear.
But I wanted to share this now that I have the chance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eGmc4iW6Rs
Netanyahou is commenting on RT video thread on YouTube - if you can believe that. (Re: Iran deal)
All Israelis have guns and look what kind of lowlife Nazi scum they are.
All Israelis have guns and look what kind of lowlife Nazi scum they are.
All Israelis have guns and look what kind of lowlife Nazi scum they are.
If you want to really change things, organise a small group of highly trained Chris Kyle types (militia) and start taking out the neocons and ZioNazis and banksters one by one from 1500 yards.
If you want to really change things, organise a small group of highly trained Chris Kyle types (militia) and start taking out the neocons and ZioNazis and banksters one by one from 1500 yards.
Be careful there, that trigger finger has a bad habit of backfiring, it blows out your ears in the process, no hard feelins, just sayin.
You my friend are one of two things you are either a provocateur hoping to goad people you dislike into self-destructive behavior or you are an idiot. Your advice will do nothing but unleash another round of draconian mandates and will result in the deaths of innocent people.
The right to be armed is derived from the natural right of self-defense. It is not a license to launch attacks on perceived enemies. Take a lesson from history. John Brown showed up to the party early. He accomplished nothing but to get himself and his sons killed.
Cloud9: Do you really think that philosophying and voting with Diebold counting the votes, is going to reverse the degradations of our rights and freedoms.
Look in the mirror.....Have you become one of their indocrinated trolls?
Maybe the answer is to think a little bit, and better still ACT in such a way as to your own benefit. That does NOT include aggression and violence. Nothing we are seeing today is the result of anything but our own actions. We have bought this shit. We have become dependent on a corrupt system by willingly participating in it.
Your idea is to stupidly go out and buy every bad deal and lie the market will provide and in revenge for your own stupidity go out and kill the liars. Our survival and success depends upon the USE of our mind, not the submission to our emotions. It is these emotions that the liars and manipulators rely on to advance their agenda. They have forced NONE of this upon us, they have simply made it easy and attractive.
When we can stop blaming others for taking advantage of OUR stupidity and weaknesses and instead pursue a higher level of existence that does NOT depend on our emotions, we will have succeeded.
No, I think the game is rigged. Whomever we get to vote for will be vetted and in the process bought by the oligarchs that own the system. I do not hold much hope for the political process at the moment. I do not think there is a political solution to an on going economic contraction brought on by energy depletion. I expect the state to continue its efforts towards totalitarian control. I expect those efforts to be impeded by the entropy innate within a collapsing system.
I believe that Detroit is a model for the ongoing collapse. It is a Democratic city rife with all the problems inherent in the nanny state. As it declines, despite all the political games, the bureaucrats have had to thin their ranks. Even their pensions have come under attack. Some time back, a black, Democrat, chief of police called on his citizens to arm themselves. This is the trend.
Expect as conditions worsen for kidnappings, home invasions and armed robberies to go exponential as desperate people do desperate things in an effort to survive. The armed state is of little use in such an events. They may have the political resolve to quell large outbreaks of social unrest but I doubt it.
What I do know is that a man well armed and vigilant has some chance of defending himself and his family in these uncertain times. An unarmed person has no chance and is dependent on a collapsing state that is preoccupied with self preservation.
Going out and murdering some low level bureaucrat or politician as some form of political statement is flat out wrong and I will not support it.
As for the man who would come to my door to do me harm, I have no qualms with lighting him up like a Christmas tree, him and the man behind him and the man behind him.
The one who rails about cowardice while suggesting snipers take out his ideological enemies.
You are a deluded idiot who needs to crawl out of you taxpayer subsidized bunker.
You would have totally made your point if you would have used used three more exclamation marks. I think I hear a leaky dike calling your name. Why dont you go stick your finger in her and let the adults finish talking, fucking retard.
They're a good start.
And that's coming from a guy who thinks his shit don't stink.
Ouch, that hurt.
“When the frog in the caved-in well heard this, he was dumfounded with surprise, crestfallen, and completely at a loss. Now your knowledge cannot even define the borders of right and wrong, and still you try to see through the words of Chuang Tzu—this is like trying to make a mosquito carry a mountain on its back or a pill bug race across the Yellow River. You will never be up to the task
They wont listen. maybe 50 years ago, probably farther, now they think 25 minutes on a jet ski is the spinning crown. all uphill
You know America is totally fucked when you ask the average clown on the street to point to Iran on a world map and they point to Australia.
Any body can act on behalf of a clown and be handsomely paid, being the clown is a tad harder, and you my friend, are no clown.
no B is for bend over.
"Y is for YOU-NESS. Using your face, mannerisms, social media and “you-ness” against you, you can now be tracked based on what you buy, where you go, what you do in public, and how you do what you do. Facial recognition software promises to create a society in which every individual who steps out into public is tracked and recorded as they go about their daily business. The goal is for government agents to be able to scan a crowd of people and instantaneously identify all of the individuals present."
The whole thing has become very scary. This single item on the list is of interest as I saw some documentary stuff about it a while back.
Sophisticated software has been developed which can recognise an individual, not by his facial patterns (that's what we usually think is used to recognise us) but by his/her "gait". Apparently every person has a unique gait which can be digitised and stored. This means that even if you have your face covered and wear a hoody or whatever, the software can still recognise you. Apparently, the best way to fool the software is to do something like strap a cane to your leg inside your pants or wear something lumpy in a shoe etc, all of which force a different gait when walking etc and avoid detection.
Turn off the juice, demons can't see.
Courtesy of the Guardian in the UK - A tally of all people shot/died by US police actions.....It broke 600 this year this past weekend, now at 613 :(
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counte...
P.S Happy Jadehelm day
Speaking of surveillance,
Is it just me or does everyone get an automatic file download when they visit the zero hedge home page?
I've noticed that ZH seems to take longer to load than most sites....
Any specifics on the download?
The file name is default and it is about 923 bytes. I have not tried to open it.
They can't know everything about us! The Department of Homeland Security head, Jeh Johnson, said he had no idea who the young woman murdered on a pier in San Francisco by an illegal alien even was. Probably diodn't know where San Francisco was either. Jeh is just a dedicated public servant seeking truth, justice, and the American way for us all.
re ..the nation is being locked down
As any 5-year old could have warned you when Bolshevik Goon- and Nosferatu lookalike - Chertoff brought over the former head of of the E. German STASI - Marcus Wolfe - to "help" him set up DHS
http://www.3demonic.com/MG_Nosferatu_07.htm
The ZioNazi Jew takeover of the USA is almost complete and Christians cheer Israel.. Sick MOFOS
Assigning Nazi to Zio does not relieve you from the same assignment.
You verbalize the nazi mentality as well as any poster here.
This is not from the Onion...
U.S. Chamber calls for long list of reforms for SEC enforcement program
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/15/us-sec-chamber-enforcement-idU...
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce called for numerous reforms to the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigative process on Wednesday, in a new report some of whose provisions the markets watchdog said would weaken its ability to protect investors.
The Chamber's key recommendations lay out ways to bolster due process for defendants in SEC enforcement actions by strengthening policies surrounding in-house trials, admissions of wrongdoing and "Wells notices," sent by the agency as a final warning to companies and individuals that it plans to bring charges against them.
"SEC enforcement should have a fair process for all to ensure that the rights of the accused are preserved while allowing the process to achieve its goals of finding truth, punishing wrongdoers and preventing future harm," the Chamber wrote.
The Chamber's report in particular takes aim at SEC in-house trials.
The 2010 Dodd-Frank law expanded the SEC's powers to bring more cases against defendants through administrative proceedings instead of federal courts.
In administrative trials, an SEC judge presides over the hearing. Such trials are usually expedited, there is no jury, and discovery is limited.
Critics say in-house trials violate their constitutional rights…
=== Now for them punch line ===
...SEC Chair Mary Jo White, a former federal prosecutor, has made tough enforcement a signature piece of her tenure.
In 2013, she launched a policy allowing the agency to extract admissions of wrongdoing in certain egregious cases - a departure from the past practice of letting defendants settle without admitting or denying the charges...
"G is for GRENADE LAUNCHERS. The federal government has distributed more than $18 billion worth of battlefield-appropriate military weapons, vehicles and equipment such as drones, tanks, and grenade launchers to domestic police departments across the country. As a result, most small-town police forces now have enough firepower to render any citizen resistance futile."
Resistance Futile? Are you kidding me? What a idiot.
The more weapons a rogue and lawless government has to oppress law abiding civilians, the more weapons that WILL fall into civilian hands. As in captured.
Actually, the illegal obama tyranny corp constitution violator brownshirts dont stand a chance. Not in Texas.
Grimaldus