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Insulting the government can get you arrested

Perhaps you think I am talking about Venezuela under the thuggish Chavez?

Nope. I am talking about Britain.

10 comments to Insulting the government can get you arrested

  • It seems like Blair and Bush are a team whose purpose is to deliver a 1-2 punch to civil liberties in both the US and UK at the same time. Every bad situation, present or future, requires more military presence and less civil liberty. Yesterday Bush requested that Congress allow a military response if the bird flu “hits.” It hasn’t even happened and already he is salivating over the possibility of “enforcing quarantines.” After the London bombings the New York police began searching baggage on the subway there. How can we convince our respective populations of “sheeple” that the government will never make them safe? It can only make us all less free.

  • james

    Cayenne
    You dont think that governments are helping make people safe by employing a larger police force? If you follow this logic through to its logical??? conclusion you would have a state without police where anyone can use force to impose his or her will on others. If someone mugged you would you rather there were a couple of cops round the corner to stop it or would you have faith in all your fellow citizens never to commit a crime?

  • Elsi

    Before you make comments on Chavez….stop looking at world news …(the news is owned by a couple of people…would take too long ito get into…..)and talk to the people of Venezuela….he printed out the constitution for theses people so that they would know their rights…..our nown governments don’t do that

  • And what about these people from Venezuela? Or these? Or these? Are they all owned by Rupert Murdoch too? I think you are the one who needs to stop reading the propaganda and start getting some real news.

    So what if the government print out the constitution? If the Saudi government did the same, would that make them ok with you?

  • Susan

    How do we even know if this flu is real? The whole thing could be manufactured. Does anyone know people with this flu? What will they need government troops for? If they run out of the vaccine, and there isn’t any place to go get it, then there isn’t any place for people to focus their energy. Who is inciting chaos prematurely and why? Don’t buy into it…

  • Jason Litzenberg

    It seems in a world without police an agressive force would take control, take up arms, tax citizens to fund thier strangle hold on the rights of these citizens. These people would probebly want to know where you are at all times so they would probebly try to impose an ID. It might work out because these “bullys” would obviously have more loyalty to corporations then to you the citizen, so even if you dont want to carry an ID the possibility of finding favor with rich and powerful people would overide your concerns. These “bullys” would menace the streets in groups, randomly shake us down to make sure we’re not a threat. Eventually they would realise that there isnt much left to steal what with the citizens being affraid to leave thier houses, so the “bullys” would hav to encourage people back to work by only terrorizing the lower class. They would simply tax the rich using the justification that they are maintaining order, creating a secure plain for prosperity. Eventually these “bullies” would be accepted by the citizen as a fact of civilization, a trade of a little personal freedom for security. Then things would get really bad because loyalists of these “bullies”, driven by fear would eventually try to shout down any opinions of the few left who realize that the “bullies” created the state of chaos which gives thems purpose. This sounds like a terrible fate.

  • Jason Litzenberg

    It seems in a world without police an agressive force would take control, take up arms, tax citizens to fund thier strangle hold on the rights of these citizens. These people would probebly want to know where you are at all times so they would probebly try to impose an ID. It might work out because these “bullies” would obviously have more loyalty to corporations then to you the citizen, so even if you dont want to carry an ID the possibility of finding favor with rich and powerful people would overide your concerns. These “bullies” would menace the streets in groups, randomly shake us down to make sure we’re not a threat. Eventually they would realise that there isnt much left to steal what with the citizens being affraid to leave thier houses, so the “bullies” would hav to encourage people back to work by only terrorizing the lower class. They would simply tax the rich using the justification that they are maintaining order, creating a secure plain for prosperity. Eventually these “bullies” would be accepted by the citizen as a fact of civilization, a trade of a little personal freedom for security. Then things would get really bad because loyalists of these “bullies”, driven by fear would eventually try to shout down any opinions of the few left who realize that the “bullies” created the state of chaos which gives thems purpose. This sounds like a terrible fate.

  • Online Wong PoK�r Hu

    I don’t think there is any reason comparing Chavez to the rule of Blair. I still think that the measure is justifiable considering that aspects that constitutes its creation. The government, though exists for the people is not bound to adjust to a minority concern. However, the government is open for any agreements just to arrive at the best possible decision.

  • Thuggish Chávez? Three blogs purporting to show the disaffection of real Venezuelans, most of whom remain too poor – despite recent progress – to afford computers? Get some real news from Venezuela (and the rest of Latin America).

  • Jason Litzenberg

    I don’t think that Venezuela would be setting precedence by forming a dictatorship on a foundation of propaganda. In fact I think the lie of prosperity is generally the oldest form of national manipulation. I’m not going to say that that’s what’s going on but I find it naive to believe that the people are to impoverished to defend the strength of their government.