Totalitarianism Nears (US=Nazi Germany, Moral-Equivalency BARF ALERT!)

Roanoke.com ^ | 1/3/03 | Glen T. Martin

[MikalM]

Thursday, January 02, 2003

Totalitarianism nears

Without protest, Americans are giving up freedom

By GLEN T. MARTIN

   IN NAZI Germany at this time of year, people freely shopped in large department stores for gifts for family and friends. The streets were full of traffic. It was "business as usual" for most of the citizens. While in the colonial states conquered by the Nazis, and in the concentrations camps for Jews, gays and communists, life was a living nightmare of dehumanization and human-rights violations.

    In the United States today, people freely shop in large department stores for gifts, and the streets are full of traffic. While in our most recent victim states of Afghanistan, Iraq under murderous sanctions, Argentina after engineering its economic collapse, and Colombia under U.S. military aid for repression, life is a living nightmare of dehumanization and human-rights violations.

    But what once separated the United States from Nazi Germany was the protection of civil liberties for American citizens. People of Germany had no rights and did not care. Those few who did care were so terrified of their government that they did not dare to speak out. Those who did speak out were declared "enemy agents" and sent to concentration camps.

    Today, people of the United States have given up their rights through the "Patriot Act," the "Homeland Security Act" and the Pentagon's new system of "Total Information Awareness." The astonishing thing about this "land of the free" is that most Americans now have no effective rights and do not care.

    As long as they are free to shop in department stores and have traffic in the streets (with automobiles burning oil stolen from dying Iraqi children), they do not care. And to a greater degree every day, those few who do care about our liberties and rights are too terrified of our government to speak out.

    The so-called "Patriot Act" expanded our government's secret search and wiretapping powers enormously. It empowered racial profiling as a recognized police practice and allowed broad sweeps of people of Middle Eastern or Asian origin. It effectively abolished immigrants' rights, allowing noncitizens to be held in secret locations on secret "evidence," without right to an attorney, for as long as the government wishes.

    The government now has the power to enter your home or your computer and secretly record whatever they find without ever having to notify you. They do not even have to obtain a warrant from a publicly accountable judge showing reasonable suspicion that a crime is being committed.

    Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold spoke the following words from the Senate floor on Oct. 11, 2001, when he was the only senator to vote against Attorney General John Ashcroft's USA Patriot Act: "There is no doubt that if we lived in a police state, it would be easier to catch terrorists. If we lived in a country where police were allowed to search your home at any time for any reason; if we lived in a country where the government is entitled to open your mail, eavesdrop on your phone conversations, or intercept your e-mail communications; if we lived in a country where people could be held in jail indefinitely based on what they write or think, or based on mere suspicion that they are up to no good, the government would probably discover more terrorists or would-be terrorists! But that wouldn't be a country in which we would want to live."

    But today, it has gotten worse with the passage of the Homeland Security Act. Notice that these titles, "Patriot" and "Homeland," sound very much like the language of the Nazis. A common slogan of the Nazi regime was "the highest freedom is a noble slavery of the heart." People are free, the slogan meant, when they have enslaved their hearts to the "homeland" in absolute obedience to their government. "Deutschland, Deckhand, uber alles!" they shouted. Blind loyalty, patriotism, and emotion must triumph over liberty, reason and sound judgment.

    Under the U.S. Homeland Security Act (our rights again given away freely by a bipartisan Congress), 22 U.S. agencies are combined in order to achieve "total information awareness" on every American citizen. The government will soon be amassing a file on every American that includes every magazine subscription, credit card purchase, Web site visit, medical record, library record, bank deposit or withdrawals, every airline purchase, as well as judicial, divorce records, and so on. This will be recorded in a central data base, not by a publicly accountable authority, but by the Pentagon, which already operates in total secrecy from the American public.

    Government intimidation for political reasons is real and it has begun. Our government already is using its secret data bases to harass Americans. Political activists checking in at airports at the airline desk have had their names come up from a secret government list as "flight risks." They and their luggage have been supersearched to the point where they are made to miss their flights, and then released to fly. Obviously if they were really "flight risks," they would not be allowed to fly.

    Attorneys have found that their attorney-client privilege has all but disappeared. The government has even placed hidden cameras in prisons to record attorney discussions with their clients. The government has begun harassing people maintaining Web sites they consider politically objectionable.

    The Justice Department announced a plan to use its newfound power to designate U.S. citizens as "enemy combatants" to place such people in concentration camps. Declaring them "enemy combatants" would strip them of their constitutional rights, their access to the courts and allow the government to indefinitely hold them without trial.

    This is identical in purpose to some of the Nazi concentration camps.

    Do we citizens care at all about the future of our children or the plight of the millions of citizens in this country of Arab descent, or those who nonviolently oppose government policy? We have repeated for so long the slogan "it can't happen here." But the darkness and terror of totalitarianism is coming rapidly.

    Do we have the courage and integrity to speak out now, before it is too late? Or will we continue to freely shop in our large department stores for gifts for family and friends - as they did in Nazi Germany.

   

    GLEN T. MARTIN is professor of philosophy and religious studies at Radford University.

[dirtboy]

Under the U.S. Homeland Security Act (our rights again given away freely by a bipartisan Congress), 22 U.S. agencies are combined in order to achieve "total information awareness" on every American citizen. The government will soon be amassing a file on every American that includes every magazine subscription, credit card purchase, Web site visit, medical record, library record, bank deposit or withdrawals, every airline purchase, as well as judicial, divorce records, and so on. This will be recorded in a central data base, not by a publicly accountable authority, but by the Pentagon, which already operates in total secrecy from the American public.

I see the good professor is letting William Safire do his research instead of verifying this himself. The HSA had NOTHING to do with TIA, and TIA is only at the concept stage, and will probably be either curtailed or killed, just as HSA killed TIPS (gee, the professor didn't mention THAT - just goes to show that sensationism is favored over rational analysis of the facts).

[wideawake]

As long as they are free to shop in department stores and have traffic in the streets (with automobiles burning oil stolen from dying Iraqi children), they do not care.

He forgot about all the cute little dying puppies and adorable dying bunny rabbits with their wiggling wittle pink noses.

[canuck_conservative]

If they wanna look in my computer, go ahead. I've done nothing illegal and have nothing to hide, so I'm not worried.

[dirtboy]

And to a greater degree every day, those few who do care about our liberties and rights are too terrified of our government to speak out.

Yeah, right. I guess that explains why there are anti-war protests around the country, countless Op-Eds in newspapers criticizing Bush, and thousands of anti-Bush websites.

[Argus]

(with automobiles burning oil stolen from dying Iraqi children)

Actually, that's still the Germans, since Europe is the main market for Saddam's and the UN's so-called "oil for food" program.

[zoyd]

If they wanna look in my computer, go ahead. I've done nothing illegal and have nothing to hide, so I'm not worried.

Great defense of freedom, canuck. /sarcasm

[Desecrated]

Perhaps the author should live in North Korea, Afhganistan or China if the US is so nazi-like.

[Vindibudd]

"I have nothing to hide"

Well why don't you walk around the park naked. You have
nothing to hide.

You remind me of my communist roommate.

[conservativemusician]

Careful Glen.
All that hand-wringing will give you carpal tunnel.

Excuse me while I hide my computer and get back to guard duty at the front window.

[canuck_conservative]

Well, that's my choice. You have your own, and I'm not telling you how to make it.

[dljordan]

That's the spirit! Rummy and Poindexter send their love.

[thepitts]

No matter who penned this, liberal or conservative, dem or repub, there is a LOT of truth here.

[IMHO]

Canuck's a belly-crawling quisling.

As for the "Barf Alert," I must agree that our brand of totalitarian police-state is sooo much better than the Nazi version. </sarcasm>

[zoyd]

Well, that's my choice. You have your own, and I'm not telling you how to make it.

Great. So when Big Bro wants to install video cameras in every room of your house so they can watch you 24/7, you'll chime in with, "Well, I'm not doing anything illegal, I have nothing to hide, I have no concept of privacy, come on in and take over any shred of dignity and decency I have as a human being!"

I just wonder why someone as vacantly ignorant of the premises of freedom would want to call themselves a 'conservative'...

[dirtboy]

No matter who penned this, liberal or conservative, dem or repub, there is a LOT of truth here.

And a lot of B.S. as well. The problem is, once the B.S. is added in, it makes everything smell like ...

[DB]

Poor Martin is going to be so disappointed when his vision doesn't come true.

What an idiot.

Many more freedoms were given up in WWII to fight a war of survival and yet we as a country managed to recover from that nicely.

[Fred Mertz]

The astonishing thing about this "land of the free" is that most Americans now have no effective rights and do not care.

I care and that's why I'm planning on moving out. I hope it's not too late.

[dirtboy]

I care and that's why I'm planning on moving out. I hope it's not too late.

Fred, IMO the overreaction to 9/11 by lawmakers has halted and we will see a reversal of some of the more onerous provisions of the Patriot Act. And we're slowly winning over the minds of swing voters. So don't pack your bags just yet.

[muleskinner]

Fred's gonna' move to the country of his neighbor and best bud - CUBA. Well, at least he'll get to smoke good cigars.

[oldfart]

"Many more freedoms were given up in WWII to fight a war of survival and yet we as a country managed to recover from that nicely."

Actually, we didn't recover all that well. In hindsight, we now recognise FDR as a Socialist in Democrat clothing. The programs he began in the 1930s were "hardened" during the war and, with a few exceptons, simply continued as neccesary for the recovery.

How many government agencies were founded before and during the war? How many were disbanded and/or shut down after it? Some had their names changed but their duties and influence actually increased after the shooting stopped.

No, America was on a slippery slide toward Socialism before the war. The end of hostilities only provided a short slowing period, followed by the nose-dive we now find ourselves in.

[dirtboy]

Fred's gonna' move to the country of his neighbor and best bud - CUBA. Well, at least he'll get to smoke good cigars.

Maybe Fred will send us a few, and we can use them as Clinton bait. Drag a Cohiba through a Dem fundraiser and there's no telling what you'll catch...

[canuck_conservative]

Whoa bud, chill. I never said anything about videocams, microphones, or any other listening devices.

I just said my computer is clean.

[dcwusmc]

We did? Tax with-holding was a temporary wartime measure. Did IT go away yet? And that is but one example without even any extra thought on the matter. The idiots are those like you who cheer on big brother with no thought that it'll eventually come down to being YOUR turn. The water's fine, though. Nice and warm. Come on in and go swimming with us. Pay no mind to the chef with the apron over there. We'll get out of this big ol' pot long before we boil... so says Froggy...

[winin2000]

As long as they are free to shop in department stores and have traffic in the streets (with automobiles burning oil stolen from dying Iraqi children), they do not care.

Sometimes a level of anti-Americanism and raw stupidity is reached that justifies a good, old-fashioned ass kicking for the offender.

This is one of 'em!

[helpontheway]

I think this is really all we need to know. http://www.radford.edu/rumag/current/pages/martin.html

When philosophy and peace studies professor Glen Martin talks to his students about such abstract concepts as peace and justice, he puts his whole body into it, gesturing as if he were pulling back curtains and opening windows. As if he were showing them another world.

“Philosophy is a way of life for me,” he says, “and teaching is part of that way of life. In our discussions, the way students respond to what I’m saying often causes me to rethink issues. That’s what life is about – this dialogic process. My students are thoughtful, insightful, creative – I learn from them all the time.”

At 19, while working and saving for college, Martin read H.G. Bugbee’s chronicle of self-discovery, The Inward Morning. From that underground classic, he realized that life could be a journey of perpetual growth in understanding and spirituality, and that philosophy was a key to that growth.

It was in 1963, during his first year of college at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York, that Martin’s professors showed him the other world that he now shows his students – the huge world of the exploration of ideas. “I learned that, to have any grasp of reality, one has to think for oneself,” he says, “to investigate, and think deeply.”

He explains that philosophy looks at values and tries to articulate a value theory – a framework by which we can justify our belief in human rights, justice, what is moral and immoral … . So, in his classes, he and his students examine those theoretical constructions and compare them to relevant real-world situations.

“Our world is a terrible place for many people – a place of starvation and torture and death,” he says. “We’re facing a global environmental crisis and the threat of nuclear war, and we need to look at these issues. It’s vitally important to understand ourselves in order to grow and move this human civilization forward to a world of peace and justice.

Asked what that world of peace and justice will look like, Martin, who is president of International Philosophers for Peace and an active member of the World Constitution and Parliament Society, doesn’t hesitate. He describes a democratic world government based on principles of social and economic justice, and a demilitarized society in which differences between nations are settled by a world court.

He says those structural changes are essential. “Change the economic system, change communications so we’re not dependent on a small elite who tell us what they want us to know and believe, change the political system to a real democracy – such structural changes will lead to changes in human consciousness.”

Does he think we can achieve that better world? “I can’t say. What I know is that we have to do what’s right – not because we’re going to get something for it, but simply because it’s right. We have immense problems to deal with, but rapid transformations of human consciousness have happened in the past, and it’s very possible that we’re in the midst of one of those transformations now.”

“Human beings are complex creatures, and within that complexity we have higher capabilities such as love, kindness and generosity, and lower functions such as anger, hatred and greed. There’s no reason why we can’t create a civilization based on those higher ones. A better world is possible.”

— Shireen Parsons

[Brett66]

As long as they are free to shop in department stores and have traffic in the streets (with automobiles burning oil stolen from dying Iraqi children), they do not care.

They get barrels of oil? Cool!

[DB]

I see being an ass-hole comes naturally to you.

[Timesink]

GLEN T. MARTIN is professor of philosophy and religious studies at Radford University.

Isn't that the one Sally Struthers endorses on TV? "Do you want to be an liberal reactionary pseudointellectual pundit? Sure, we all do!"

[Timesink]

with automobiles burning oil stolen from dying Iraqi children

Can't we eliminate the middleman? I urge GM and Ford to begin work TODAY on engines that directly burn dying Iraqi children for fuel!

[dcwusmc]

Actually, it took years of practice. But it was worth the effort when I found you to deal with. If I knew how to get hold of my drill instructor, I'd write him a nice thank-you letter, giving him your details. If he's still living, I bet he'd love to take his licks, too. You're such an easy target... call the writer an idiot and then get all offended when I point out that you're just as much an idiot if you think FedGov will ever give back what it takes from us in the guise of "security." Oh, well, now you know... never bring a knife to a gunfight.

[okie01]

Please tell Professor Martin to take a couple of sedatives and call me in the morning.

[Steel Wolf]

As long as they are free to shop in department stores and have traffic in the streets (with automobiles burning oil stolen from dying Iraqi children), they do not care.

Now this is a great line. Not only is a trasparent bit of shrill anti-US propaganda, but while it is a false slam on us, it is a factual slam on Saddam's Iraq.

The government has begun harassing people maintaining Web sites they consider politically objectionable

And hats off to this guy, who *truly* believes that the Nazis have taken over, and yet is still writing, because he's so gosh darned brave. Bravo.

[CFC__VRWC]

Professor, you should get in your car (thereby killing another Iraqi child), drive down to the crowded department store nearest to you, buy a box of tinfoil and apply another layer to your hat.

[wcbtinman]

"If they wanna look in my computer, go ahead. I've done nothing illegal and have nothing to hide."

Give me about five minutes with your computer, and I can fix that little problem and make you out to be some kind of pervert enemy of the state.

If the state decides they don't like the protest sign you held up last year, or the conversation you had with your gun dealer, or the comments made by your imaginative children to their teacher,they can also "adjust" your hard drive.

[ActionNewsBill]

I've done nothing illegal and have nothing to hide, so I'm not worried.

Doubleplusgood, Comrade. We all have something to hide, or maybe it's just stuff that the government has no business knowing.

[ActionNewsBill]

Fred, IMO the overreaction to 9/11 by lawmakers has halted and we will see a reversal of some of the more onerous provisions of the Patriot Act.

Until the next major terrorist attack. One step back, and three steps forward.

[canuck_conservative]

That's right, just like someone could do it to your computer. So what're you gonna do? Give up the internet completely?

Life is too short to be paranoid.

[DB]

If you think America is on the verge of becoming Nazi Germany as the writer of this article does then you are as stupid and ignorant of history as he is. There's no point in continuing this "conversation" as we have no common ground to start with. Ya, you made your drill sergeant proud…

[RnMomof7]

BUMP

[dcwusmc]

Oh, I don't think Nazi Germany is a good comparison at all. If Dubya keeps heading down this path he's on, he has the potential to make Nazi Germany look like the Church Choir. Go here to see what else is up... and Dubya's Feddies are involved: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/backroom/816014/posts

Now after you read this thread, you tell me where we're headed. And stop being a wuss.

[ohioman]

You a re f'in idiot and a horrible example of an ex-military member. Opinion-wise, you have already joined up with the enemy.

[dcwusmc]

So explain to me just what Dubya has actually DONE that won't apply more to US than to terrorists, vis-a-vis the so-called USA-PATRIOT act and HSA. Explain to me just what the evidence is of Saddam's direct links to terrorists in the network that did 9-11. Explain to me how leaving our southern border wide open while strip-searching grandma at the airport improves security. Explain to me how continued disregard for the Second Amendment improves the security of the nation. Explain to me how diverting resources to the phoney-baloney WOsD improves security from terrorists. And the bonus question: explain why a Sovereign Nation, having been attacked on its own soil, should be groveling at the UN for "support" instead of going after the perps with all guns blazing. The RIGHT perps... and not a politically convenient set.

Oh, and BIOYA.

[ohioman]

Many of your points are valid. But I think that Bush needs to be more Right Wing, such as shutting off all immigration and sealing the damn borders. However, it will be very hard to defend this country when we are almost half spineless liberal.

[roses of sharon]

Are universities hiring 12 year olds for professors now?

[DB]

Get back to me when a nuke goes off in LA or New York.

Then tell me this war isn't real.

[ohioman]

Well if you are a democrat, your brain has my condolences.