-Caveat Lector- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 10:08:21 -0800 From: Ric Carter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [InTheShadows] THE TRUTH
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~alb/misc/truth.html The Truth These are some basic truths about our society today. Look around, see for yourself. I am not going to be sidetracked into the wasted effort of ``proving'' these things here for people who will not listen anyway [but please see the additional reading section]. Listen to me, listen to the press, listen to the government. Who do you believe? 1. The United States Government tortures its own citizens. We go around the world talking about human rights, but agents of the U.S. government have not hesitated to commit the most vicious crimes against humanity right here at home. The political reality is that the U.S. is the leading economic and political power in the world, and the only superpower. Thus the U.S. government can maintain its pious hypocritical stance without fear of ``serious'' exposure. Our government has grossly abused its current power. It has wasted a chance to be a world role model for ethical government, and the chance likely will never come again. 2. The U.S. Constitution is just a piece of paper to covert thugs. The only rights you have are the ones you can enforce. Here in the land of High Noon, despite all the talk to the contrary, it is every man for himself. There are plenty of people who would love to see you literally tortured if you differ from them on the most minor political points. We lead the world in the technology of warfare and espionage. The same technology is used to suppress and harass so-called dissidents or ``threatening'' people and movements. If you cannot prove it happened, and the weapons officially do not exist, then nothing really happened, did it? 3. ``Freedom'' is an empty concept used for social control. You are free only to the extent that you do not, for any reason, step on the toes of any ``important'' people. You may not even know what you have done, and may never find out: The repressive machinery will kick into gear and your life will be ruined. You may even come to realize that a campaign of dirty tricks is being focused on you, but no one will believe you. Most people live boring (to others) lives that do not threaten the powerful, and therefore do not draw the attention of the repressive apparatus. Thus the myth of freedom is perpetuated, while you are labeled a paranoid kook. The rhetoric of freedom is at least useful in that it forces the repression into covert channels. That is why I can openly post this list. 4. The elite and powerful in the U.S. are effectively immune to law. The law is a tool to serve the ends of the powerful. Selective enforcement is the norm. Of course, the powerful have their own sets of laws they use to attack each other. Bad policies, based on misguided notions and a patronizing, pseudo-moralizing paternalism, produce disastrous consequences. Politicians cynically exploit the resulting suffering to maintain their positions of power, reinforcing the misguided policies. Police on the street end up paying the price, bearing the brunt of enforcing bad laws. 5. The elite opinion-makers are not nearly as smart as they think they are. Their insular debates are frequently characterized by ignorance and outright stupidity. This tendency is heavily abetted by a forced conformity of belief. The price of mounting too strong a challenge to a ``politically powerful'' idea is ostracism and ridicule by their peers. Soon, testing ideas for political viability or against projected poll results becomes a substitute for critical thinking. 6. The mainstream press will not challenge -- and at times participates in -- outrageous governmental abuses. Watergate and the investigations of intelligence abuses in the mid-'70s were historical rarities. The press routinely cooperates in a conspiracy of silence -- even when innocent American lives are being destroyed and hideous crimes are being committed. The investigations of intelligence abuses in the '70s were also not especially effective. The investigators were completely outclassed by a group of professional liars, trained to subvert governments worldwide. The Cold War was still on, giving additional clout to the apologists for domestic crimes committed by our own forces. The ``intelligence community'' is well aware of the limited attention span of the American press, and repeatedly and effectively uses stonewalling, or worse, to escape any responsibility or accountability for its actions. The reforms of the '70s were subsequently largely reversed. We need a sustained, nonpartisan political consensus to clean out our nation's dirty secrets, give the domestic victims redress, punish the Cold War criminals, and start fresh without the baggage of secret, unacknowledged atrocities. 7. The ``ruling class'' elites typically respond positively only to the threat of losing their privileged positions or of violence. That is just how it is. It often takes a riot or other violent actions to even draw their passing notice. But then this violence -- often caused by their shameful neglect of gross injustice and intolerable conditions -- is used to justify increasing police and secret police powers. In their insulated cocoons, the elites pretend not to hear the cries of the disenfranchised -- after all, things like that do not happen in their neighborhoods. By definition, those people must have done something to deserve it. 8. There need not be any official, organized conspiracy. Conspiracies do occur regularly -- they have throughout history, and our time is no exception. But, for the individuals who are victimized by the system, it does not matter if it is an organized unit following orders or a system of well-understood winks and nods. Rule of law is clearly a joke in the U.S. today. 9. They blame it on ``rogues'' if they are caught, but knowledge goes straight up to the top. Even where some actions truly are the results of rogue agents, the coverups go straight to the top. Purposeful ignorance to maintain ``plausible deniability'' is no excuse or escape from culpability. The buck never stops... 10. The U.S. government is not the United States or America. Most Americans are decent people who would be appalled to know the dirty tricks their government carries out in their names. Unable or unwilling to accept the ruthless amorality of the power-hungry, they tend to believe whatever lies are sent their way. And unfortunately, as in any society, a significant minority of Americans are simply fascists. Excessive government secrecy has even destroyed the democratic accountability of our leaders to the people: Politicians can engage in, approve of, or willfully ignore covert operations, knowing their actions will never be revealed to the public. Amazingly, some members of Congressional intelligence committees are ``not cleared'' to even know details of the programs they must vote on. (These are our elected representatives being dictated to by a permanent, secret bureaucracy.) The public will never go to the voting booths knowing which of their leaders participated in domestic spying, political surveillance, and outright torture. Links for Further Reading. http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~alb/misc/truth.html Some Final Words These sorts of problems are not anything new in history. The weapons have changed, and the years have advanced, but human nature remains the same. Our institutions have ``learned'' only very slowly over this time. This does not mean we should simply pretend to be civilized while ignoring the barbarism around us. Especially when our government and basic principles of governance are at issue. In this age of steadily advancing technology and surveillance capabilities it is increasingly important that our laws be fair, rational, and uniformly enforced. Technology will transform our society. We must work to ensure that it transforms us for the better, because it can also be used to create a police state such as the world has never seen. That may sound extreme, but it is the simple truth -- and one we do not want to discover too late. Other points: -- We need to teach people the crucial distinction between being personally opposed to some behavior and wanting to lock other human beings in cages for engaging in that behavior. Obvious as this point seems, it regularly disappears in ``learned'' debates. In the case of behaviors like murder, the loss of that distinction does not effectively make a difference. In other cases, though -- especially in the case of victimless ``crimes'' -- the distinction is extremely important. -- When a single individual can now wreak terrible damage as a terrorist, it is increasingly important that we do not let anyone ``fall through the cracks.'' -- We must avoid entering into an escalating cycle of increasing police and secret police powers and violence by those who will not voluntarily give up their basic rights. (Was Jefferson a terrorist? What is the difference? Where is the line?) Pushing people too hard and too long will turn them into exactly what you were afraid of. Abusive covert agents love this, since it helps them justify their existence and their inflated budgets. They then innocently say ``I told you so'' about the violence they have in large measure created. On this page I have discussed ideas in several different, though related, areas. While not exactly a summary, I end with the following sentence, the truth of which should be self-evident: AN AMERICAN CITIZEN TORTURED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE TO FIGHT THAT SAME GOVERNMENT EVERY STEP OF THE WAY TO EVEN PROVE IT HAPPENED. Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL to this page: http://www.egroups.com/group/InTheShadows To change to the digest format go to: http://www.egroups.com/group/InTheShadows List Moderator: Hilary A. Thomas Instant Game. I've gotten $550 to date http://www.survivorstakes.com?rn=1&aid=10749&rid=2 Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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