>>>>> "AS" == Alistair Speirs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
AS> In the USA there is a long history of complete freedom for the
AS> individual, it was pretty much guaranteed in the first
AS> constitution.
Well, this is pretty much a myth of America. It's true that
theoretically the Constitution has guaranteed certain fundamental
civil rights since the 18th century. However, in practice, these
rights have been severely curtailed, by statute, for the majority of
the population (women, ethnic minorities, workers, and political
dissidents) for most of the 214 years since.
Only in last 40 or so years, in the US, have we seen the long struggle
for real implementation of the promise of the Bill of Rights actually
paying off. That struggle is far from over.
That all said, besides the letter of the law, there are also strong
social pressures that oppose real freedom. We are a nation founded by
religious fanatics and continuously fed by a stream of immigrants for
whom assimilation, "fitting in," has been literally a matter of life
and death. Keeping your fucking mouth shut is a long tradition in
American society.
America is blessed with a dream of amazing freedom, and cursed with a
foundation in stagnant, hidebound fundamentalism. It's really amazing
that this disconnection hasn't completely ripped us apart.
~Mr. Bad
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mr. Bad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | Pigdog Journal | http://pigdog.org/
freenet:MSK@SSK@u1AntQcZ81Y4c2tJKd1M87cZvPoQAge/pigdog+journal//
"Statements like this give the impression that this article was
written by a madman in a drug induced rage" -- Ben Franklin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_______________________________________________
Chat mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://lists.freenetproject.org/mailman/listinfo/chat
