Quote:
Originally posted by Ironhorse@Dec 16 2002, 10:28 AM
It's a very delicate balancing act, this is why conversations like these are important. But they only happen because people feel somewhat safe about opening their mouth. If they felt that everything said was being recorded and analyzed I guarantee that communication would be severed. I have seen it in my birth country Romania. Do not underestimate evil, it has many faces, some are friendly.
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But people in Eastern Block countries also had to worry very much about being dragged away kicking and screaming in the middle of the night, never to be seen again. I have also spent the better part of the last 7 years in Eastern Europe. I dont think its fair to compare the history of Stasi, KGB or the other security organs of repressive regimes to todays America. Just as i dont think it is fair to suggest that it is a real possibility that the President of the US will be tried in a 5 minute trial and then executed on the street along with his wife, as happened in Romania.
i think the exact opposite is usually true in the US. A one time abuse of power can cause the it all those powers to be taken away as well.
the government still represents the will of the people. people keep ignoring this fact in these types of discussions about "what horrors may come".