Impending Police State

MEDIA ROOTS- In George Orwell’s 1984, Britain is depicted as a totalitarian police state that is ruled by the Party, or Big Brother– an enigmatic, ubiquitous elite that controls society through heavy surveillance, nationalist propaganda and historical revisionism. The concept seems like a far-fetched portrayal of a Democratic nation’s demise into totalitarianism, but in America’s “post 9/11” climate of fear, the United States government has been building a comprehensive grid of surveillance and control that bears frightening similarities to Orwell’s fictional narrative.

The glaring difference between the two is that Orwell’s dystopian society is overtly totalitarian. America, conversely, operates under a “soft fascism” – an insidious, systematic method of preventative action and corporate top-down control over society’s media, economy and politics – while maintaining the necessary illusion of personal choice and freedom. A populous with little to no concept of their subjugation makes them the perfect subjects to rule.

Many Americans might not feel the government’s hand or Big Brother’s watchful eye directly in their lives. However, with the use of GPS, cell phones and the Internet, every move we make can be tracked, cataloged and divied into demographics that are used to increase corporate advertising efficiency and to create a “chilling effect” throughout our culture, stifling dissent and diminishing activism.

During times of war, governments are notorious for capitalizing on their ability to suppress dissent and manipulate the masses. In the wake of 9/11 hysteria, the Bush administration enacted several controversial pieces of legislation that severely curtailed Americans’ freedoms under the pretext of “security” and “protection”. With the help of a consistently compliant and unquestioning media, his administration also instituted a legal framework to circumvent citizens’ civil liberties and target their free speech. Bush’s cabinet adopted Orwellian rhetoric and Nazi style propaganda to litigate sweeping measures that further eradicated liberty: The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act’s (USA Patriot Act) warrantless domestic wiretapping, and the Homegrown Terrorism Act & Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act’s criminalization of thought and peaceful activism.  

Continue reading about the impending police state here.

Writing and Photography by Abby Martin

Learn more at www.MediaRoots.org

Show "Uh... Yeah... No." by sullun

WOW!

sullen, now that's a scathing review. That's the granddaddy of 'em all! I think you might have been a bit harsh. I mean, come on.

Abby, I really disagree with people's constant referencing to Orwell and Carroll in regards to all this. This imagery makes people feel powerless. That doesn't do anybody any good in this situation and it's not the truth.

Paul
http://www.911artists.com/
http://www.911truther.com/

fabrication?

What is fabricated? I always welcome constructive criticism, but this is merely an op-ed, and yes- I do think there are very real similarities between Orwell's depiction and today's political climate. I don't think calling those out is impeding the movement in any way. I am not trying to make people feel powerless, in fact my goal with MediaRoots is to contextualize this information with inspiring action and empowering information. Regardless, thanks for checking it out.

Hmmmm...

Sullun- If you had offered any constructive criticism then that would be one thing, but to come on here and completely lambaste the piece without any points backing up your negativity (no examples of how any of what was written was "fabrication" "irrelevant" or "irrational"), gives your rant little credibility.

sullun

To the contrary, it is you who gets an 'F' for your wanton crucifixion of an article about a topic you probably understand next to nothing about.

(You can dispense with the genitive plural now, thank you)

Well written article

It may sound a little "old hat" to us but reading it as a "newbie" I found it interesting.

Sullun is totally out of line. His lambasting is absolutely worthless negative drivel and serves no purpose at all.

The corporate media as propaganda arm of the state.

John Pilger's documentary "The War You Don't See" explains how the corporate media and state broadcasters like the BBC in effect serve as mouthpieces for government.

Watch it here in 7 episodes:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheMediaCorruption#g/c/768F3DA0D12B82A4

Good piece

I agree... the Big Brother threat is ballooning. It's getting to the point where it is accelerating exponentially and I don't see anybody doing anything.

Ironically, (and this may be a painful realization for most of us) this is because the majority embraces fascist rule and a complete lack of privacy and human dignity. People aren't upset if their privacy is invaded: they're upset if their privacy isn't invaded. This is because the government and their new media friends have cultivated the concept of attention whoring among the new generation. Very smart.

At the risk of sounding like Alex Jones: people want to be enslaved. Who are we to stop them?

As the infamous German hacker gathering CCC once exclaimed: "Wir haben den Krieg verloren" ("We've lost the war")

I have only one advice left for those who love liberty and freedom: leave. Pack your bags and get the hell out of there. Build a constructive life in a country which is technologically non-advanced.

Some will criticize such remarks as defeatist. I will take that in stride.

Show "This is on the front page" by Randy

You're right

Jesse's opinion piece should also certainly be posted on blogger. Oh wait, it is.

Its just in the section the Pentagon merry-go-round has been anchored to.

and it took an email

... from someone for me to even know that it was here ... somewhere

Well

I sure am glad your e-friend is more observant than you, else you might think there was some kind of censorship going on!

Show "that's what the email was about" by Randy

Huh.

Well, you'll have to check out the blogs section sometime. You usually have to sift through a bunch random musings, but sometimes you find something really worthwhile. Of course, if it is, then it's probably on the front page too ;)

No censorship here, just tough judgement calls...

I would hate to manage this blog, because not everyone is gonna be happy.
There are judgement calls as to what to place on the front page.
I accept that.
There are always going to be occasions when people feel that a story should be front page.
Personally, I would have placed the following two stories on the front page...
(But this is not censorship, just a judgement call.)

9/11 Survivor Eyewitness Paul Lemos Says Bombs Exploded North Tower
http://911blogger.com/news/2010-11-28/911-survivor-eyewitness-paul-lemos...

Updates on the Underwear Bomber...Kurt Haskell's endeavors...
The first "terrorist attack" on US soil since 9/11/01 occurred last Christmas. At the time aspects of the Patriot Act were set to expire and bodyscanners were not commonplace.
http://911blogger.com/news/2010-11-23/kurts-spoof-underwear-bomber

There is certainly censorship here.

If the moderators of this site deny that they sensor valid material, they are lying. I have posted plenty of valid material which never gets into these threads.

fear or love - one or the other..

I see many people doing something about the looming police state.. That is why many of us work to expose the issue of 9/11 (false flag) crimes and cover-up. Jesse Ventura did a wonderful piece on this issue in his mainstream hit show, "Conspiracy Theory" broadcast on TruTV: with a youtube video of it posted under this article at Info Wars "Police State" episode of hit Ventura show covering FEMA camps pulled from air, Bringing the dark issues into the light of awareness is key.

People are manipulated by fear.. so that is why they are willing to give up their freedom; and their fears can be misleading, so they don't even want to look at the truth; their fear overwhelms them and brings them into a small world of fear and obedience. 1984 was written around 1948, and was meant to expose the corruption happening at that time, too. My friend mentioned that the Publishers wanted it set in the future.. so they reversed the numbers from '48 to '84. Orwell was writing about his time and awareness of the deceptions of a growing police state.

This article is about the 1930's "Suppressed History: When Wall Street Tried To Bring The Holocaust To America". The horrific 9/11 events were set to promote irrational fear for the coup d'etat in taking control of the US foreign policy.

The situation is bleak.. which is why I appreciate people exposing the dark side from good intentions. This proves the slogan, "resistance is futile". is untrue, and integrity remains a part of why we are here at this forum.. more motivated by love than to hide in fear..

Yet regarding placement in Blog or News section.. Yes, I too believe the Ventura Pentagon thread deserves to be on the main news site regarding 9/11 and this one on general information on a looming police state should be in the blog section.

But in any case, thanks for posting this article.
J
New 9/11 Investigation vs New World Order

The Police State: (Full Episode)

Jesse Ventura's op-ed television piece examines fusion centers and alleged FEMA camps. Check it out.

I did some follow up research into some what Ventura said.

There is a company called Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) which has a contract "to manage detainee populations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE.)" http://www.correctionscorp.com/newsroom/news-releases/162/

I have long know about the "Integrated, National Network of State and Major Urban Area Fusion Centers" http://www.ise.gov/Pages/NFCP.aspx

The "2009 Virginia Terrorism Threat Assessment" document, is real, but a bit misrepresented by Jones and Ventura.

There really is/was an HR 645 "To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish national emergency centers on military installations."

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-645

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY CENTERS.

(a) In General- In accordance with the requirements of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish not fewer than 6 national emergency centers on military installations.

(b) Purpose of National Emergency Centers- The purpose of a national emergency center shall be to use existing infrastructure--

(1) to provide temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster;

(2) to provide centralized locations for the purposes of training and ensuring the coordination of Federal, State, and local first responders;

(3) to provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations; and

(4) to meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Recall that Auschwitz was a converted military installation set up to house civilians in a time of national emergency.

Big Brother...

Revealed: US creating vast domestic 'snooping machine' (12/20/2010)

The government is creating a vast domestic spying network to collect information about Americans in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks and subsequent terror plots, The Washington Post's Dana Priest and William Arkin reported Monday.

The government is using for this purpose the FBI, local police, state homeland security offices and military criminal investigators, the daily added.

The system collects, stores and analyzes information about thousands of US citizens and residents, many of whom have not been accused of any wrongdoing, the report noted.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/govt-creating-vast-domestic-snooping-...

Thank you-

Excellent article.

This impending police state

is what was *always* behind 9/11. Isn't it obvious now, after we've seen all the post-9/11 changes?

And 'soft fascism' is a temporary state, that will inevitably lead to hard fascism. We don't have a lot of time left to wake people up.

Thank you, Abby.

Great Article.

There is so much apathy and the attitude that most have inhibits them from even being aware of what is going on behind the news in the real and corrupt life we live in.

The whole 'Twoofer' attitude with agressive repercussion for those that try to hint that they also might question the activities of 911 is a big barrier. Many people value belonging in a social group find that the most imortant thing for them and do not like to gamble the ridicule they might face, especially if they have seen others (like us) face such ridicule. The emotions are slowly fading and more people are becoming available to tell the truth. Some simply don't beleive it is important enough to them to give a shit.

Plenty going on and no one can really comprehend what entirely...

Apathy is the main enemy to the truth for now, the more people that can comprehend the repercussions of not doing anything, ie this video, the better.

The more people that can consider and research for themselves and make thier own decision of what is what is and what is not, the better.

Lets face it, there are very few people that can comprehend what the fuck is actually going on, many of us here will have a bit of an idea ranging to a reasonable understanding of who, what and why, nut nobody is entirely sure the true extent. We need to know.

So any light shed on the underlying problems of everybodies next few decades is good light to shed. We need to audit the fed, suss out the bankers, and follow the money.

I am sure happy/fortunate that my location is probably one of the very last to be in such a police state...

Good work Abby

Damn right

Apathy is the biggest plague eating away at activism right now.

I find that as executive power, repression and surveillance over people increases, they tend to resist less and less, not more and more.

This is becoming very, very bad. We are not speaking in terms of future events or hypothetical scenarios anymore.

Awesome!

Thanks so much for all the feedback and great resources!

i very much enjoyed the article. . . .

. . . especially this aspect, “The glaring difference between the two is that Orwell’s dystopian society is overtly totalitarian. America, conversely, operates under a 'soft fascism...'”

however, IMHO, the term “soft fascism” (with which i was not familiar and which is not yet defined in the urban dictionary, see http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=soft%20fascism) can come off as benign or even positive, and certainly does not capture the nightmare in which we live, or what is so ably described in the article as, “an insidious, systematic method of preventative action and corporate top-down control over society’s media, economy and politics – while maintaining the necessary illusion of personal choice and freedom.” (not to mention bringing about the new pearl harbor on 9/11.)

reprotedly, ron paul has used the term "soft fascism" in the mainstream, see http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/01/06/Paul-US-moving-toward-soft-fascism/UPI-50301199673877/ did he coin it? is the term entrenched? if not, a better short-hand description would be welcome. the only things i have come up with thus far (hypnotic fascism, subliminal fascism, american-brand of fascism) don't really make it either.

george orwell, where are you big brother?

Not defined

Interesting, it seems like soft fascism isn't defined yet in the urban dictionary, according to that link. But we can add our own definition! http://www.urbandictionary.com/add.php?word=soft+fascism
If it does mean what you say it does than hopefully there are better terms that explain the current political climate- Orwell help us out!

Police officer charged in G20 case

Watch this video. More then 900 people were arrested at the G20 meetings in Toronto. The victim in question was charged with assaulting a police officer (meanwhile he is aqt the bottome of a pile of about 10 cops.) Then none of the officers involved "recognised" either themselves of any of the other officers.
Meanwhile, as the cops were harrassing and arresting legitimate and peaceful protesters, the "anarchists and Black Bloc" were busy trashing a police car less than one block away which the police conveniently ignored.
Sound strange? It's all true.

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Canada/1239665812/ID=1705768776