I agree with "It's just that prosperity is more important than most freedoms to the vast majority of human beings.". But when the dust settles on the economy, you'll find an America with the NDAA bill, where US citizens can be named as possible terrorists and be hauled off & detained for an indefinite period. So yes, now is the perfect time for them to pass such laws under the radar, while people are more concerned about poverty than their freedom.Concern about civil liberties isn't feigned. It's just that prosperity is more important than most freedoms to the vast majority of human beings. Unless a large fraction of the US population is being dragged down to Gitmo for no reason, people are simply more worried about putting bread on the table. It's not a uniquely American position. And as for revolution, you can tear the constitution into as little pieces as you want, but it won't happen unless people are starving. And a vanishing minority of Americans are literally starving. I don't even necessarily think such inclinations are sad. Americans will yield liberties until they won't, at which point it'll stop, because politicians want to keep their jobs. Politicians, for their part, aren't evil Iagos plotting the dissolution of freedom. That's unbelievably naive. They have a job to do, and like any employed person, they want to keep it and so want as much power as possible to do it. Their chief mandate is to protect the lives and property of citizens. When people deem their power harmful, then that's when you'll see change. And that's a long way off.
Tangentially, I always thought that the idea that the 2nd Amendment was meant as a check against tyranny was slightly illogical. If you're planning to overthrow the government, you're committing treason, and therefore won't care all that much about the constitution or any other system of law in place.
Skykid wrote;
The US Govt has always seemed to be fearful of violent uprising. There are several measures I can name over the years that hint at this.Violent revolution obviously isn't the preferred option. The problem is you don't have the option at all.
I see in the Media that a lot of Americans feel this NDAA Bill as doing away with the Constitution.
Here's a little something fromThe Declaration of Independence
- "that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
