Thursday, March 12, 2009

Recession Danger: Government Crackdowns on Civil Liberties

I recently brought up the danger of government crackdowns against people protesting the recession and failure of governments to deal responsibly with it. That sounds alarmist, so here's a bit of evidence:

British government planning to use troops against people;
Lavtian protests turn violent;
Russian police violence vs. peaceful demonstrators;
SWAT team aggressiveness convinces man facing foreclosure to commit suicide;
illegal U.S. Army patrol in small-town America.

Note, in particular, the last two. In the former case, a police SWAT team protected the rule of law by inducing a man facing foreclosure to commit suicide. Rest assured, the property was protected from the evil homeowner. In the latter case, - in response not even to demonstrations but to the behavior of one lone criminal, U.S. law prohibiting the Armed Forces from enforcing the law was violated. The point here is of course the extraordinary over-reaction of authorities, who obviously understand only the language of violence and overwhelming force. I wonder what would have happened if the distraught homeowner had been visited by a psychiatrist...or a legal aide to explain government programs to help homeowners keep their homes.

When a population accepts its government bombing foreign countries, it has no right to act surprised if that government starts using force at home.

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