The Criminalization of Dissent Review two articles below and provide a summary and analysis of what you've learned. Connect two central themes from A People's Primer that relates to what you learned. Use 2 quotes from the book to complete your blog post.
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sharon clark
11/14/2014 05:59:05 am
what i have learned about "FBI raids an the criminalizing of dissent is that Across the country organizations and individuals are standing together to protest the United States government’s attempt to silence and criminalize anti-war and international solidarity activists. We see the raids and subpoenas as an attack on anti-war and other progressive movements. It is an attack on our freedom to speak, our freedom to assemble with like-minded people, and our freedom to tell the government that their actions and policies are wrong. It is an attempt to clear the way for more wars and occupations of other countries by the U.S. military.it is in demand to stop the repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists.Immediately return all confiscated materials: computers, cell phones, papers, documents, etc. and to end the grand jury proceedings against anti-war activists according to the Amendment VI in a people's primer In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
Kim Shaw
11/20/2014 04:34:15 pm
I agreed this is an attempt to silence the people and strip them of their constitutional rights. It’s an attempt to scare the people and shut them down, close them up and eventually making a closed society. At the end of the day it is all about controlling the people that are making the wrong kind of noise.
Alex Diaz
11/19/2014 02:35:13 pm
The two articles that I choose to read were "Info Wars" and "FBI Raids." In both these articles they brought up one common theme which is censorship. In the FBI raid article they explained how the FBI is targeting activist headquarters and labeling these peaceful protestors as "A Terrorist Threat," with absolutely no true evidence that explains how or why they are a threat to The U.S. Info wars emphasized more of a police state in which police brutality is increasing and peaceful protests are being cracked down on via unconstitutional methods. While the FBI raid article states that the FBI is controlling the general public by causing fear of terrorists. The main points that I learned from these articles are that the FBI and increased police brutality are causing so much fear that the general public is too scared to exercise there constitutional rights and the activists who do are labeled as a threat. Two main themes that I saw throughout these articles and the textbook are alienated rights and abuse of power. "State violence is the abuse of power by the government that ignores or deliberately acts in ways that prevent the ability of individuals and groups to thrive" (111). This is a general statement which focuses on any group trying to better themselves and being rejected by an abusive system. "... discussed his characteristics of the state organized crime as an act that was committed by the state that is within their rule of law. This means that a government can make their once illegal activities legal" (131). This means that once a state or any governing body has silenced or prevented a group from rising they can then have people harm this group and create laws to make the crime acceptable.
Kim Shaw
11/20/2014 04:41:54 pm
I agree the police brutality and the talk of terrorist threats are causing fear in people’s life and therefore they are keeping quiet. No one wants to be beaten, harassed. Investigated etc. just for exercising their right to freedom of speech. People don’t know who to go to for help and don’t want to bring to much attention to themselves, so they think it’s not so bad so I’ll live with it. Which is exactly what the government wants you to do.
Kim Shaw
11/20/2014 04:26:17 pm
The two articles I choose were Chris Hedges: Criminalizing Dissent and "FBI Raids and the Criminalization of Dissent." By Amy Goodman. As I was reading these articles it made me think about “The End of America.” What I got from the articles is the efforts to shut down all marches and/or protest because they can’t possibly be non-violent, let’s have everyone under surveillance because you never know what anyone is capable of and let’s lock people up and throw away the key if they appear to be a threat. I don’t believe that the marches are looked at fairly. They are looked at as being violent and unproductive. However if one would take the time and really look at the marches they may see what is really there and who is attempting to be violent. The marchers show up with sign and bull horns and the police show up with guns, dogs and in riot gear. Here is a perfect example, “The Occupy movement proved to be an important demonstration of collective resistance from the American people because it was meant to represent the 99% of Americans whose economic welfare is affected by the selfishly capitalist interests of the 1% who make 50% of the wealth.” (PP pg. 110) The constitution is totally be ignored today and they validate their reasoning by scaring everyone with talks of terrorism. The reason they give for doing these things are given just to validate their harassment and put people in fear. They broadcast how they raid people home and the protesters headquarters, but you never hear of them coming back and saying nothing was found and/or this person doesn’t pose a threat. “State violence is the abuse of power by the government that ignores or deliberately acts in ways that prevent the ability of individuals and groups to thrive” (PP pg. 111). This statement can be related to protest, marches, political campaigns etc. and it validated by the two articles I just read. Also what sticks out to me is that if one is thought to be associated with someone that is consider to be a terrorist that they can and will be locked up indefinitely and never know the reason they are being locked up and my not have any idea about that they were considered associated with a terrorist threat. That makes me think about the statement we spoke about early in class that one is guilty until proven innocent and they law says it is the other way. Leave a Reply. |
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