Forums > Social Discussion > Panic on the streets of London....

Posted: 17th Nov 2006
Ahhh, so the title of the thread was in reference to a song title, maybe if I was younger and hipper I might have made the connection, and maybe I should be posting this in the reading too much into things thread......But I was seriously concerned that there really was panic in the streets of London.

I was expecting a terrorist event, a natural disaster, a zombie attack even, so I was a little dismayed when all I could find was a lame announcement about a number of plots that are purported to exist, with no analysis of just how serious these plots actually are. Heck, MI5 could be running down teenagers who are saying stupid things on myspace for all I could glean from the story.

The analogy of rebelling against your parents is probably the most flakey theory I have regarding trying to figure out people's motivations for believing that their government is out to scare them into submission and oppression. I should have proposed something like....Are you so dissatisfied with how the society you live in fails to live up to your expectations that you're trying to distance yourself from it ?

IRL, I bring up topics discussed here on HOP, and I've been doing the "is your government trying to scare you ? and if the answer is yes,, then why ? for months now

So. far I've had a hard time finding people to agree with the idea ( I work with tourists, so if you're one of those tourists who wants to hang around and chat, this is the sort of thing I'll steer the conversation towards ) even if I try to "sell" the idea. On the rare occasion when I do find someone who believes that their government is trying to scare from them, then I usually have to sort through nonsensical arguments like "the government is trying to make us into better consumers" . or "they want to oppress free thinkers, cause they know things"

Now i know we all have our fears, both rational and irrational and nobody want's to end up facing the ultimate fear ( in context of this thread ) ending up in a place like gitmo, hung upside down, with a set of jumper cables attached to their gonads ( well, except for the extremely kinky that is.. ) and maybe this fear of the government is spurred on by the thought that this sort of thing can and does happen to innocent people.

I'll buy into the idea that the American government is trying to justify their actions in Iraq by promoting that terrorism is a BIG threat ( see right wing news media for this theory in action ) and let's face it, America feels the need to always have an enemy to compare themselves against ( in a classic good vs evil way ) eg..the hunt for commies, and I could understand if fear of the government was confined only to America, but it's not. it's seems to transcend national boundaries and without cause,,,,IMO.

Maybe it's simply a matter of cynicism.

I just don't see the advantage, to anybody, of transforming a western society into a regime like N.Korea ( an extreme and ridiculous statement, I know ) but it's the passion with such "insights" into the motivations of our leaders are posted all over the internet that lead me to do more that merely dismiss these fears as the rantings of nutters.

Maybe I should, but I prefer dialogue. How else am I supposed to know if I've gotten it right ?

Posted: 17th Nov 2006
I have to oppose the idea that "free thinkers know things"...

IMHO free thinkers only raise questions and try to change the angle to look at things...

Carrying on the rebellion against your parents to rebel against your government is basically one thing: Questioning and opposing authority!

Personally I have a problem with authority if it is institutional. May it be parental, or professional. If authority is only based upon the mere fact, on hirarchy - I questioned it and will continue to question it. If authority derives from experience and wisdom, it has a different quality and appearance - therefore is much easier for me to accept and listen to.

Just because someone is crying out loudest and able to blind, or hyptnotise the masses - he by far is not an authority to me (except as in deception)...

If people want to tell me that Muslims, Palestinians, Israelis and so on are devils, only aiming to destruct this or that way of life - I don't buy it.

Actually I heard that Hitler was a vegetarian, never smoked, never drunk and never had illicit affairs... Actually I am convinced that many - if not most - suicide attackers might be good family members and parts of their society... except for this ONE deed in the end....

So to me the question is: in which instant such a weird and screwed up decision was made - for what reason? ... that changed something so significant and valuable as ones own life?

the best smiles are the ones you lead to