How are we not living in a totalitarian regime?

Question

The state regulates and controls everything you come in contact with, speaking out against the government gets you labeled a "right wing radical" or whatever they're calling enemies of the state these days, we are wholly dependent on the state for our protection, as killing in self defense always provokes a torrent of lawsuits and criminal charges and it is usually cheaper to give you attacker your valuables then go through the court system to avoid going to prison, and before you even have the option to defend yourself you have to wade through a myriad of state licensing and registration programs.

On the same note, the state safeguards itself from any uprisings by stationing a standing army among the citizenry (national guard) and banning the ownership of the only weapons that would provide any significant threat to them. (artillery, automatic weapons, and if Obama has his way even semi-automatic and ergonomically correct weaponry will reside only in the state's hands)

The state controls absolutely everything; private property is a meaningless illusion. The state owns your land and home; you rent it from them (property tax) and if they want to put something else there they can render you homeless with the swish of a pen. You have no right to transport yourself; you must rent automobiles and the ability to drive them from the state (driving licensing, mandatory insurance, ability to tow your car)

No totalitarianism is complete without secret police, so the NSA (National Security Agency) can and does scan every email you send or receive, every search you make on Google or any similar site, your entire browsing history, and everything else you do on the internet. All ISPs must surrender this information to the gestap- err NSA. If anything "suspicious" comes up they can and will search anything you "own", your history at any agency that keeps records, and if they decide you're a threat they can detain you indefinitely without trial. All of this can be done without informing any outside agency, and private reporting of these incidents are prohibited as threats to national security.

The state even owns you personally. Your owners take a portion of everything you produce, under the guise that it's going to help someone somewhere. Your labor is not your own, it belongs to the state, and it is simply generous enough to allow you to keep something of what you make. Along the same lines of "the state knows better than you what is good for you", drugs are illegal. I'm not just talking about marijuana, which is proven to have little if any negative effects if used under the proper circumstances, but even dangerous drugs like cocaine, heroin, and LSD. If used in private areas by consenting adults drugs harm no one but the user; so laws against their use mean that the state knows what is best for you. After all, you are their property.

So please tell me, how are we not living in fascism?

Answer 1

Take a step back, and realize that you are only seeing one side of things.



From my point of view, anyone who questions the neutrality of the right-wing media gets labeled a "filthy tax-evading socialist welfare leech".



I don't see how your self-defense concerns have changed at all since Obama took office. If you shoot someone and kill them, you're going to be asked to explain yourself and justify the necessity to use lethal force. It's part of the responsibility of living in a civilized community.



The national guard is for our defense. Thinking that they're in place to keep the public under control is outright paranoia.



You own your property. Paying taxes on it does not change this. If you consider this "renting it" from the government, it's the cheapest rent I've ever heard of in my life.



Again, having to pay for registration on your car doesn't mean that you don't own it. It's equity, in that you can transfer ownership to someone else in exchange for legal tender. If you were renting, you could not do this. "Taxes" on cars (you're really talking about fees here) are a TINY part of the cost of ownership. It's almost nothing compared to the cost of insurance, maintenance, gas and the cost of purchasing the vehicle in the first place.



The NSA doesn't scan every email sent or received. This is a mathematical impossibility, given the amount of email sent around every day, and the limits of computing power. ISPs surrender information to the recording industry, so I'm not sure why you think that this is any less "big brother" than the NSA.



The type of society you're advocating would be impossible in today's world.



Also, I'm not sure you know what "Tyranny" means. President Obama does not have absolute power. If he did, he would push his agenda through effortlessly, disband congress and the supreme court, and declare himself king.



He has not done these things (despite the nut jobs that claim that he will, with no supporting evidence whatsoever).

Answer 2

Look, am an anarchist we would love to see the State done away with entirely but you’re being a drama queen.



Liberals got to whine and ***** in 2000 and 2004 when their guy lost. This time, the right winger’s guy got his butt handed to him in a fair election. We have a bad government, at times an oppressive one, but this isn’t Hitler’s Germany of Mao’s Cultural Revolution.



Other than that, I actually agree with everything you wrote.

Answer 3

Ooh, you should move to Saudi Arabia or any 3rd world nation, then. They have no income taxes, no state/federal taxes, no taxes on goods, none at all. They also don't support any of their poorest citizens...fend for yourself.....likely why millions of children starved to death last year....but, hey, that's their problem, right?? As is evidenced by any youtube video, they apparently have no gun laws....shoot up anything you like. The saudi government is a bit fascist as well, but in the 3rd world, they barely have a functioning government, so you will be happy to know that you are free to do what you want when you want.



Have fun packing!!

Answer 4

Feel Better? Things are bad and getting worse. But the other answerers (is that a word?) are right, it could be much much worse. That is the problem with so many people here, our education system has become so poor and they have no idea what's in the pasture on the other side of the fence. They have no idea how much manure is actually out there!

Answer 5

The fact that you can ask this question without being arrested, jailed, or killed is proof enough to me that we don't live in a totalitarian state.



Move to North Korea for 10 years, come back, and tell me you EVER lived in a totalitarian state.

Answer 6

Yes we are but you know what? The PEOPLE in this country are getting just as bad. This entire phucking country is trying to get the other guy to live the way they want them to live. Hypocrites.