Originally posted by: cr0ssfire
We don't have a right to privacy. Therefore, I don't usually expect a whole lot of it in situations like these. With online filesharing, for example, I knew it was only a matter of time before "the man" started policing the networks and we've gotten to the point where we are today where the RIAA is .
But even if we don't have a right to privacy, there comes a time when you've got to draw the line and I think that this is one of those instances where the line may have been crossed. Like others, I'm really not someone who has anything to hide nor do I want to somehow prohibit the law from being enforced. The law should be enforced because, well, it's the law. But even if you haven't done anything wrong there's something very unsettling about having someone figuratively looking over your shoulder and watching your every move almost as if they're just waiting for you to do something wrong. And as for this supposed shortage, well, I don't know about any of you but I'd much rather be giving American police officers paying jobs than have a bunch of cameras watching everything.
It's a bad idea and I think it'll run into a lot of opposition. But if you think that we're living in an advanced Fascistic state here in the USA then you're sorely mistaken. Although putting these little cameras everywhere might be a nuisance and an invasion of privacy, we still do enjoy many freedoms that people elsewhere don't have. China, as I'm sure you know, regulates the Internet very strictly. We have not only the freedom to generally go to whatever internet sites we want, but we also have protection for that freedom in the form of the First Amendment to ensure that Big Brother can't censor certain web sites just because they express opinions or views the adminstration disagrees with. And if memory serves me correctly, I believe I read a story a few days ago detailing how somewhere in Canada the idea was proposed to use chips of some sort to monitor car speeds.
Wow, I just can't let this post go. It is full of so many middle-ground fallacies, general BS, and just plain wrong.
We don't have a right to privacy.
Already discussed this. 4th Amendment.
With online filesharing, for example, I knew it was only a matter of time before "the man" started policing the networks and we've gotten to the point where we are today where the RIAA is .
The RIAA is not the government.
But even if we don't have a right to privacy, there comes a time when you've got to draw the line and I think that this is one of those instances where the line may have been crossed. Like others, I'm really not someone who has anything to hide nor do I want to somehow prohibit the law from being enforced.
Enforcing the law has nothing to do with my right to privacy, nor does it have anything to do with hiding something. The argument "why care if you've nothing to hide" is nothing more than a logical fallacy. It *assumes* you have something to hide, or otherwise you wouldn't care. Total bullsh!t. I don't have anything to hide, but it is neither the government's right or place to impose anything on me without a warrant. I am to be secure in my home against their unwarranted intrusions. Simply a fallacy of begging the question.
The law should be enforced because, well, it's the law.
That's stupid. Why should bad laws be enforced? Until Lawrence vs. Texas the goddamn sodomy laws in this nation had validity. Those should NOT have been being enforced. Sitting on a milk-crate in NYC? Used to be illegal -- hell it still may be, so why not enforce that? The law should be enforced when it is reasonable and prudent, and even then there is large discretion given to the police and our court system. Arresting people because they broke the law in an unrealistic and naive viewpoint. The jails, courtrooms, and prisons would be glutted with our very best citizens.
But if you think that we're living in an advanced Fascistic state here in the USA then you're sorely mistaken. Although putting these little cameras everywhere might be a nuisance and an invasion of privacy, we still do enjoy many freedoms that people elsewhere don't have. China, as I'm sure you know, regulates the Internet very strictly.
I don't live in China. I live in the USA, and in the USA I have Constitutional Rights. Secondly, I'm not willing to give up freedom after freedom "just because we've got more rights than China." I don't care if you can fvck a bullmoose in China, because their rights and abilities are not applicable to me. I want the freedom I've always had and then some. Eroding our rights due to international hegemony is not something I'm for.
We have not only the freedom to generally go to whatever internet sites we want, but we also have protection for that freedom in the form of the First Amendment to ensure that Big Brother can't censor certain web sites just because they express opinions or views the adminstration disagrees with.
If this were only true. Lookup the case of Chris Wilson from "Nowthatsfvckedup.com" I will warn you that the site is explicit, so I didn't link it for that reason. Terms to search for would be: Chris+Wilson+Polk+County. Websites CERTAINLY are shutdown by this government, even if done with a thinly-veiled attacked by local governments. There's a plethora of information that the Army was heavily involved in getting the site and its creator in legal trouble. Why? Because they had graphic pictures from the war, and a lot of soldiers accessing the place.
And if memory serves me correctly, I believe I read a story a few days ago detailing how somewhere in Canada the idea was proposed to use chips of some sort to monitor car speeds.
I find it very sad how ignorant you are about the eroding of rights in the United States. Not only are rental car companies doing this now, but the US government has certainly been interested in it. As well as chips that disable your car after a "beam" is focused on them, tracking passive GPS signals, and constantly attempting to get warrants to track the GPS positioning of cellphones. It isn't China that I'm worried about, friend. It is the US of fvcking A!
