Reply #18: Tyranny comes in many forms.

[endarkenment]

The new techno-savvy madison avenue packaged police state looks nothing like the dreary retro-1930's classic totalitarian states of North Korea or Burma. We are under 24/7 watch just like they are, but we are allowed to carp about crap on the internets without fear of water-boarding, at least so far we are allowed to do this. On the other hand, public demonstrations of even moderate size are strictly controlled, public demonstrations in conjunction with offical state events are relegated to 'free speech zones', and in general a fairly strict media blackout of dissident behavior is observed by the compliant/complicit media. We maintain a public gulag that holds the current top prize for highest percentage of citizens incarcerated. We maintain a secret gulag of unknown size that incarcerates without charges and tortures an unknown number of people around the world. Our government spies on all electronic communications and has built a huge electronic database (see Total Information Awareness) that is being put to unknown uses. The broadcast media is completely controlled by the plutocracy. It is being used to conduct the most extensive and prevasive brainwashing campaign in the history of human civilization. Our elections are ripe with fraud and our election process is corrupted and controlled again by the plutocracy that is in power and controls both political parties and all branches of government. It is a very modern police state that we have.

You hold tight to that comfort thought that we are not Burma.