General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Dear Pres. Obama: Dissent isn’t Possible in a Surveillance State (By Juan Cole) [View all]JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Or better said, dissent is very dangerous.
Talk to anyone who lived in East Germany or certain other parts of Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
When the government has an effective surveillance system (and ours does) physical or violent repression is invisible. But everyone knows.
Do you think for a minute that I would write what I do if I were still working? I learned the hard way not to speak my mind in the workplace ore even publicly when I was working.
I don't think so. The silencing of expression is already here. It's called "chilling speech" when government activities make people afraid or nervous about speaking their minds. Remember that expression. You might want to learn more about it. It is a legal term: "chilling speech."