The Fascist State of America

Put your tiny foil hats on for a bit, I just need to get something out. Recent events have truly made me think that this country is actually going towards a totalitarian fascist state. I know it’s a cliche by now, but sometimes it really feels as if I’m living in a Orwell novel. Let’s start with the most obvious thing that happened recently, the crackdowns on the Occupy Wall Street camps around the country.

The crackdowns have taken place all over the country, and they have all had a very similar pattern. They all happened at night, with no previous warning or demand for protesters to leave, and they all happened by force. On top of that there have been reports that the Department of Homeland Security have participated in a meeting with 18 mayors from all around the country to discuss how to suppress the protesters. Unless it’s not clear, that is against federal law. Going a little deeper and looking at specific events it’s pretty clear that police did everything in their power to suppress the protesters, most likely not by their own will or thought, but by orders from their superiors. Pepper spraying non-violent defenseless people that, sure, were occupying a space, but did not show any signs of force whatsoever. In fact one of the biggest mantras of these protesters is peace, not force. Or the use of tear gas to clear people out, some that hit people and severely injure them. I know that some of you will shake your head and say that these people had it coming, and that they are just lazy bums that wants a hand out, and all I have to say to you at this point is open your eyes. It’s very clear what the OWS movement is after by now, it’s not about getting a handout or the inability to get a job, it’s about three very specific things. 1) To hold the banks responsible for their very large part in the economic crash. 2) To minimize the growing inequality gap that exists in the U.S. (i.e. save the middle class from vanishing). 3) Get the money out of politics. This mainly refers to the fact that corporations can now donate as much money as they like to any candidate they want, and in effect buy a candidate. Money apparently rules everything, so with enough money, big corporations can buy themselves any type of freedom they like to have. Which gets me to another point. How is it that it’s ok for people to camp out in public waiting for stores to open for black Friday, or to go and see the new Twilight movie, or a Justin Bieber concert, but not ok for people to camp out in protest of the wrongs that is going on in this country? Well, the answer is very simple to me, even if the answer is truly fucked up: Capitalism. The occupiers aren’t camping out to buy anything like the other groups of people are. It’s clear what this country is going towards, and it’s not the rights of the people, but the rights of the corporations, so of course every effort to suppress a movement that is against that will be taken.

But enough about the OWS situation, there is enough information about that for anyone to find, and if you don’t want to find it then keep your eyes closed and forever be a sheep. There is something else that I really want to talk about and that is something that happened this past weekend. It’s not really a big deal, that is, unless it wouldn’t have become such a big deal. A girl tweeted (to her staggering 65 Twitter followers) that she said mean things to the governor of Kansas in person. See, not a big deal right? It’s what happened next that is the big deal. Somehow someone in the governor’s office sensed some fowl words being said about her boss, and decided to bring it to the girl’s boss’ (i.e. her high school principal’s) attention. The principal called the girl into his office and demanded that she wrote the governor an apology letter and told her that she had put the whole school and the state to shame by tweeting what she did. Really? First of all, she is an 18 year old girl tweeting to 65 of her twitter friends… no one cares. Second of all, she has the right to say whatever the fuck she wants about whoever the fuck she wants. What’s funny to me is that the person in the governor’s office that contacted the principal has as her main job to monitor negative comments that are being said about the governor on social media sites. It’s like some type of gestapo lap dog sniffing out teenagers who disagrees with the governor’s policies. Well Ms. Lapdog, sniff out this: GOVERNOR SAM BROWNBACK IS A FUCKING ASSHOLE AND SHOULD NOT BE IN OFFICE. Are you gonna call my mommy on me? Stupid bitch… Sorry, back to the point. The fact that a governor has someone that not only monitors social media in order to find negative comments about him, but also goes to such an extent as to pretty much intimidate anyone that expresses their views to retract and apologize is just first hand fascism. I guess Kansas is the new Sicily…

Ok, pull down your foil hats even further now because here comes the big one. Within a minimum of 20 years there will be devices out there that can read our minds. This is not a joke, nor is it a crazy conspiracy theory, it’s fact. If you don’t believe me just click on this link: THIS ONE, RIGHT HERE!!! Sure, it does not say anything about any projection of true mind reading being finalized within any specific time frame, but just think about it. If today’s technology is so good that it can recreate images a person is looking at using only readings of that said person’s brain activity, it’s 99.999999% certain that within 20 years the technique will be perfected. Why do I bring this up? Well, in 20 years you won’t have anyone scanning the social media web for ‘disloyal’ teens, you will be scanning buildings for disloyal thoughts. And anyone with those thoughts better watch out, or your boss will call you into his office…

If you take away some very fundamental rights, rights that America and most of the developed countries, are based upon such as the right to protest, the right to free speech, and in the future, the right to free thought… then what is left is a fascist state almost identical to the one George Orwell predicted would come true in 1984, just a couple of decades late. I could go on and on about other things that show big signs toward this type of state becoming a reality, but I’ve already ranted on for over 1100 words, and frankly I’m tired.

Death Comes When We Least Expect It…

Today I visited the DMV. As always on Saturdays the place was packed so I expected to reside there for a while. I decided to take my (shitty) smartphone out to check my facebook and other social sites to kill some time. That is something I wish I would not have done. I had no notifications, but one of my friend’s post caught my eye. He had written Rest In Peace followed by one of my other friend’s names…

At first I thought it was some type of cruel joke, and I almost wrote an angry comment on the post telling him that death is not something to joke about. But before I had come that far another similar post from another friend popped up. This is when I realized that what I had thought to simply be a cruel joke may actually be reality. Only a minute after I read the second post I received a phone call from one of my best friends from Sweden, currently residing in NYC. The call was filled with tears and the confirmation that what was written on facebook was in fact true.

This is only the second death of someone that I have known for a long time that I have ever experienced. The first one being my aunt. This was different though, this was someone that was about my age, healthy, and an all around lively person, whereas my aunt had battled lung cancer after years of smoking so in a sense you had some time to prepare for that loss. I did not know how to react, all I knew was that I was very confused. How can a perfectly healthy 27 year old suddenly die from cardiac arrest?

I was never incredibly close to the man who passed away, but I did spend a lot of time with him, and he was an essential part in the group that used to hang out together back in Sweden. The thing I liked most about him was that he was always 100% himself. When I first met him I was somewhat put off by him and his manners, he had always been a very sarcastic person and enjoyed getting a laugh on other people’s expenses. I actually thought that he sort of had it out for me in the beginning. However, when I actually got to know him I realized that his jokes were applied to everyone, not just me, and that he was indeed a very wonderful, incredibly smart, and a really loving person. He would always put a smile on people’s faces and he was always one of the central forces in our group of friends. He never explained his jokingly ways, he always had the mentality that either people got him right away, or they would figure him out later once they actually got to know him. There are not enough people like that in the world.

Sadly we now have one less of those people. You did have a big impact on my life, and you were an essential part in my teenage years and was a big part of forming the man I am today. Even though we haven’t spent much time together since I moved to the U.S. I have always been able to look back at all the laughs we had and the great times we all shared during those years. It’s funny how I always expected you to be part of that whenever I returned home… and now you won’t be. Wherever you are right now, know that you left a lot of people who love you behind. Tonight I drink Fernet in your honor. R.I.P.