Ask HN: US this bad about civil liberties?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5846019

by ghosh • 13 years ago

2 5 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

lifeguard3• 13 years ago

Dear Internet,

America has become a very strange place. At the same time our military was "bringing freedom to the Iraqi peoples", our legislature and executive conspired to remove or automate much judicial review of spying. In effect American citizens lost another type of liberty.

We seem to be better at protecting our access to riffles. Most of the liberties created by America's founding fathers (women were not allowed to vote) were designed to thwart the power of a monarchy and the power of the Roman-Catholic church. Many of these founding fathers were members of a fraternity called the Free Masons and read authors like John Locke. My point is they were a fairly homogeneous group of Englishmen.

Since then America has expanded civil rights explicit in the Constitution to include people of all races and genders. But the Industrial age has been a constant force of erosion of our liberties. Our elections are not publicly funded. This means there is a huge advantage to material wealth and the wealthy have steered Congress to benefit themselves.

The bright shinning star of hope for The Land of The Free is our government is not systemically corrupt, at least not in the traditional meaning of corrupt.

I think this is a good discussion by Prof Lessig, "Republic Lost":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxCo2bE9Gtk

fianchetto• 13 years ago

"Rulers who distrust their own people, must govern in a spirit of absolutism ; and suspected subjects will be ever sensible of their bondage."

The Constitutional History Of England Vol II

Erskine May

1863

lifeguard3• 13 years ago

In the first place we have granted to God, and by this our present charter confirmed for us and our heirs forever that the English Church shall be free, and shall have her rights entire, and her liberties inviolate; and we will that it be thus observed; which is apparent from this that the freedom of elections, which is reckoned most important and very essential to the English Church, we, of our pure and unconstrained will, did grant, and did by our charter confirm and did obtain the ratification of the same from our lord, Pope Innocent III, before the quarrel arose between us and our barons: and this we will observe, and our will is that it be observed in good faith by our heirs forever. ++We have also granted to all freemen of our kingdom, for us and our heirs forever, all the underwritten liberties, to be had and held by them and their heirs, of us and our heirs forever.++

King John of England, Magna Carta

1215

Ask HN: US this bad about civil liberties?

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