America

[RealAmerican]

America is a great nation despite its flaws and faults. But this nation is going to collapse from beneath us if we ignore our duty to speak out. we must speak out for our freedoms and we must be willing to make certain sacrifices to keep out freedom and for our posterity to keep theirs. we will lose all freedom if we do not speak out. of course we cannot have complete freedom. the country cannout function if we have complete freedom. i tihnk that we need to trust in our government but at the same time speak our mind. if we think something is wrong we need to say it. we also need to be educated. a nation of ignorance will fall apart. think about this and post some responses... ill try to clarify this the more people dont understand.

[plazul]

Nobody has ever accused me of not speaking out and I think most Americans stand ready to offer their opinions and give free advice to anybody who will listen. In fact, when I travel abroad people say that Americans are the most opinionated people in the world. Goes with the territory, I guess.

[RealAmerican]

Yes, that is true. But i think that most American speak out about too much. We have to have a certain degree of trust in our government and we have to let some things stand. There are too many people worried about too many insignificant things for anything significant to be done about major issues.

[illuminati]

What are your thoughts on the Patriot Act?

Too much big brother? Not enough?

Worried about how we are losing our individual liberties/rights as Americans because of this act?

Originally Posted by RealAmerican

America is a great nation despite its flaws and faults. But this nation is going to collapse from beneath us if we ignore our duty to speak out. we must speak out for our freedoms and we must be willing to make certain sacrifices to keep out freedom and for our posterity to keep theirs. we will lose all freedom if we do not speak out. of course we cannot have complete freedom. the country cannout function if we have complete freedom. i tihnk that we need to trust in our government but at the same time speak our mind. if we think something is wrong we need to say it. we also need to be educated. a nation of ignorance will fall apart. think about this and post some responses... ill try to clarify this the more people dont understand.

[plazul]

Originally Posted by RealAmerican

Yes, that is true. But i think that most American speak out about too much. We have to have a certain degree of trust in our government and we have to let some things stand. There are too many people worried about too many insignificant things for anything significant to be done about major issues.

Whether you think an issue is significant or not is subjective and that subjectivity is the root of all political argument.

I would much rather see Americans taking their First Amendment rights to the extreme as opposed to withdrawing from the political arena in apathy and complacency.

[plazul]

Originally Posted by illuminati

What are your thoughts on the Patriot Act?

Too much big brother? Not enough?

Worried about how we are losing our individual liberties/rights as Americans because of this act?

The Patriot Act is the refuge of a bunch of scoundrels who claim that we must trade liberty for security. And you know what Ben Franklin said about that attitude.

If the Patriot Act is allowed to stand it will be the end of civil liberty as we know it. If you are a true patriot, you must oppose it and defy it at every turn.

[illuminati]

Originally Posted by plazul

I would much rather see Americans taking their First Amendment rights to the extreme as opposed to withdrawing from the political arena in apathy and complacency.

Summed up nicely. I'd hate to see a book show up on the shelves in the future titled:

America: Empathy or Apathy?

[illuminati]

Originally Posted by plazul

The Patriot Act is the refuge of a bunch of scoundrels who claim that we must trade liberty for security. And you know what Ben Franklin said about that attitude.

If the Patriot Act is allowed to stand it will be the end of civil liberty as we know it. If you are a true patriot, you must oppose it and defy it at every turn.

I'll wait for Tombstone to comment on this one. He's a pretty true blue patriot. (Don't let me down Tombstone!)

Actually, I won't wait! There are enough laws on the books already (pre-patriot act) to accomplish what needs to be done. I may expand on this later - but gotta run!

[RealAmerican]

i completely oppose the patriot act with all my might and i do think that it is best for all americans to stay in the 'political arena'. but i think that there is a large percentage of American that are not completely educated on the issues at hand. I think that Americans should spend more time researching before they speak and then maybe we could advance in our nation. I mean the only thing that comes of people speaking out against everything is that the government gets tired of hearing it. instead i think the best approach would be to become well informed and then attack each issue seperately. I think then we could progress faster with more backing from government officials.

[plazul]

I agree that it's best to understand a little bit about an issue before you opine on it. Too bad that most of the politicians who voted for the Patriot Act didn't bother to read it.