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Has the US become the type of nation from which you have to seek asylum?

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Has the US become the type of nation from which you have to seek asylum?

#81

Post by VLM »

Retric wrote: post #28
dsego wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Governments have to be kept in check. They're granted great power and people who have power tend to abuse it. My understanding is that the founding fathers were realists and recognised this very early on.

Having guns does little to hold government in chech. A well educated, well informed, and politically active populace on the other hand is a strait jacket. Which is why free assembly and free speech are so important.

"A well educated, well informed, and politically active populace"

Observation shows a media oligopoly merged with .gov, makes a effective exploit against that set of conditions.

A right, never used, may as well not exist.

Re: Has the US become the type of nation from which you have to seek asylum?

#82

Post by buo »

An American that had to seek asylum from the US government was Bobby Fischer, one of the best chess players in history. His offense: playing a chess match against Boris Spassky in Yugoslavia (he also owed taxes).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer#1992_Spassky_rema...

Re: Has the US become the type of nation from which you have to seek asylum?

#83

Post by vacri »

euroclydon wrote: post #10
josephagoss wrote: post #2

Americans might not realise this but we see the USA in the same light as China and Russia when it comes to freedoms. We might be wrong, but thats the perception myself and many other people from outside the USA see the current state of the situation. To think anyone would feel safe in the USA is ridiculous, the USA is one of the last places anyone should seek refuge in modern times. What scares me most is the United…

You certainly do not speak for everyone outside the U.S. who has asked themselves the question: "Can I name a U.S. reporter who has disappeared or been murdered for producing material critical of the government?" or "Are U.S. citizens routinely arrested and placed in re-education by labor camps for a year without a trial?"

You may not want to wave your "people in the US aren't incarcerated unjustly" flag too hard, not to mention that prison labour is a quickly growing industry in the US.

Re: Has the US become the type of nation from which you have to seek asylum?

#84

Post by dawkins »

zmb_ wrote: post #56
josephagoss wrote: post #2

Americans might not realise this but we see the USA in the same light as China and Russia when it comes to freedoms. We might be wrong, but thats the perception myself and many other people from outside the USA see the current state of the situation. To think anyone would feel safe in the USA is ridiculous, the USA is one of the last places anyone should seek refuge in modern times. What scares me most is the United…

As a European I wouldn't say I see the USA in the same light as China and Russia, but I definitely feel uncomfortable when I have to travel to the US for work. Given the US's recent track record with human rights and the ongoing mass surveillance, I just can't be sure some innocent comment on some website I've made at some point won't flag me and cause me to be indefinitely detained. I know it's probably not likely,…

I'm european too and while I don't consider the US in the same league as China or Russia I had the same feeling the last time I traveled to US.

Re: Has the US become the type of nation from which you have to seek asylum?

#85

Post by joonix »

youngerdryas wrote: post #58
twoodfin wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't even begin to comprehend how bad your sources of information are if you think the levels of freedom in the U.S. and China are more closely comparable than those of the U.S. and Australia.

If he is sitting in Australia in fear of the US I think he needs more help than a few words will offer.

Yep. Australia has no interest in conflict w/ the US. Australia even has a poor record of standing up for its own citizens when persecuted abroad. They are a tiny nation with a vast amount of land and a big reliance on sea-trade. Not to mention they are a "western" resource-rich country surrounded by billions of people in surrounding Asian countries.

Re: Has the US become the type of nation from which you have to seek asylum?

#87

Post by powertower »

stevoski wrote: post #38
josephagoss wrote: post #2

Americans might not realise this but we see the USA in the same light as China and Russia when it comes to freedoms. We might be wrong, but thats the perception myself and many other people from outside the USA see the current state of the situation. To think anyone would feel safe in the USA is ridiculous, the USA is one of the last places anyone should seek refuge in modern times. What scares me most is the United…

I agree, as a New Zealander living in Spain. I've been staggered over the last decade or so to hear of the USA performing: * "extraordinary renditions" (kidnapping), sometimes of the wrong person who after months gets dumped in Albania. * "enhanced interrogation techniques" such as waterboarding (torture) * holding people indefinitely without charge or trial in Guantanamo Bay * killing people remotely in foreign coun…

What you posted are a few negative events. What you did not post are the few million or billion positive events that happened at the same time.

What you're reading/seeing is an ever increasingly opinionated and vocal crowd that think they possess the truth and are right about everything. They want a perfect system. And a simple system. And worst of all, they don't know what they don't know (how utterly destructive their actions and changes would be). So this negativity parade continues... Where they hold a magnifying glass on the few negative events while pretending what they are seeing is the entire picture.

Re: Has the US become the type of nation from which you have to seek asylum?

#88

Post by mbesto »

josephagoss wrote: post #2

Americans might not realise this but we see the USA in the same light as China and Russia when it comes to freedoms. We might be wrong, but thats the perception myself and many other people from outside the USA see the current state of the situation. To think anyone would feel safe in the USA is ridiculous, the USA is one of the last places anyone should seek refuge in modern times. What scares me most is the United…

Let's be fair, you don't speak on behalf of your whole country, nor the "many other people from outside the USA" so I can only take your comment "we see the USA in the same light as China and Russia" with a fine grain of salt...as should others. I say this on top of the fact that I'm someone who lives in London, where I interact with Aussies, Brits, Kiwis, Americans, and Europeans (amongst many others) on a daily basis. I haven't had an even seen an inkling of what you're describing, but again, you and I are just one and two data points.

To think anyone would feel safe in the USA is ridiculous

I'm not sure what your background is, but for 99% of the population of the world, the US is a comparatively very safe place to live.

Re: Has the US become the type of nation from which you have to seek asylum?

#89

Post by Shivetya »

Considering the changes this Administration made regarding who it can 'legally' target with drones, would being outside of this country, asylum or not, be safe?

Which countries large enough to not allow our use of their airspace don't have extradition treaties? Russia?

Re: Has the US become the type of nation from which you have to seek asylum?

#90

Post by qwerta »

xradionut wrote: post #70
stevoski wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, as a New Zealander living in Spain. I've been staggered over the last decade or so to hear of the USA performing: * "extraordinary renditions" (kidnapping), sometimes of the wrong person who after months gets dumped in Albania. * "enhanced interrogation techniques" such as waterboarding (torture) * holding people indefinitely without charge or trial in Guantanamo Bay * killing people remotely in foreign coun…

Most of the US populous has jobs, beer and entertainment. Plus they might with the lottery some day and join the 1%.

1% in prison? :-)
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