More Shameful Thoughts

After I posted my gripe about the survey showing that many people dont know the five protected rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, a feller pointed out that occasionally the Bill of rights gets trotted out in Man-on-the-street interviews and folks say they wouldnt vote for them.

Okay I get that the survey was far from conclusive. I also get that these are usually stunts designed to give the kinds of responses that are anticipated. That these are really just events designed to sell papers, gather viewers or generate page clicks. As I said, it is not unexpected that most folks in the US who can claim citizenship have just about zero understanding about government or the constitution.

Now I have this idea of randomly taking a person who has no understanding of say, the Bill of Rights, or someone who says they wouldnt vote for it; taking them and subjecting them to what it would be like to live in the USA without those freedoms granted by that document.

Think on that for a moment.

Imagine a Sunday in which you are required to attend a Church of America. It doesnt matter if your ancestors and family were Hindu, Muslim, Catholic, Unitarian , Quaker or anything else. You are only allowed and may even be required to worship a state sponsored religion. In, fact participating in other services or even not participating at all may well be illegal. This is because there is no right guaranteeing the freedom of and from state established religion.

Now think for a moment of the speech freedom. Imagine being jailed, fined or otherwise punished for saying, writing or producing any work that is not approved. Say you post on a web forum that you think the state or federal government is wrong about something and suddenly you are delivered a fine or even jailed for it. And it may be completely innocuous. You may simply have said that you dont think that taxes are well spent on a particular local roads project. But because it is not a sanctioned opinion, you may well be punished for it. All because you have no right to speak your mind.

The newspaper you read, the news you watch at night and any other press is censored by the government. The only news that is broadcast is that which is approved by the government. Reporters have no ability or right to protect sources. In fact they may be kept under watch by an agent of the government as they compile a news story. Think Pravda during the height of the Cold War in Russia. This is because there is no freedom of the press.

Now think about your work. Or addressing the city council on a matter. You cannot belong to a union or even attempt to organize one that isnt approved by the government because you have no right to peaceably assemble. in fact there may be a law stating that any gathering of more than three people must be attended by a representative of the government or possibly apply for a license. You are not allowed to address the city council about an issue because the people are not allowed to petition the government for a redress of grievances. In fact, you may not even question a proposed law at all for fear of violating speech laws in addition to petition laws.

And this is just the First Amendment.

Imatgine having your home and person searched at any time without warrant or even probable cause because there is no Fourth Amendment. Yes I realize that this happens already...but the key difference is that currently people are either served with a warrant, the police have to show probable cause or ask for permission. Granted most people say "yes" out of fear. But you have the right to shut the door and tell them to go away. Imagine that. Getting pulled over for a traffic infraction. The officer simply orders you and your family out of the car. And he begins to search without even the most Basic permission. And any evidence found stands up in court. If a policeman were to do that today, the case would be thrown out of court without showing permission, warrant or probable cause.

Then once you are arrested, you get a trial without a jury. You may be locked up for months or years without even that trial. You may be forced to deliver evidence against yourself. You may even be arrested and tried again and again for the same violation until the verdict is the one desired by the government. This is all because of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.

Speaking of the Fifth amendment...You like that nice house you bought and still owe 200,000 dollars on? Without the Fifth, the government can take it from you and use it as they wish without compensation or evaluation

So yes...I would like to see people who have no understanding of the Bill of Rights see what likely would be like to live in a place without those rights. It might open a few eyes as to how good we have it and how close we are to losing it because of that apathy.

Shameful

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/local_story_060090843.html
(sorry, eblogger's ability to embed links doesnt seem to work real well at the moment)

"A survey released Wednesday showcases a bit of data that should surprise nobody: Americans know more about "The Simpsons" than they do about the 1st Amendment.

The study, conducted by the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, focuses on the 1st Amendment and found that less than one percent of the respondents could identify the five protected rights: freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly and to petition the government."


Okay...granted it was a survey of 1000 people. There are some 260(?) million people in the US. So it is hardly a complete sample. Also it doesnt specify whether those folks surveyed were US born citizens, naturalized citizens or illegal/resident aliens. Nevertheless, it isnt beyond the pale to believe that only a tiny fraction of US citizens know much about our own government and history. Shit, I bet a poll of naturalized citizens would find a much higher rate of people who would be able to spot that the last one noted in the atrticle is incomplete.

But how much you wanna bet that folks who know next to nothing about their government feel qualified to criticize that same government?