The First Amendment and more signs the future is bleak

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
I remember when I was in high school, there were fellow students arguing that it was right that we shouldn't have privacy rights because if we didn't have anything to hide, it wouldn't be a problem.

People have always argued that.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
People have always argued that.

Many people have always been inclined towards authoritarianism. I imagine if this poll were taken at large, it would find similar results.

[Geronimo]

I wonder how people who think the government should be able to control our speech imagine that a challenger could ever defeat an incumbant who was effectively silencing his rival?


without freedom of the press there is no democracy of any kind. full stop.


Why is it that stupidity always seems so much more widespread in polls than among people we meet and talk to?

[DanS]

Since the White House has admitted that it paid columnists to write articles and produced news-like stories that it distributed to tv news stations, would this be an example of the media "out of control" or the media being manipulated into that nice, cushy control thing?
Just curious.

Neither. It means that the news organizations aren't spending any money on news gathering. It happens with the drug industry too. They prepackage footage for the news programs. The news programs use it because it's free and of reasonable visual quality.

As for the survey, I don't believe the results when this comes up...

Only half of students surveyed (51%) said newspapers should be allowed to publish stories without prior government approval.

[Space05us]

-Seventy-five percent erroneously think flag burning is illegal.

it should be

As for the study its poop, I remember years ago thinking how much better things would be if it were like the world in '1984'.

what a dumbass I was/am.

[PLATO]

Looking over this thread...I just don't know about some people.

Apathy is the mother of Despair.

To not know where your rights come from and why they are important is the first step to losing them.

Sad...sad...sad.

[Admiral]

While I do not have any access to facts, empirical evidence suggests that these studies are not entirely accurate. I went to highschool in central virginia, and there did not seem to be a large minority of people who were unsupportive of the first ammendment.

Also, lately, people with authoritarian tendencies tend to vote Republican. Given that, among 18-24 year olds, Kerry won by 74%, there is some hope to the youth of today. However, I suppose that you could argue that the people who don't care about the first ammendment probably wouldn't vote, so my argument may be spurious. But it doesn't feel right.

[The Emperor Fabulous]

Originally posted by DanS

As for the survey, I don't believe the results when this comes up...

Having been in highschool more recently than you, I can attest that its not out of the question. I remember a debate we had in my Honors Civics & Government class about Censorship, and how a larger group than I was comfortable with (maybe 40% of the class) thought that newpapers should have governmental scrutiny.

[Space05us]

Morale to the story, dont lower the voting age.

[The Emperor Fabulous]

Agreed

[Sava]

Originally posted by Space05us

-Seventy-five percent erroneously think flag burning is illegal.

it should be

nope... I would never burn the American flag... I think it's a disgraceful display of ignorance.

But the second it became illegal, I would burn it. Because that's when it becomes a worthless piece of ****.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Geronimo
Why is it that stupidity always seems so much more widespread in polls than among people we meet and talk to?

Smart people tend to stay away from idiots.

[Space05us]

Smart people tend to stay away from idiots.

Apolyton being the prime example of how Kuci is wrong.

[Odin]

Originally posted by Sava
nope... I would never burn the American flag... I think it's a disgraceful display of ignorance.

But the second it became illegal, I would burn it. Because that's when it becomes a worthless piece of ****.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Geronimo
Why is it that stupidity always seems so much more widespread in polls than among people we meet and talk to?

Birds of a feather flock together.