> Chuck wrote:
>
>
>
> >Well, we DO live in a police state and you don't have to be an American
> >person of color to point that out.
>
>
> We live in Lockdown America, as Christian Parenti calls it, but
> that's not the same as a police state.
>
>
> >The U.S. incarcerates more people than any other nation on the planet.
>
>
> You're not one of them. If we lived in a police state, you would be,
> wouldn't you?
>
Given American incarceration rates perhaps political dissidence partly takes
the individualistic form (crime)? But more to the point, Chuck was arguing
that to engage in serious political dissent at the collective level runs the
risk of temporary incarceration. Being incarcerated by the state for
peaceful dissent (no-matter) the length of the time is political repression
organized by the state and carried out by the police. The only thing which
mitigates against a "real" police state is an independent judiciary that
does not seem too interested in allowing state sponsored political
repression to go beyond police "harassment". Indeed in Canada the police
and the Crown have had very little success in getting the courts to convict
on the charges that are brought against political protesters. In a full
police state the judiciary would simply rubber stamp the actions of the
police.
Travis