Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Sadness
I feel like civil liberties in this country are not only being taken away, but are being given away because it "makes us safer". I have a hard time stomaching this sort of thing (aren't we a free country? Aren't some of the liberties being taken away from us similar to staunched liberties we decry in other countries?).
But I digress. What the results of this poll told me, is that it makes sense (in a twisted way) for people to be giving up certain rights because they don't even know what rights are guaranteed to them in the first place.
The name of the poll? Study: Few Americans Know 1st Amendment
I remember learning these rights a couple different times in my schooling. Aside from that, how the hell can we go around condemning other countries/govts/dictators/'Presidents' for restricting rights when we don't even know which of ours our guaranteed?
Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances.) But more than half can name at least two members of the cartoon family, according to a survey.
The study by the new McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpson family members, compared with just one in 1,000 people who could name all five First Amendment freedoms.
...
The survey found more people could name the three "American Idol" judges than identify three First Amendment rights. They were also more likely to remember popular advertising slogans.
What does this say about our society? This frightens me a bit. More attention is paid to TV (so-called 'reality' tv at that) than to our rights (which is actual reality).
Maybe I need to resign myself to the fact that one day I may not be able to (1) speak my mind (out loud, in public or on the internet), (2) worship who/what/how I want, (3) read or contribute to uncensored newspapers, (4) gather with others in protest, or (5) petition an elected official for redress of my grievances, but at least I'll be able to vote for my favorite hyped-up 'singer'!
