December 28, 2010
from
TheEconomicCollapseBlog Website
Doesn’t it seem like almost everything is
becoming a crime in America now?
Americans are being arrested and charged with
crimes for doing things like leaving dog poop on the ground, opening up
Christmas presents early, not recycling properly, farting in class and
having brown lawns. But is it healthy for our society for the police to be
involved in such silly things? Every single day the United States inches
closer to becoming a totalitarian society.
While there are some that would welcome this shift, the truth is that
throughout history the societies that have experienced the greatest economic
prosperity have all had at least a certain level of freedom. Business
thrives when people feel free to live and work. When a government tightens
the grip too much many people just start shutting down. Just look at places
like North Korea. Even though the rest of the world is sending them huge
amounts of food starvation is still quite common in that totalitarian
regime.
That is why it is so disturbing that it seems like almost everything has
become a crime in America now. As we continue to criminalize relatively
normal behavior our slide toward becoming a totalitarian state will only
accelerate.
We are throwing anyone and everyone in prison these days. It is getting
absolutely ridiculous. Today, the United States leads the world in the
number of prisoners and in the percentage of the population in prison.
The
United States has 5% of the world’s population, but approximately 25% of the
world’s incarcerated population.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, as of the end of 2009 a
total of 7,225,800 people were either on probation, in prison or on parole
in America.
That is a sign of a very, very sick society. Either we have a massive crime
problem or the “control grid” that our leaders have erected for us is wildly
out of control.
Or both...
But how in the world are we supposed to have a healthy economy if our entire
nation is being turned into one gigantic prison?
Sadly, it is not just hardcore criminals that are being rounded up and
abused by authorities these days.
The following are 14 of the most
ridiculous things that Americans are being arrested for…
-
A Michigan man has been charged with a
felony and could face up to 5 years in prison for reading his wife’s
email.
-
A 49-year-old Queens woman had bruises
all over her body after she was handcuffed, arrested and brutally
beaten by NYPD officers. So what was her offense? The officers
thought that her little dog had left some poop that she didn’t clean
up.
-
A 56-year-old woman who was once a rape
victim refused to let airport security officials feel her breasts so
she was thrown to the floor, put in handcuffs and arrested.
-
In Milwaukee, one man was recently fined
$500 for swearing on a public bus.
-
Several years ago a 12-year-old boy in
South Carolina was actually arrested by police for opening up a
Christmas present early against his family’s wishes.
-
In some areas of the country, it is now
a crime to not recycle properly. For example, the city of Cleveland
has announced plans to sort through trash cans to ensure that people
are actually recycling according to city guidelines.
-
A 12-year-old girl from Queens was
arrested earlier this year and taken out of her school in handcuffs
for writing “Lex was here. 2/1/10″ and “I love my friends Abby and
Faith” on her desk.
-
Back in 2008, a 13-year-old boy in
Florida was actually arrested by police for farting in class.
-
The feds recently raided an Amish farmer
at 5 AM in the morning because they claimed that he was engaged
in the interstate sale of raw milk in violation of federal law.
-
A few years ago a 10-year-old girl was
arrested and charged with a felony for bringing a small steak knife
to school. It turns out that all she wanted to do was to cut up her
lunch so that she could eat it.
-
On June 18th, two Christians decided
that they would peacefully pass out copies of the gospel of John on
a public sidewalk outside a public Islamic festival in Dearborn,
Michigan and within three minutes 8 policemen surrounded them and
placed them under arrest.
-
A U.S. District Court judge slapped a
500 dollar fine on Massachusetts fisherman Robert J. Eldridge for
untangling a giant whale from his nets and setting it free. So what
was his crime? Well, according to the court, Eldridge was supposed
to call state authorities and wait for them do it.
-
Once upon a time, a food fight in the
cafeteria may have gotten you a detention. Now it may get you locked
up. About a year ago, 25 students between the ages of 11 and 15 at a
school in Chicago were taken into custody by police for being
involved in a huge food fight in the school cafeteria.
-
A few years ago a 70 year old
grandmother was actually put in handcuffs and hauled off to jail for
having a brown lawn.
Why in the world would anyone approve of the
police arresting ordinary Americans for such things?
It seems like ever since
9/11 the whole country has gotten “security fever”.
Suddenly we need to “get tough” on everyone.
Yes, crime is making a comeback, but once upon a time the police in this
country were able to handle crime quite well and be courteous and helpful to
ordinary citizens at the same time.
But today it seems like nearly every single encounter with police ends up
being negative.
It does not have to be that way.
The rest of the world sees what is going on in this country and many of them
are deciding that they simply do not want to spend their tourist dollars
here anymore. That is not a good thing for our economy.
As the government continues to get even bigger and exerts even more control
over our lives, many of our own people are getting sick of it and are moving
abroad.
America used to be the land of the free and the home of the brave.
That is no longer true.
Now we get thrown to the floor, handcuffed, beaten and arrested for things
that we did not even know were crimes.
If America continues to move in this direction it is going to ruin our
economy, our reputation in the world and our national spirit.
Unfortunately, history has shown us that once a free nation starts to lose
that freedom it is hard to reverse that slide. Perhaps we will be different.
Perhaps the American people will stand up and demand that we restore the
principles of liberty and freedom that this country was founded on.
Do you think that will happen?