Self-Censorship in the National Security State

Do you “self-censor?”

It is always good to define your terms at the start of a discussion – as Samuel Johnson observed – it saves argument.  So, self-censoring is defined here as “limiting what one might otherwise freely say either out of respect for other people’s feelings or out of fear of repercussions.”

According to Glenn Greenwald, a climate of intimidation and fear has been created in the USA that is inhibiting Americans from exercising their rights. Not only Americans are self-censoring and relinquishing their rights, but Europeans as well – fearing that their governments might at some point in the future extradite them at US request if the US accuses them of harming US security.

Most of us self-censor everyday.  When someone asks, “How do I look?,” most of us will choose to self-censor and respond with a  “You look great!” and the person who asked the question beams and smiles.  Some won’t  be so kind - “You look terrible!” and the person who asked the question becomes offended and your reputation for being a nice person is forever damaged.  Most of us learn how to play this game at an early stage as part of our social conditioning.

The issue of self-censorship becomes a major problem for a free society when it affects the exercise of people's constitutionally-protected freedoms. 

In the USA, the First Amendment to the Constitution provides that:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” 

In the USA, the Constitution guarantees citizens the right to freedom of speech.  If we have this freedom, then why would people self-censor?

There are several examples that one can point to today as examples of where many people self-censor. Here is a very short list:

• Questioning the official 9/11 story
• Questioning what happened to the $2.3 Trillion missing from the Pentagon budget, announced by Rumsfeld on 9/10, the day before 9/11
• Questioning why nothing happened regarding the thousands of instances of illegal surveillance of US citizens, each instance a felony, by the Bush administration
• Questioning the whole “Al Qaeda” story which underlies the main excuse for the “war on terror” and the ever-increasing erosion of freedom in the USA
• Questioning the origins and legitimacy of the Federal Income Tax
• Questioning the origins and legitimacy of the Federal Reserve System
• Questioning why video evidence of Hillary Clinton’s admitting campaign fraud was never produced during the campaign fraud investigation of Hillary Clinton
• Questioning the reasons for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Questioning how and why the Patriot Act (all 352 pages of it, voted on mostly without being read, which eliminated many freedoms and brought on a regime of societal surveillance never before seen in US history) was all ready to go right after the events of 9/11
• Avoiding expressing support for Wiki Leaks out of fear of official reprisals

People avoid expressing themselves on these and other issues mainly because of fear of ridicule. 

However, sometimes people actually fear that if they openly express themselves on these and other issues, they will show up on a government list and be subjected to some kind of oppression (apparently the case with some supporters of Wiki Leaks, if Greenwald is to be believed).  So, out of fear, they stay quiet. They do not express themselves.  They do not speak out. They remain a quiet member of the herd. And, whether you consider this a paradox or not, these people who have relinquished their right to speak their minds then become willing persecutors of those who choose instead to speak out fearlessly.

The national security state's strategy is to escalate the level of intimidation and deterrent to scare people into silence.

Greenwald claims that Obama is now heading a war against whistleblowers.  The Justice Department is obsessed with prosecuting Wiki Leaks.  Look at what they are doing with Bernard Manning.  The climate of fear begun during the Bush years continues.

Some Americans really believe that the wars in which they are currently involved are being undertaken to "bring freedom and democracy" to other countries.  Without addressing the legitmacy of that premise, wouldn't it make sense to observe what is happening at home?