A bit of historical perspective helps, though I'm not sure whether it makes things look less or more depressing. During the Civil War, there were serious losses of civil liberties, including suspension of habeas corpus, military conscription, and intimidation and (in the case of Maryland) arrest of state legislators. During World War I, people were put in jail for criticizing the government. During World War II, American citizens were relocated into concentration camps because of their ancestry.
Compared with those events, what we're seeing now is mild. But they also remind us that things can get still worse.
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zvi and
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Date: 2005-07-06 03:04 pm (UTC)Compared with those events, what we're seeing now is mild. But they also remind us that things can get still worse.