HiddenKenshin 0 Report post Posted May 14, 2007 Well, at school, we are apparently required to do it. I believe a while ago there was a law in Colorado that made everyone say it unless they had a note from their parents saying that their religion didn't allow it. The problem here is that what if your parents' beliefs and your beliefs aren't the same? What if you didn't wish to say the Pledge of Allegiance while your parents wanted you to do so? Then it's not freedom of speech; it's your parents deciding what you should say. The system is not totally fair, but then again, no system can be totally fair. Well, I think it depends. As a little kid, I had just immigrated to the U.S. and so didn't really know English. So when I was first made to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, I just copied what everyone else did. But I couldn't have been brainwashed because I didn't have any idea what they were trying to make me say. By the time I actually understood what the words meant, I was older and ready to form opinions on my own. And even then, the Pledge of Allegiance was just a mindless repetitive trite to me--I didn't believe in god, but saying the pledge of allegiance for years on end didn't convince me to believe god either. Well, of course. But the problem is, without knowing, it's not very likely you'll ever saying stuff like "I'm being brainwashed." Without having any outside opinions on your education, you'll think that your education was perfectly fine. For instance, let's say there's a dictator who takes control of your country and tells everyone that freedom of speech undermines the power of each individual. While you are stuck inside that education system, you'll believe every word that's being said. However, if you went around deciding that you were "being brainwashed" even before you were in the system, it's more likely you'll actually be suspicious about the system afterward. Even if it's an ignorant statement of "being brainwashed", I still feel that one ignorant statement is like a net--it catches your mistakes later. Well, I'd say it's still possible, even without computer involvement. Conspiracies are supposed to be hidden, hence the reason we don't know about them. By the time they're revealed, it's usually too late. For instance, that Enron conspiracy--it was hidden for quite a while. For a long time, the U.S. thought that Enron was a great company and was doing quite nicely. No one had any idea of the internal problems the company was facing--no one until it was too late. And sure, there was human involvement, but it still went on. It wasn't a total conspiracy like where everyone worked together immaculately, but the end results were still disastrous. Well, that's definitely true. I mean, the government explicitly makes the statement that certain information must be hidden. If you work for certain government posts, you aren't allowed to leave the country for a time period of several years until they believe that whatever knowledge you held while at the post is too old to be useful. All governments do this; it's for their own protection. I'm surprised this thread is still alive, hehehe. Makes me happy to know people can discuss this on an intelligent and peaceful manner. Before going zOMG MIB I C THEM EVERYDAY. Or even worse, JEWS DID 9/11 DONT U SEE? (those were ridiculous projections, I have nothing against jews ^^)I agree with Arbitrary that, even though you might be forced to recite something like the pledge of allegiance, most people might have no clue of what they're saying. On another side of this story, as for hidden governments and involvement of the military, I asked a few people, one of which I'm pretty good friends with, what they think about it. They're both in the USAF (United States Air Force). I asked them if they were, at any time in their career (they're still quite young though), given information or a task or whichever, that was top-secret. Something they were not at all allowed to talk about. Expecting wild cowboy stories, of course ^^ They replied that, yes. It happens. In fact, it can be standard procedure. Some of them pointed me to old blog entries of their time in Iraq/Afghanistan, where they were not allowed to share their next destination, etc etc. What they were trying to convey that some of these top-secret high-security things, were just strategic information and that it usually would just be boring as hell. Their replies, which I found very interesting: Dude 1: there's a big difference between "secrets" and "an elaborate secret power structure that exists within or behind all known governments and corporations and steers world events for its own benefit" it was classified secret when i was in the desert and a dude got killed by a rocket attack, to prevent an immediate "battle damage assessment" by the enemy who launched it. the story was on CNN and MSN.com a day or two later. our technology and the placement of our intel agents can be top secret or higher. of course we don't tell anyone about these things. the Illuminati, however? billionaires meeting in candlelit amphitheaters to give the president orders? ***** please... again i repeat, it is not necessary for people to go to such great (and silly) lengths. existing, commonly known mechanisms are sufficient. the only reason my first classified briefing is even memorable is that i was shocked by how mundane and UN-memorable it was. honest-to-goddess truth. some of the material in it is now public domain. Dude 2, in responde to Dude 1 He's right, due to the nature of my job I am exposed to classified information on a regular basis. Most of it is stuff that you wouldn't be interested in, or even think would be classified. It isn't as mysterious or cool as you think. (can't link, because it's a private forum, that only invited members can read) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
