In reading or watching the news I often come across articles about invasion of our rights, privileges, and overall privacy. All the time I hear we are a nation of laws. Maybe we are to a certain extent or when it benefits the establishment. Gil Scott-Heron in one of his famous raps, “Bluesology-Black History-Jaws-A Talk-The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” from the album: Midnight Band: The First Minutes of a Brand New Day. In this classic he says  “my grandma tells me anything I have to watch can be dangerous and then there’s that ode to paranoia; I thought I was watching the TV and found out the TV was watching me”. Here he speaks of the “tele” as a device Big Brother uses to keep watch over us. He further explains how the government uses a device to watch our every move through the television.

Freedom and the talk of it is nothing new. Our democracy has been under attack for quite some time. I’ve read articles dating back to 1941 speaking about freedoms. As of late Apple is under fire for their privacy or lack thereof when it comes to its users. They are currently being questioned for it. iPhones and iPads are secretly collecting location data on users. Google has been doing this for some time. They track your location to sell you information/products. How is it while on line they know your exact location, hum? To be fair all carriers are doing the same thing. To add insult to even more injury a new headline reads-Data Pirates (AKA Cops) Can Hack Your Cell Phone. In Michigan cops have been using this technology for three years now. Extraction devices can take every lick of data from a mobile phone.

They’re two things at play here. First-there’s no such thing as privacy. All your information is for public viewing. You used to have to go to the court house, now you’re a few key- strokes away. To obtain privacy, it’s very expensive; you pretty much have to check out and take yourself off the grid. Secondly is all of secret collection of data really necessary? It’s sort of a catch-22. On one hand if proper procedures are followed(by police) to get warrants for suspects I can agree, but on the other hand what Apple did is just wrong.

People are beginning to understand their true freedoms. Aren’t they given by God? Mostly it doesn’t come from the Right or Left leaning commentators on the airwaves. Never the less people are paying more attention. Bush, during his reign, introduced the Patriot Act, Obama further made it easier for the Patriot Act to trample over our 4th Amendment rights.

All over the world folks have a better understanding of their freedoms; in the latter part of the post I will give a few examples of people who have recently gained an understanding and knowledge of their first amendment freedoms.

1. Speech

2. The Press

3. Religion

4. Petition

5. Assembly

Here in the good Ole US of A, employers are at odds over social networking freedoms. Abroad protesters are using social networks to expose dictators. Look at what’s happening in Syria. Freedoms are our last bastion of hope. It defines us as individuals, with unalienable rights or was that Constitution thing a farce for only a chosen few? As Benjamin Franklin said, “any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

John Jones

The NON-Conformist