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tickles-my-cockles · 1 year

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The United Kingdom just been downgraded on the global index of civic freedoms due to it's "Hostile" and "Increasingly authoritarian" actions.

I live in the UK. And I found this out by factchecking a green peace ad. As of now this story was posted 16 hours ago and I've not heard one person talk about this.

Our government is officially recognised as repressing civic freedoms and undermining human rights. If you're still proud to be brittish then fuck you tory scum.

#uk politics #uk police #uk civic freedoms #civic freedoms #human rights #uk news #civicus monitor #fuck this country #i fucking hate it here #fuck you #fuck the uk #fuck the tories #fuck the system #i just want to be left alone

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tomorrowusa · 3 months

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Right now is the time to get involved in the defeat of America's most dangerous enemy since the Cold War.

The traditional election season, starting on Labor Day, is a thing of the distant political past. And considering the magnitude of the threat to democracy, even waiting for the end of the primary season may be too late.

The worst president in our history is, arguably, stronger within the leadership ranks of the Republican Party than he has ever been. He is now the most dangerous presidential candidate in U.S. history. As a consequence, the great question before the rest of us is whether enough of us are ready to do whatever is necessary to defeat this threat as we have all those that have come before. Sadly, there is reason to believe that this time we may not meet the challenge. Right now, Donald Trump is one of two people who could be our next president. The race, at the moment, between him and President Joe Biden, is too close to call.

The people with their heads up their ass over Biden's age are either hypocrites or dissemblers. On Inauguration Day 2025, Donald Trump will be 95.66% of Joe Biden's age. And Trump will also be older in January of 2025 than Biden was upon assuming office in 2021. Biden may have a lifelong stutter but he is still grounded in reality in a way the narcissistic nepo baby Donald Trump never was.

Joe Biden by any objective metric has been one of the most successful presidents in modern U.S. history. He has led the creation of more major legislative initiatives benefiting the American people than any president in 60 years. He oversaw the creation of more than 14 million jobs during his first three years in office. He has brought down inflation and reduced the prices of vital medicines to affordable levels. He has restored American leadership worldwide, expanded our vital alliances like NATO, and stood up to our enemies. All presidents face challenges and make missteps. But it is hard to deny that in the wake of the U.S. economic recovery, the passage of the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, the CHIPs and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, the expansion of NATO, and the creation of new Indo-Pacific alliances, Biden’s record is formidable. That a president with this record is in a horse race with a candidate who is a menace to the country, who led an insurrection, who is a pathological liar whom courts have found to be a fraud and a rapist, and who has no real ideas, no credible policy proposals, no record of actually ever achieving anything for the American people is chilling.

In normal times, over 40% of US voters would NOT pick a notorious sex offender for president. But these are not normal times.

You would have thought that the sight of mobs carrying Trump flags and weapons and chanting for the death of Vice President Mike Pence on January 6, 2021, would have been alarm enough. You would have thought the same of Trump’s Access Hollywood tape, in which he confessed his impulse to abuse women. You would have thought the two dozen women who accused him of abuse would have had that effect. Even if none of those things were quite warning enough, you would have thought the findings in the E. Jean Carroll case would have been enough. After all, respected federal judge Lew Kaplan wrote, “The fact that Mr. Trump sexually abused—indeed, raped—Ms. Carroll has been conclusively established and is binding in this case.” It should have been enough. But so far, it has not been.

And who would have thought that the party of Ronald Reagan is now led by a stooge of the Evil Empire?

You would have thought that Trump reaching out on national television to our Russian adversaries for aid during the 2016 campaign would have been enough. You would have thought the conclusive findings of every major U.S. intelligence agency that Russia sought to aid Trump’s campaign would have been enough. You would have thought that Robert Mueller’s finding 10 instances of possible obstruction of justice by Trump would have been enough. You would have thought Trump kowtowing to Vladimir Putin and taking his word over that of our intelligence and law enforcement communities would have been enough. You would have thought his illegally withholding aid to Ukraine to seek dirt on Joe Biden would have been enough. You would have thought his impeachment for that would have been enough.

Are you willing to spend more time and money than in previous election cycles to end a major threat to Western democracy and to undermine homegrown fascism for at least the rest of this decade?

So, ask yourself, is that enough to make you do more than you have done? Is that enough to commit for the next 10 months to do more than you have ever done during an election year? To give more? To canvas more? To spread the word more? To help get voters to the polls? To ensure every member of your family, your friends, your co-workers do the same? The stakes are too high to do less than everything you can.

I rarely quote Margaret Thatcher and would probably disagree with at least 90% of her views. But she did know something about winning elections and combating the USSR. If she was good for just one thing, it's for this observation in a speech made in her retirement.

[N]o battles are ever finally won; you have to go on winning them by example and by being prepared to defend your way of life against those who would attack it.

If we learn just one thing from the Trump threat, it's that we can never rest on our past laurels. A slacker democracy is one which will not outlast a determined demagogue.

Civic involvement by pro-democracy citizens is absolutely necessary to maintain freedom.

#democracy #threat to democracy #donald trump #democracy vs. totalitarianism #trump is a tool of russia #trump is a sex offender #if you hate freedom vote for trump #register and vote #vote blue no matter who #support democratic candidates #the biden administration's economic growth programs #civic involvement #david rothkopf #bernard l. schwartz #election 2024

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impoliticwestie · 5 months

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Armistice Day, London, 2023

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contemplatingoutlander · 2 years

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So these are the ways the right-wing, white “Christian” nationalist agenda is being written into Florida’s new “patriotic” civics education standards. The slides shown are bad enough but according to the article:

Educators interviewed by the Herald/Times said that most of their concerns took place during the explanation of the materials.

Below are a few of the troubling slides from the Florida Department of Education’s (DE) training that grossly distort American history to serve this right-wing agenda. [NOTE: all red underlining in these slides was added.]

Dismantling the Separation of Church and State

The slide below shows how Florida’s DE wants it taught as FACT that the Founders didn’t want a “strict separation of church and state.”

It seems to me that the Florida DE is trying to pass off as TRUE a right-wing “Christian” interpretation of the Founders’ intent. In reality, there is actually a lot of evidence that the Founders wanted a “strict” separation of church and state.

The Florida DE also apparently wants to teach that the Founders believed that religion (specifically Christianity) provided the necessary moral foundation for the nation to govern itself.

Although one of the Florida DE slides mentions Rhode Island accepting “religious refugees from Massachusetts” there is NO mention in the slide that Roger Williams established religious freedom in Rhode Island for people of any faith. This freedom was written into Rhode Island’s 1663 charter. (However, it is possible that the explanation for the slide mentions that.)

Instead there is a slide that focuses on “The Maryland Toleration Act,” which allowed freedom of religion for anyone “professing to beleive [sic] in Jesus Christ.”

Teaching as FACT That it Is WRONG to Interpret the Constitution as a “Living Document”

Contrary to what the Florida DE wants to teach, there are excellent arguments to show that the Constitution is a “living document” that can be informed by common law. In addition, consider the Ninth Amendment:

“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

The existence of the Ninth Amendment suggests that the Founders understood that not every right could be written into the Constitution, and so they acknowledged that other rights exist.

It would seem that the Florida DE is on the side of the conservative originalists and textualists--who ironically often don’t abide by their own “rules” for interpretation (e.g. the District of Columbia v. Heller decision).

Regardless, how to interpret the Constitution should be the subject of DEBATE and not dictated by the Florida DE.

Playing Down the Negative Peculiarities of American Slavery in the Nation’s Founding

The slides also try to minimize the tragedy of slavery in Colonial America. There are virtually NO slides that show how awful slavery was in our country. And although one slide acknowledged that “2/3 of the Founders held slaves,” the slide made it seem as though the slaveholding Founders weren’t supportive of slavery.

Well, those Founders who didn’t “defend” slavery kept their slaves anyway (although Washington’s will freed his slaves after his death). But here’s a couple of quotes from one of the Founders, Charles Pinckney of South Carolina who defended slavery--and puts the lie to the above slide:

“While there remained one acre of swamp land uncleared of South Carolina, I would raise my voice against restricting the importation of Negroes. I am . . . thoroughly convinced . . . that the nature of our climate, and the flat, swampy situation of our country, obliges us to cultivate our lands with negroes, and that without them South Carolina would soon be a desert waste.” – Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, South Carolina Ratifying convention, 1788

“They [Africans] certainly must have been created with less intellectual power than the whites, and were most probably intended to serve them, and be the instruments of their cultivation.” – Charles Pinckney, 1821

And the slide below is also misleading:

The above slide leaves out a very important fact mentioned in an article on The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History website:

“Of the 10 to 16 million Africans who survived the voyage to the New World.... only 6 percent arrived in what is now the United States. Yet by 1860, approximately two thirds of all New World slaves lived in the American South.“ [emphasis added]

How could this be that the U.S. started with such a small percentage of slaves from the transatlantic slave trade but had the largest slave population by 1860? Well, the Florida DE hints at it in the above slide when they mention that slave numbers expanded “through birth.”

The numbers of male and female Africans brought to Colonial America were roughly equal; whereas other parts of the Americas had more male slaves. The low birthrates and high death rates of slaves in other regions contributed to their having smaller slave populations by 1860. Also, some parts of the Caribbean, such has Haiti, had abolished slavery as early as 1793.

Another reason, according to The Gilder Lehrman Institute article is that the Spanish and Portuguese were more open to interracial “mixing” with Africans (in part because of few European women) and “recognized a wide range of racial gradations, including black, mestizo, quadroon, and octoroon.” Whereas:

“The American South, in contrast, adopted a two-category system of race in which any person with a black mother was automatically considered to be black.” [emphasis added]

Furthermore, in 1662, chattel slavery was established in colonial Virginia through a law that any child born of a Black female slave (regardless of the race of the father) would be considered a slave. So slavery became based on race and birth in the South. I don’t know if that was the explanation the Florida DE provided of the slide but somehow I don’t think those facts were highlighted.

Look through the slides for yourselves. But to me it is shocking that teaching a right-wing, white “Christian” nationalist view of American history is being ordered by the Florida government.

It is ironic that as academic freedom is being shut down in Florida and other GQP states in favor of right-wing indoctrination, Putin has just started a big push to “indoctrinate” Russian school children with a “militarized and anti-Western version of patriotism.”

It seems to me that creeping right-wing autocracy in GQP states is making them more like autocratic Russia than like American states where academic freedom is still allowed.

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#florida #us politics #gop #ron desantis #us education #academic freedom #censorship #rewriting history #a right-wing whitewashed christian version of us history and civics #ana ceballos #miami herald #separation of church and state #my edits

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panicinthestudio · 10 months

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Further reading:

HKFP: Hong Kong pulls more democracy books from library shelves citing security law concerns, May 10, 2021

HKFP: Hong Kong gov’t refuses to say which library books are banned under national security law, April 7, 2022

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amerasdreams · 1 year

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I really hope our nation survives this stupidity. We have survived things before. Even being broken up. If we collapsed, a lot of horrible things would happen, lots of suffering. Best is not to collapse but reform. We are still a democracy and have a LOT of freedoms we take for granted. We still have a lot going for us. Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Let's not get too polarized so we can't reconcile. In fact, most of us are not on one extreme side or the other. As long as we all believe in America and democracy. And we don't believe all conspiracy theories and think everything is worse than it really is. We have a chance. But if we keep going crazy (maybe noy as bad as the media portrays....) we won't survive. This is a diverse country, which is good. We forget the things we have in common. When divisiveness and conflict build to a fever pitch. We forget compassion and civility. Necessary for any society.

Don't let covid or social media tear us apart. Our enemies would be happy and a beacon of freedom in the world would collapse. (No it's not perfect but at least we used to know how to live together, used to believe in the ability to BECOME a more perfect union. No one is born perfect. Always strive toward ideals. We should at least all agree in our Declaration and Constitution! Yes there are different interpretations but there should be common ground. There is, if we don't panic and think the "other side" is monster bent on destroying us)

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if our enemies had engineered at least part of this polarization and manufactured/amplified some of this conflict. They know very well our divisions and would want to exaggerate and aggravate them. They are on social media, after all. And the people simmering in social media, only consuming very partisan news (thinking their side is right 100% of the time lol) are ripe for this kind of exploitation. It is of course vague how much russia has influenced us, but we know they have tried. Trolls who spread panic and disinfo on both sides. It would be ridiculous to think they had NO influence. They are experts in propaganda ans pay ops after all. This did not change much after the Soviet Union-- the current government is the inheritor of the same mindset and tactics.

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sameteeth · 12 days

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anyways, i do think its really interesting that chuuya figures out that dazai was putting pieces into place to get him ousted from the sheep like a month ahead of time... its also really interesting to consider WHY dazai did it and the implications it carries. dazai watches shirase and yuan pressure and guilt chuuya about "doing his part" for the sheep as a person with an ability, then immediately takes action to relieve pressure from chuuya

which is kinda funny bc dazai at least in the short term is following what shirase is saying - dazai has the ability to help save the hostages, and he does lol. demon prodigy indeed. MORE IMPORTANTLY though. dazai recognizes that chuuya is being controlled by the sheep even though he is the leader. chuuya and mori make good comparisons here - this arc starts with mori bemoaning his responsibility as the boss of the port mafia, and we see chuuya consistently failing to do his responsibility as the leader of the sheep. he even denies the title of king, stating that it's only his ability that puts him above the rest. to digress a bit, i think this is partly why when chuuya joins the port mafia he so quickly submits to them - he is no longer the sole ability user, and thus the responsibility doesnt rely entirely on him to protect the group. something to be said here about the way bsd almost never touches on the ability user vs non-ability user dichotomy but ill save that. back to the main point. dazai takes it upon himself to free chuuya from the sheep. he acknowledges the limitations chuuya has to function under as the leader of the sheep and the weight of the responsibility he bears for no reason other than his ability

but then! dazai forces chuuya into the port mafia to save him from the sheep ! doesnt that seem contradictory??? isnt that hypocritical? chuuya seems pissed about it!

granted, I'd be pissed too if my friends stabbed me with a switch covered in rat poison then tried to gun me down. regardless, chuuya can see how dazai set him up to be outcast from the sheep without having to break the tie himself. chuuya is loyal to the sheep, even when they distrust him. But! this gives chuuya a chance to escape, even if it's to the port mafia. i think the important thing to focus on here is that the port mafia is an Actual organization made up of adults. the sheep are a bunch of kids, ones that are easily led. the limited pieces we see of them are shirase and yuan, who throw temper tantrums and try to clumsily manipulate chuuya when he doesn't listen to them. they admit to stealing alcohol from mafia-adjacent territory and just generally seem immature... because theyre kids. but what we see of the mafia is much different. mori is a strong leader because he is smart and rational. he thinks ahead. he, unlike chuuya, is the leader because he wants to protect yokohama, and understands the sacrifice necessary to do so. chuuya is the leader because no one could beat him in a fight. the port mafia offers a chance for growth (ignoring that these are children in the mafia ok play with me here) as a fighter and as a leader - chuuya becomes an exec when he's still a teenager i think (theres not a specific age anywhere i can find) and is a much more calm and smart fighter once he joins.

so it's good (play with me) that chuuya is able to join the port mafia. BUT he would never have been able to leave if dazai had not forced his hand. this paradox - the idea that chuuya obtains freedom from being forced to leave something he doesn't want to - is SUPER interesting to consider !! here i will dissolve into rambles. i learned about this paradox in the context of mary wollstonecraft and the vindication of the rights of women - wollstonecraft believed only educated people could truly be free, as they were not only free of oppression but also no longer slaves to their emotions, and were able to have opportunities and use their education for their own betterment. the situation with chuuya reminded me of this, because with the sheep chuuya had no one to rely on or to teach him, limiting his capacity for growth and ultimately his freedom. the sheep were reliant on him for protection, and feared him, but chuuya had everything to lose if he were to try and leave the sheep. he had nothing without them, and they needed him for his power. but they were beholden to their emotions, immature and uncertain how to actually get power. their primary motivators for action are retaliation - dazai mentions this when chuuya attacks him, and shirase and yuan mention this when they are urging chuuya to help them. but when chuuya talks to mori and koyo (<3) about their actions, both of them are much more forward thinking than that. mori is very cunning and sly, and koyo tells chuuya that even if things go south in the meeting she's taking him to to, they know how to move forward. chuuya's world has expanded beyond the sheep's limited gaze.

of course, he's still trapped in the port mafia, but if you REALLY want to discuss free will..... we'll be here all fucking night. free will is really hard to pin down and i always have to talk about determinism and its a lot to wrap ur head around and i just like drawing connections between stuff i like

#entirely self indulgent rambles about freedom ^_^#the 15 arc is very much a favorite #i love the difference in dazais voice its so stark in this arc. hes so dead and then chuuya comes along #i also love the rimbaud fight. holidng hands hard enough to break reality. the old boss's massive ass scythe which they never bring up agai #also rimbaud's weirdly perceptive comments to chuuya ??? and then chuuya gets his hat.....#hardcore AU where chuuya is captured by verlaine and rimbaud successfully and they raise him? sometimes i just want things to go well #i digress. this is how i see this arc if u dont like it well its my blog and im not tagging this so howd u even find it #canis speaks #everyone forgets chuuya is smart. and i also hate when ppl make chuuya like inordinately angry all the time #have u ever been homeless and in charge of a bunch of children? WHILE 15?????#chuuya deserves as much weed and wine as he wants forever #also mary wollstonecraft i love you. ik rousseau also has ideas about forced freedom but i didnt want to reread the social contract sorry #its past my bedtime. ill read rousseau for anime analysis later #also like the port mafia isnt quite the same as society... its not quite like voting/civic duty it doesnt quite fit as well. whatever #bsd tag #lmk if the image descriptions suck also. i am trying

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suetravelblog · 3 months

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Exploring Kraków

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seth-the-giggle-fish · 3 months

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Today I learned that I am older than HIPPA

#fucking wild #I thought that HIPPA was older than the Freedom of Information Act #but nope! turns out that the Freedom of Information Act was passing in the 60's!#Civics should be more than one year in high school #there's just too much to cover for a single school year

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artcentron · 3 months

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Totalitarianism Unveiled in Tania Bruguera's Powerful Defiance Performance

Artist and activist Tania Bruguera addresses the dangers of totalitarianism in a new performance. Photo: artist. Tania Bruguera’s impactful performance on totalitarianism, featuring Hannah Arendt’s work, is a reminder of the enduring relevance of intellectual resistance and the power of art in shaping a more inclusive society. BY KAZEEM ADELEKE, ARTCENTRON BERLIN, GERMANY—In the past few…

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#Art and Politics Authoritarianism #Artistic Freedom #Artivism #Civic Engagement #Cuba&039;s Artistic Activism #Hannah Arendt Political Art #Intellectual Resistance #Tania Bruguera #Totalitarianism

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humanrightsday · 11 months

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Freedom of Association: The double helix of civic space and labour rights.

ILO and OHCHR are organizing an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the ILO Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87). The event aims to inspire more decisive action to preserve and expand both human and labour rights. It will celebrate the contributions of the OHCHR and of the ILO and its tripartite constituents to the promotion of Freedom of Association and related civil liberties for the protection of civic space.

#human rights #ohchr #International labour organization (ILO)#civil liberties #civic space #Freedom of Association

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cccdynapro · 9 months

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Are You Being Conditioned to be the servant of a Machine,

This article is lengthy. Please be advised.Subject: Personal venting on the subject of shallow communications. Aimed towards deepening relationships and improving our current dysfunctional American Society.—–Listen more sincerely. Speak up. Spit it out. Communicate more. Make it a point deepen the understanding in your relationships. But do it sincerely with aim for deeper relationships.Don’t get…

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#Allegiance #America #Civic duty #civil discourse #Civility #communication #freedom #God&039;s Help #One Nation #Pledge

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impoliticwestie · 6 months

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Armistice Day, London, 2023

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worldwatcher3072 · 10 months

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Constitution Matters: Understanding the First Amendment and Its Essential Protections

Welcome to the "Constitution Matters" series, where we explore the significance of the United States Constitution and its enduring relevance in our lives. In this installment, we delve into the First Amendment, a cornerstone of our democratic society that guarantees crucial freedoms and protections to every citizen. Let's take a closer look at the scope and importance of this constitutional amendment.

The First Amendment: Protecting Our Fundamental Freedoms

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution stands as a testament to the values upon which our nation was built: freedom of speech, religion, the press, the right to peacefully assemble, and the right to petition the government. These five fundamental freedoms collectively form the bedrock of our democratic society, ensuring that every citizen has the opportunity to express themselves, participate in public discourse, and hold those in power accountable.

Freedom of Speech: The Power of Expression

At the heart of the First Amendment lies the freedom of speech. This precious right empowers individuals to speak their minds, express their beliefs, and share their ideas without fear of censorship or reprisal. It encompasses a wide range of speech, from political debates to artistic expressions, from peaceful protests to critical discussions. The freedom of speech encourages robust public discourse, fosters innovation, and facilitates progress by allowing the clash of diverse viewpoints and ideas.

Freedom of Religion: Protecting Our Spiritual Autonomy

The First Amendment's protection of religious freedom ensures that every individual has the right to practice their chosen religion or follow no religion at all. It prohibits the government from establishing an official religion and ensures that individuals are free to worship according to their conscience. This guarantee of religious freedom promotes diversity, tolerance, and mutual respect, creating a society that embraces different faiths and beliefs.

Freedom of the Press: A Watchdog for Democracy

The freedom of the press is a vital component of a thriving democracy. It empowers journalists and media organizations to serve as watchdogs, holding those in power accountable and informing the public. A free press plays a crucial role in uncovering truths, exposing wrongdoing, and facilitating an informed citizenry. By protecting the freedom of the press, the First Amendment safeguards our access to information and helps preserve the checks and balances necessary for a healthy democracy.

Right to Peacefully Assemble: Amplifying Voices, Sparking Change

The right to peacefully assemble allows individuals to come together, united by a common cause or shared concerns. Peaceful protests, rallies, and public meetings enable citizens to exercise their collective voice, advocate for social change, and seek redress from the government. This aspect of the First Amendment underscores the significance of civic engagement and highlights the power of unity in shaping a more just and equitable society.

Right to Petition the Government: A Voice for Change

The right to petition the government ensures that every citizen has the opportunity to address grievances, express concerns, and seek resolution. It provides a means to communicate with public officials, voice opinions, and participate in the democratic process. By guaranteeing this right, the First Amendment affirms that the government should be responsive to the needs and aspirations of its people.

Embracing the First Amendment's Promise

The First Amendment's scope extends beyond mere words on paper; it embodies the spirit of liberty, fostering an environment where diverse perspectives can flourish, where ideas can be debated openly, and where progress can be achieved through the exchange of thoughts and beliefs. It empowers individuals to challenge the status quo, to question authority, and to contribute to the shaping of a more inclusive and just society. As we navigate the complexities of the modern world, let us remember the profound importance of the First Amendment and actively uphold these freedoms, for they are not only our birthright but the essence of our democratic ideals. By embracing the promise of the First Amendment, we can ensure that our nation continues to be a beacon of freedom, opportunity, and progress for generations to come. Constitution matters, and the First Amendment remains a guiding light on our collective journey toward a more perfect union

#First Amendment #Freedom of Speech #Freedom of Religion #Freedom of the Press #Right to Peacefully Assemble #Right to Petition #Constitutional Rights #Civil Liberties #Democracy #Civic Engagement #Bill of Rights #Constitutional Protections #Core Principles #Inclusive Society #Justice and Equality

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immaculatasknight · 1 year

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Court of the people

#Canada #COVID #abuse of power #violation of rights #oppression #fraud #corruption #unaccountability #National Citizens Inquiry #civic responsibility #freedom #resistance #truckers convoy

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magterrific · 2 years

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since i seem to have acquired a follower/followers who don't understand the vibe on this blog: being pro-ship is gross and creepy and i think you need to think very hard about your choices

#angel.txt #it's not about freedom of speech or censorship <3 #take even one civics class

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