Get over it, I'm not scared, and the only reason you would be worried is if you have something to hide.
2006-12-14 14:13:09 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Other - Politics & Government
Basically that's like saying "why do you mind getting your house searched if you have nothing to hide?" or "why do you mind getting strip searched if you have nothing to hide?" There are an infinite number of similar questions to which you're basically saying we shouldn't care.
Being on a government watch list is more serious than actually having your name on a list. First and foremost, it actually means the government is monitoring you (hence the watch before the list). They're actively monitoring your communications (e-mail, phone calls, maybe even instant messages). They're also monitoring your purchases, books you borrow from a library, and travel. They sometimes will report this information to employers, airlines, banks and housing companies making your life a hell of a lot harder to live.
Fundamentally this country was built upon the premise that government should stay out of people's personal lives, so there's always a big psychological component to it.
Also, if they're monitoring you that generally means they think you're up to something. No one likes to be accused of things they didn't do. Ask any 5 year old kid running around who gets yelled at for something he didn't do.
2006-12-14 14:29:29 · answer #1 · answered by Owen 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It is a big deal for one primary reason. Government serves me and works for me, not the other way round.
I give it some power over me to more effectively run the system. But I am stingy with that power, I never ever want the government to become more powerful than I and my fellow citizens can control.
I have in mind many, many historical examples of governments becoming too powerful and lording it over their citizens. So, for each thing that government wants to do, wants me to agree to, I have to look with a suspicious eye at it. And above all, I value my own personal freedom and that of my fellows over slight risks. I accept certain risks, certain dangers, so that I might enjoy some freedom of action and ability to make my own decisions.
I can no longer buy pseudoephedrine in the grocery store for my allergies. This is because it was decided that the danger of me making meth out of it trumped the 'good' of me treating my allergies.
It's just like that for all such regulations. There are pros and cons. And we vote as a people to allow government authority or not. But at the end of the day, I want to tell my government how much freedom I will give up for safety. For government is on my payroll, it exists to make my life go smoother and it works for me.
2006-12-14 22:28:20 · answer #2 · answered by xaviar_onasis 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Good for you!
Most people aren't afraid for the reason you think, and that is how we came to write a Constitution and it's amendment's!
I hear many people say someone got off of something on a technicality, however the technicality is Violating the US Constitution!
Before you make up your mind though, go read up on J Edgar Hoover, and how he used information. Also take a look at Senator Joseph McCarthy who went on a witch-hunt for non existent Commies, often ruining their careers, before he got trashed!
Running the Government in secret, and carrying out political issues in secret has some fascist overtones!
It has nothing to do with whether you have something to hide and everything to do with what the government is hiding!
2006-12-14 22:22:59 · answer #3 · answered by cantcu 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i don't know either,maybe they have a watch list because they lie
and deceive so that they are the ones who are scared and worried and have a whole lot to hide.
2006-12-14 22:23:03 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
so, you don't mind the government wasting billions of dollars by forming paranoid lists and monitoring calls?
I mind... I would rather not have to pay for their folly...
and that's exactly what most of the Jews said pre-WWII... but it worked out well for them...
2006-12-14 22:22:23 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Try to remember you said that if you are ever falsely accused of any crime.
2006-12-14 22:17:33 · answer #6 · answered by bob h 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
THE NAZI'S IN 1930'S GERMANY WOULD HAVE LOVED YOU!!
2006-12-14 23:46:48 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
parinoia
2006-12-14 22:20:58 · answer #8 · answered by freddelorme35 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋