That's what it feels like to be living in a police state.

No for fucks sake. If you were living in a police state the hundreds of marches wouldn't be happening, or they'd be broken up by, you know, police.

That mass media aren't as interested as you think they should be is not, in itself, evidence of a police state.

They were broken up by the police.

Aye. All of them I suppose. Marchers were never seen again.

And of course all unreported.

Seriously though, link for that?

For what the police breaking up protests? Didn't you watch them use chemical weapons on the protestors as Obama called for peace?

What country has the highest per-capita incarceration rate?

In over 100 cities the marches were broken up?

You're saying "police state" not "things are bad in Ferguson tonight".

Unless we've had a massive shifting of goalposts

Mass incarceration is an ingredient of a police state but the USA right now is nowhere near.

What are the other ingredients? Mass surveillance, infiltration, more infiltration of protest groups, domestic propaganda, secret, one sided trials and so on.

I said "feels like" in the original post, and you moved the goal posts by interpreting it as "USA = East Germany" Different police states use different methods of stifling dissent.

Come off it, this is ridiculous. I don't think I misread at all.

If you were living in a police state the hundreds of marches wouldn't be happening, or they'd be broken up by, you know, police.

They were broken up by the police.

OK so you're saying it only feels like a police state.

But wait

Different police states use different methods of stifling dissent.

Make up your mind.

I don't disagree there's some unappealing and downright creepy stuff going on, but again it doesn't approach a police state, unless we're going to dilute that term to a meaningless degree.

If the argument is that things are going in the wrong direction regarding personal freedoms then no disagreement here.

Edit - Shpeeling

I think you are expecting too much depth from one sentence comments on reddit.

I think America is currently a police state (for the reasons listed), Angela Merkel agrees, and she grew up in a police state.

I also grew up in one - nobody knows they are living in a police state until they say the wrong thing to the wrong person and end up exiled in the Ecuadorian embassy or Brazil.

dilute that term to a meaningless degree.

I provided sources explaining what I meant by "police state" and backed up why I felt they applied to America. You haven't provided a coherent definition, nor sources to back up your claims or refute the ones provided. Go ahead.

I think you are expecting too much depth from one sentence comments on reddit.

Could be! Still though, if a one sentence comment isn't true or if I happen to disagree then Comments Ahoy(!)

I don't think the Angela statement says what you might want it to. She compares one aspect of intrusive state power to another, without making the statement that America is a police state at all. For one thing whatever a state does in it's foreign intelligence affairs don't exactly have an immediate bearing on domestic law. For example - foreigners don't enjoy the 4th Amendment protections that US citizens do. That these are very much under threat in the US doesn't mean we're automatically at the end of that particular road already. What you don't have is

I provided sources explaining what I meant by "police state" and backed up why I felt they applied to America. You haven't provided a coherent definition, nor sources to back up your claims or refute the ones provided. Go ahead.

First of all a grand jury is not a secret trial, and if they weren't secret there would be absolute hell raised.

Infiltration of protest groups happens all over the place, not making that an excuse, but I think the accusation of "police state" is undercut by the very existence of so many protest groups on the first place.

If we're talking about a police state, I'd consider the hundreds of marches taking place unmolested across the country to be direct evidence in the contrary. You've asserted that these marches were broken up by the police, where?

Again, don't disagree that things are going in the wrong direction, but I do think the label of "police state" is a wild over-egging of the situation that panders to the most Chicken-Little aspects of discussion and makes it difficult to start a conversation.

It's a more PG-13 version on Godwin's Law.

You make some good points (I still disagree with you), so there's only a couple of things I want to add.

• Saudi Arabia (which gets tons of NSA support in hunting down political dissidents) also had mass protests, so did Egypt, and even China has them from time to time. Tell me a police state that has never had protests? A police state only needs to break up dangerous protests and distract from the real issue - look how we have already forgotten that Ferguson was about militarization of the police and not race.

• The NSA is recording and cataloguing every phone call you have (that's how they were able to dig up old phone calls so quickly after the Boston Bombings), every email you write, and every sext you send. Have you actually been reading what was leaked? It's not a foreign intelligence problem.

• The USA is the only country that still uses grand juries (a holdover from the British monarchy, the other one is the Imperial system). Even Britain got rid of them for being unfair. Only the prosecution presents evidence, defendants and witnesses have no right to counsel, no fifth amendment rights, and can be imprisoned without trial for refusing to cooperate. That system has no place in a free and democratic society.

• Its already been shown (through empirical studies) that when the majority opinion conflicts with the opinion of the economic elites the elites always get their way (e.g. Banking regulation).

• You admit that America is headed in some disturbing directions, but usually once a police state develops to the point that the average citizen starts to notice, it's too late.

Saw the march through downtown LA in person; it was rather small, maybe 300 people; all quite young, and with a hopelessly diverse agenda (judging from their hastily made signs anyway). The police easily outnumbered them 2:1, and they seemed okay with being herded around by them.

They seem like leftists mostly that's why

Great more racial tension and false dictonomies, while Wall Street continues to prosper.

Racial tension? You see that whites and blacks are protesting together right? Not sure what news you have been watching. These marches are against the corrupt establishment.

In Toronto blacks have asked whites not to be visible in the protests.

You should check the real world. Plenty of news and coverage about it today.

CNN and Faux were mostly covering the rioting from Ferguson. Less about the bigger protests in NY.

There were protests in NY?? any info or videos?

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/nyregion/hundreds-protesting-ferguson-decision-block-traffic-in-new-york-city.html

I hope you are joking... New York had the biggest and most disruptive protest. Media really didn't cover it

Really? saw nothin on reddit or the news. Wow.

They blocked tunnels and bridges. I don't have any links it was talked about on CNN during the live coverage.

Nice username ｢(ﾟﾍﾟ)

Headlines over here in Yurp.

In Toronto blacks have asked whites not to be visible in the protests.