Hey Everyone!!
I wanted to make sure you all know about H.R.5181, especially if you're a resident of the US. You can read the text of H.R.5181 here, H.R.5181, but essentially what it does is create a governmental department that is to "control the narrative" which is used when speaking about the US government. So, my question is, how long before "controlling the narrative" changes to creating the narrative? I mean do we really want the government deciding how people are allowed to talk about it? You know what it reminds me of? This:
"The messages he had received referred to articles or news items which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to alter, or, as the official phrase had it, to rectify...As soon as all the corrections which happened to be necessary in any particular number of The Times had been assembled and collated, that number would be reprinted, the original copy destroyed, and the corrected copy placed on the files in its stead. This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks, cartoons, photographs -- to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance. Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct, nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary. In no case would it have been possible, once the deed was done, to prove that any falsification had taken place."
George Orwell - 1984
To me, this Bill has "slippery slope" printed all over it in mile-high, neon-flashing lights. This is dangerous, and both major US parties are trying to slide it right past the voters unnoticed. But we have noticed, and we need to let them know that. At the very least, we can make sure our lawmakers know that we know what they're up to. And if enough of us make it clear to them that our votes in November will take into account their votes on this Bill, maybe we can stop it. If you're in the US, you might want to consider contacting your House Representative. You can find out who that is and how to contact them here:
And, if you don't want to do either of those things, at least you know what the government is up to now. ;-)
All you need to do is type in your zip code. There's also a petition circulating that you can sign if you'd like. You can find that petition here:
And, if you don't want to do either of those things, at least you know what the government is up to now. ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment