IpI

I thought it was incredibly interesting.  What struck me was how intelligent government censorship has gotten. I'm not sure I would have ever come up with limiting access to paper like South America, or arguing that world is becoming too globalized and cultures are starting is disappear so we need to insulate ours. It's so simple, but so effective.  I was legitimately surprised at how intelligent their methods are.  I know that I'm not the authority on media or any kind of one.  I was raised to be skeptical of the media and what it tells you, so I've spent my life not reading it.  Well, between being raised that way and then being a staunch believer in the fact that if America is so free then I shouldn't have to work to find credible media sources, they should just be available, I never really gave media a chance.  This attitude means that the censorship the U.S. employs works in my case, because I rarely read news.  In fact, that is why I am taking this class. I've always expected my government to be keeping things from me, and never really questioned further.  What we have been discussing in class and what she was saying about places where the media really isn't free makes me wonder if this is the reality for most people or if some people don't even think to question their government.  Is that really what no freedom of speech looks like?  People blindly following?  No questions? Or is no freedom of press the country where questions are asked and answered, but not published because of the risks?  Whose to say?  The last thing that struck me was how people believe the American people are free.  I find America to be a ghost of it's former self.  Yes, in the constitution it says we have freedom of speech.  Yes, sometimes it is enforced.  Sometimes it's not.  The American people used to care about fighting for things, now most people are so involved with their own lives to fight or even care about things.  The American dream has changed drastically from what it once was.  Like Citizen 4 said most American people weren't surprised to learn about what the NSA was doing, yet we did nothing.  Is that free? Or have we become so used to being "free" that we limit ourselves?  What does that say about us as a people, when some are still fighting to have their right documented?  These were the questions I was left with.