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ypeterholmes 6 days ago

If you think authoritarianism will lead to order and peace, you're gonna have a bad time. The presence of a secret police is already causing wide scale violation of our constitutional rights.

jeffbee 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

It is not "secret police". The reason your car has a highly visible number plate is because for decades society has recognized its compelling interest in knowing the whereabouts of private vehicles.

kyboren 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

No, the ability to know the current whereabouts and location history of practically all private vehicles is a new capability afforded by deployment of ALPR mass surveillance.

Previously, we had some balance between privacy and accountability. A bystander or a victim of a collision could remember license plate numbers and give them in a police report. The police could tail you (but only you, because $$$) to discover your movements. But government agents couldn't track the movements of all the people, all the time. Now they can.

The societal balance of power has shifted and is now seriously lopsided in favor of the rulers. And cheerleaders like you don't mind, as long as you can purchase a little temporary safety...

buellerbueller 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Masked, unidentified individuals abducting people are either kidnappers (if doing it without the law behind them) or secret police (if doing it with the law behind them).

EDIT: Rather then downvote, offer an example of a masked, unidentified person abducting someone who is neither a kidnapper nor secret police.

ypeterholmes 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Then why are they wearing masks?

15155 6 days ago | parent [-]

Probably so unhinged individuals don't show up at their homes and attack their families for performing unpopular law enforcement functions?

ypeterholmes 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

Setting aside their lawlessness, it sounds like we agree they are unidentifiable, meaning their identity is a secret. So they are a secret police. And you support that for some reason, maybe because you haven't read a single history book.

15155 5 days ago | parent [-]

Is this supposed to be some kind of "gotcha?" I don't really care about the language being used to describe this law enforcement agency: it isn't going to change my opinion about their mission or somehow change their legal ability to carry it out.

You're right: because I do not want illegal immigrants in my country I haven't "read a single history book."

ypeterholmes 3 days ago | parent [-]

Nah, it's your support for lawless authoritarianism because you think it will improve your safety- that's the part you missed in history class. That's the con you are falling for. The truth is that once authoritarianism takes hold, nobody is safe. Many Germans who thought the Nazi's would only target "bad people" learned this the hard way.

sethammons 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Interesting that record deportations under the Obama administration didn't spur such reactions to immigration enforcement at the time. Has there been any change in behavior by officials?

ypeterholmes 3 days ago | parent [-]

Any change in behavior? Is that a joke? Setting aside the masked men terrorizing our communities, immigrants are being literally tortured inside camps across the country. They are being treated worse than criminals- tortured. Abused. What's happening right now is horrific, and the dehumanization propaganda can only be compared to Hitler's vilification of the jews.

rcpt 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Getting ticketed for blowing through a red light isn't "authoritarianism"

gs17 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

This discussion isn't really about red light or speed cameras, although they suck in different ways. They are technically "license plate cameras", but they only capture for a specific purpose. ALPR cameras are about a surveillance dragnet over the whole city, tracking people who are not accused of anything.

DaSHacka 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Nor is getting reinstated to your home country of origin when you are here illegitimatly.

immibis 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

You're making the assumption that widescale violation of our constitutional rights can't lead to order and peace.

a456463 6 days ago | parent [-]

Where has that actually happened?

aerostable_slug 6 days ago | parent [-]

El Salvador is making a case for it, and other countries are paying attention.