The spirit of the Age

[kandrathe]

It is, just in a really warped 'you are being oppressed and don't even know about it, you foolish dupe of the powers-that-be!' kind of way.

-Jester

I didn't read V for Vendetta that way. It was more, people fearfully giving up their rights for security. In that case it was a biological weapon blamed on terrorists. Once the government becomes an instrument of absolute power, all dissent was brutally crushed. The Patriot Act in the US is an example where people are all too willing to sacrifice liberty for security, and I fear some people would be willing to give up much, much more. I know you don't believe this, but the right to a trial by a jury, and the right to defend oneself are probably the last vestiges of true liberty in the US.

It's not far fetched as one can look to any number of third world dictatorships as examples of how to implement that type of tyranny. In fact, Iraq under Saddam is a great example of where people just kept their opinions private in fear that their friends or family would accidentally or intentionally result in being taken away in the night ending in their horrible torture and death. Being an American, I don't quite understand the emotions evoked by the whole Guy Fawkes thing.