Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) force-fed under standard Guantánamo Bay procedure – Video

[video=youtube;z6ACE-BBPRs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ACE-BBPRs[/video]

Warning: some viewers may find these images distressing.

Massive respect to Mos Def for volunteering to take part in this brutal practice carried out by US soldiers in Gitmo. I don't think any other 'celebrities' would step up to this extent to bring awareness about the torture that goes in Guantanmo Bay.

TheGuardian

 

Damn, this shocked me.

I don't know his music, but major respect for this.

 

AND I'M PROOOOOUD TO BE AN AMERICAN

WHERE AT LEAST I KNOW I'M FREEEEEEEEE

 

terrorists or not, that's fucking inhumane and immoral. it's their right as a human being to go on a hunger strike, and Obama not halting the process for Ramadan is really disrespectful.

 

^Exactly. It's awful. And I'm sure this isn't even the worst that goes on.

 

You know what? I don't even care that I, along with everyone I love, lives here: This entire fucking country deserves to be nuked into oblivion. It's the cancer that's slowly killing every last shred of what can still be defined as "humanity."

 

That's government for ya. But at least they exist or else there'd be no roads.

 

Or just.

You know.

Overthrow the government.

But I guess the "erase all 350 million of em for good measure" is sound too.

 

That would really blow for Mos Def. Dude gets force fed then fucking nuked.

 

The US being nuked into oblivion is much more likely to happen than our spineless citizens overthrowing the government. Occupy Wall Street was a great success, wasn't it? You like to play devil's advocate too much, and sometimes that's okay, but this one was just really.. well, for a lack of a better term, dumb. You know the chances of our government being overthrown are less than zero, and you damn well know several countries (whether their nuclear arms/missiles are able to reach us or not) are chomping at the bit to blow us to kingdom come.

The correct answer to this is...

You know.

Elect a leader that actually gives a fuck about our country, freedom and rights. And even, SHOCKHORROR, foreign citizens rights as human beings on Earth, which contrary to our belief, isn't owned exclusively by the United States. Obama does not care about us or the rights of foreign citizens, and neither did his predecessor, who opened this can of worms to begin with when he made Gitmo, effectively, hell on earth.

I'm honestly not trying to flame you, or anything of the sort, but we all know what Astat was trying to say (and his statement has more truth and possibility to it than yours). No need to be smarmy.

 

There won't be change because we fell back into our sheep-like mentality we had when we were still a part of Great Britain. When the oppressed finally became sick of the state stealing money from them through taxation, they decided to fight for their own country that would be free of coercion. And they won.

That lasted a bit until taxes reappeared and the federal and state governments attained more and more power. Fast forward to today and the citizens are in the exact same scenario the revolutionaries fought against. Even worse. Back then the state wouldn't know what you're masturbating to.

It's a mentality that leads to oppression. Even if we were freed again, we would end up right back in this place because people seem to think there needs to be rulers.

Our submission has been evolving over time, though. We've gone from allowing Pharaohs/Kings/Emperors to butt rape us with no say in the matter to a democracy where everyone has a say on who gets butt raped. As time goes on, we're realizing we want to be more free and don't want to be butt raped anymore. As a collective, we just haven't figured out that to ensure that we simply need to live without rulers. It'll probably be hundreds of years before a society lives on each individual's terms, abiding by the 'golden rule' and letting market forces work uninhibited. Until then we just have to manage to not die out as a species.

 

I like that, metaphorical or not, you seriously believe the US wouldn't start throwing off way more bombs itself than at everyone else at even the possibility of a nuclear strike. Even after a whole shpeal about how it clearly doesn't care about the rest of the world (and thus would murder everyone in it if it meant not being slightly inconvenienced). You're going to point to the failure of Occupy, which was essentially the real life equivalent of a Tumblr blog, and conclude "Ah, see, there you go. Can't be done".

 

I don't really understand, are you trying to say that we just shouldn't have taxes or a president? And IMO, I feel like the market is one reason our country is in such a bad situation right now. A free market is cool and all, but not everything should be left up to the market. I also don't believe we will die out as a species, as bad as it is, we are still smart and I don't think we have to worry about that anytime soon.
Anyways, back to the topic at hand: I do agree that this is awful. What are they trying to achieve by force-feeding? Torture? That's really something that just needs to stop in Gitmo, period. Give them food, and the option to eat. If they don't eat, then leave them alone.

 

None of them want to be there (for obvious reasons), and are trying to either get the US to bend, or to stop living. It would look bad for Freedomland if their dungeon of uncharged detainees all died in US custody, so the "logical" conclusion is to force it in them.

 

Sorry, but what you're speaking about sounds like a stereotypical libertarian utopia. At least to me.

"It'll probably be hundreds of years before a society lives on each individual's terms". This wouldn't just work. I'm gonna take a stupid example, but if somebody own's terms is to be cannibal, then what happens? We should just let this guy kill everyone he wants to, because he needs them to satifsy his thirst for human blood?

Yes, that was pretty stupid, but the point is there. If political systems weren't there anymore, everyone would have to hustle to make his own live better. That includes the weakest being totally abandonned in favor of the strongest or the most influent people. Eventually, there's a high chance people would associate themselves to be more strong and more secure. And that would lead to new systems with new leaders.

Saying political systems and leaders are shit doesn't bring much to the table imo. Sure there are huge problems in their fonctioning which need to be discussed and resolved, but overal, I wouldn't say the whole system is that bad. Proof? That oppressive system allows you have a house, a family, a computer, and being member of a forum where you can talk shit about it and how it is evil and useless. As natural those things might seems to you, there aren't allowed in all parts of the world. I would understand your opinion better if you lived in North Korea or if you were a woman in Saudi Arabia, but that's not the case.

 

Living on everyone's own terms while not violating anyone else's rights. I worded that poorly initially. That's the golden rule. You can do anything you want as long as it doesn't affect other people. And you can do anything you want that other people allow you to do. Anything else would be infringing upon their rights and you would be held accountable.


The oppressive system doesn't allow me to have a house, family, etc. I have all of those things in spite of the oppressive system. We allow government to exist, not the other way around.

Government is just like religion - a man-made tool that is used to hold certain people down while attempting to give another certain people an advantage. They have both fooled humanity into thinking they are necessary when their sole purpose for being invented was to control the world by the balls.


Here's a humorous story for those who want to lol at government: 'Pothole Robin Hood' Steals Asphalt, Fixes Potholes

 

Forgive me if this sounds stupid, but we can't live without ANY sort of government. You may think our current government is too opressive and too powerful, but that doesn't mean none should exist at all. Because in spite of the golden rule, everyone has their own variations on what affects them or what affects certain people. We need some sort of government to have laws and keep people safe. Because we don't live in a perfect world where everyone's your friendly neighbor.

 

It doesn't sound stupid. It's what seems natural to us because that's all we've known.

What you call government could be done by businesses that conduct civil suits (courts) or private security (police) based on voluntary exchange instead of taxes. The difference between a government and a business is that one will shut down due to bankruptcy if they don't provide the service the consumer desires. Since the government has a monopoly on power, they can just throw you in jail if you quit paying taxes.

What I talk about is very hypothetical and can seem crazy, but so many people around the world are dissatisfied with a ruling power. Instead of discussing how we can tweak a corrupt system, I find it's more beneficial to mankind to discuss how life could be without rulers. In a society like any first world country, with advanced technology, a lot of money, a lot of people, and a lot of businesses, a total lack of government could work out much better than we have it now. Just because we don't know the details doesn't mean we should laugh it off as impossible.

 

Damn fucking awful.

 

You can't know every conceivable thing that will or won't violate another's rights to use and enjoyment of their person and property. Sure, there are the common things expected by general society (obvious things like Gitmo, right to personal safety, etc.), but law and order exists because we can't just quick, fix, and done. Not every situation is or can be accounted for until it happens, so we need authoritatively enforced rules to examine them through, and an enforceable mechanism to change them when the circumstances show that the old rule doesn't work.

And generally speaking, experience has shown that what the libertarian adage "Free to do what you want as long as it doesn't impinge on someone else" really means is "I'm free to do whatever I want, and any attempt to complain about me infringing on your rights also infringes on my rights, so deal with it."