Do citizens have a duty to speak out or shut up?
 

Do free citizens in a democracy have a right to object to things their government does that the believe are offensive, immoral or illegal? Do they have a duty to do so? Or do they have a duty to keep quiet? Or is the right qualified by wartime?

Which of the following best describes your general position? (Pick one only). This poll refers only to speech protected under the first amendment as defined by federal courts (that is, speech for which the government can't sanction you, such as treason, defamation, obscenity, sedition, incitement to crime, etc.).

Re: Do citizens have a duty to speak out or shut up?
 

I keep telling you people, America is moving towards fascism.

How will the sheeple respond once the transition is complete? Probably sit around and cheer. So sad.

Re: Do citizens have a duty to speak out or shut up?
 

I answered that citizens have the right to speak out because that's what's in the Constitution. If some people think it's their duty I have no problem with that. The other 2 are just silly. If anybody takes that position they are not worth talking to. I'd prefer a mini-essay on why people have the right/duty rather than making your point this way.

Re: Do citizens have a duty to speak out or shut up?
 

Hi Everyone:

Years ago, I worked for the United States Census Bureau. And though it wasn't my area of expertise, I did learn a great deal about what we called conditioning in questions. That is questions had to be asked in a manner that would not influence how they were answered thus producing what was known as response bias.

The above questions by Alger is a good example of this. They're not really designed to get an answer. They are designed to influence your thinking towards our government and imply that our government is definitely doing things wrong since it is obvious that they need to be criticized.

He could probably get away with this on many other web sites. But I just happen to be a retired statistician that worked for a few years in this field. Even the title of this thread "Do citizens have a duty to speak out or shut up?" is designed for a conditioned response.

Best wishes,
Mason

Re: Do citizens have a duty to speak out or shut up?
 

Which of the above questions implies "that our government is definitely doing things wrong since it is obvious that they need to be criticized?"

Re: Do citizens have a duty to speak out or shut up?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Hi Everyone:

Years ago, I worked for the United States Census Bureau. And though it wasn't my area of expertise, I did learn a great deal about what we called conditioning in questions. That is questions had to be asked in a manner that would not influence how they were answered thus producing what was known as response bias.

The above questions by Alger is a good example of this. They're not really designed to get an answer. They are designed to influence your thinking towards our government and imply that our government is definitely doing things wrong since it is obvious that they need to be criticized.

He could probably get away with this on many other web sites. But I just happen to be a retired statistician that worked for a few years in this field. Even the title of this thread "Do citizens have a duty to speak out or shut up?" is designed for a conditioned response.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

Mason,

When I say "Do you support illegal aliens taking away American jobs?", I am trying to elicit a specific response; when I say "Do you support the inalienable human rights of undocumented workers?", I designed the question for a conditioned response. I am, in essence, asking the same question; but of course, the responses to these questions would be quite varied, even among the same population of respondents.

When I say "Do you support the rights of Americans to play the game of poker -- a game which has its roots in Americana and has a long, storied, traditional role in the American mosaic?", I'm trying to condition a response. When I say "Do you think foreign companies should be allowed to let hard-working American families 'lose their house with the click of a mouse' ", I am again trying to elicit a specific response.

That these questions are attempting to condition is probably quite obvious to you, and many here (I know this because, as a frequent poster in this forum, such questions and the language behind them are almost always, without fail, labeled correctly for what they are).

If I'm not mistaken, we've had threads on how such questions are meant to influence. They were very good threads and led to great discussions. I think we can have a very good discussion about the questions raised in the OP poll, even if they're attempting to elicit specific responses. We're all adults here (or should be -- I should hope not very many under 18s are reading this), and are all capable of scrutinizing such polls.

Language and politics are inexorably linked. We can talk about these things in an open and frank manner. Attempts to condition are inevitable. The only way to combat conditioning is a free-flowing discourse -- where everyone is allowed to 'call-out' logical fallacies, biased languaged, etc. as they see fit (as you did here).

Re: Do citizens have a duty to speak out or shut up?
 

Yes we get it Chris, you're just being a good citizen. Now you can take your soapbox to the next thread.

Re: Do citizens have a duty to speak out or shut up?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Which of the above questions implies "that our government is definitely doing things wrong since it is obvious that they need to be criticized?"

[/ QUOTE ]

The issue, as it seems to me is that the 'poll' starts very genereally, and then hones in on one of the possible thousands of issues, the war. So it is designed to imply that we should regonize our right/duty to critizes govt in genersl (most would agree) and then build on that point of view and apply it to the war. The poll is leading and suggestive. This is very common but still true.

Re: Do citizens have a duty to speak out or shut up?
 

I can't claim any skill in designing polls but all was trying to capture is the forum's sense of whether criticism about war during wartime should be limited. Several on this forum have made that distinction and I was curious about how many agreed. I wasn't referring to any particular war but wanted to make sure that it included the "war on terror," although that phrase is so problematic I arguably shouldn't have used it. Still, I don't see how I'm suggesting much of anything or trying to elicit particular responses.

Re: Do citizens have a duty to speak out or shut up?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I answered that citizens have the right to speak out because that's what's in the Constitution. If some people think it's their duty I have no problem with that. The other 2 are just silly. If anybody takes that position they are not worth talking to. I'd prefer a mini-essay on why people have the right/duty rather than making your point this way.

[/ QUOTE ]

The entire poll is useless, since it doesnt place "speaking out" in the context of when, where and how the "speaking" is done. I cant believe Im the only one who answered "none of the above".