Aziza Crowder

English 3H
Period 3
October 16, 2013

Censorship in the Government

Whether implicit or explicit, the government has your life wrapped around its arm like
an accessory. The foolish thought of freedom is claimed by many but is only an illusion the
government has thrown out to you. It censors your mind, censors your words, and censors
your expression to prevent you from stepping over the painted line they have drawn for you.
Not everyone is conscious of this oppression the government presses down on citizens,
and thats the way they like it. Keeping citizens unaware and manipulating them into thinking
they have control is what the government has grown accustom to doing for centuries. Nothing
could be more present than the abstinence of presence. The government is a secretly hidden
God watching your every step and guiding you away from the truth and shoves you toward
the rest of the helpless citizens who fall for their words, hook, line, and sinker.
Theres nothing better than controlling the people around you, which is where
censorship falls into place. Many have not noticed this, however, others have. Would you
dare shout to the police about their misdoings? Government whips you into place and burns
the scar with restrictions, and boundaries so you may never forget your place. However,
citizens were not meant to be controlled, they were born with the natural loving freedom they
were born with and soon will lead the hungry fire of multiple uprisings in the nation.

Americans can not be oppressed for long; our inherent freedom craves for justice and
adventure. You cannot control what never belonged to you in the beginning. The very first
Americans came to America and stepped away from an overpowering government, who says
we wont be able to do it again? We as people were made to be free not tamed like a wild
beast. No one understood that better than Thomas Jefferson editor of the Declaration of
Independence. Sentences were altered, and words were censored by the government as to not
include any horrendous actions the government had done in the public document.
Government can try all they want to censor our documents, books, and even expression
but eventually someone will rise and shine some light on all their dark deeds and therefore
diminishing their power. None could have said it better than Al Wei Wei who said,
Censorship is saying: Im the one who says the last sentence. Whatever you say the
conclusion is mineThe people will always have the last word; even if someone has a very
weak, quiet voice such power will collapse because of a whisper. This quote states that no
matter how big or small the person is someone will rise and expose the government for what
it truly is, and they wont have to be very mighty to do it.
It can be difficult to stand up and say something against a powerful figure, especially
the government; however, the truth will always come about one way or the other. Their have
been many people who have spoken up against the government, yet most face the severe
consequences from the government. Unfortunately, Aaron Swartz experienced the
governments punishment first hand.
Aaron Swartz, the cofounder of the Reddit blog. , had posted something he recently
found about the government in MITs library. Once he posted it he noticed officials started
commenting and he received emails from anonymous source telling him to shut down the
blog altogether. Aaron refused, and he also tried running, and hiding from the government

officials. A few weeks later he was announced dead, he had committed suicide. The press
claimed that he had committed suicide because of his forgery, but that was government
censorship also. Aaron had been stressed out too much about the government officials
continually harassing him about the article he had put up. He couldnt take the stress anymore
and cracked under the pressure.
If you are not with the government, you are against them which could lead to your
death or even a worse punishment. However, there are two sides to government censorship,
the oppressors, and the freedom writers/victims. Many of the oppressors like to say that
censoring is necessary for young and impressionable minds, meaning they want to have that
influence over those minds and no one else. Or they would say that censorship is to protect
the country from terrorists attack. On the other side the victims would say that it only stifles
their imagination and creativity. They would also say that their conscience will not let the
government get away with their dirty deeds.
Even if the government craves control, it wouldnt be able to have it, not without a fight
from the people. It might not be that the government used to have our minds wrapped around
their arm, no more. Americans are tired of being the arm candy of the government and have
stood up, as well as speak up. Besides, if the government didnt have anything to fear or be
scared of, why does it censor its powerless citizens?