I think you are blowing it out of proportion. Just because a person was tracked as a child doesn't mean they won't know how to think for themselves. Have you never questioned the decisions your parents made when they raised you? I have on many occasions. In fact, I feel some of those methods were wrong and I'm set on NOT using them. Maybe you should give people more credit?

Even if a kid is tracked, they'll still be exposed to different ideas simply by going to school and interacting with other people. As they get older, go to college, etc., they will still be able to form their own opinions and determine for themselves what is right and wrong regardless of what their parents thought.

Not true. I used to be fed fish when I was a kid, but I practically hate it now. Putting any in my mouth makes me feel like vomitting.

I want to believe this can happen, but simply spouting these ideals on /. will not magically get the needed support. There is real organizational work to be done; not just a post in a public forum.

Browsing /., I've seen plenty of people who are expressing unrest at the U.S. government taking away our freedoms and some even hint at wanting a revolution. There is no shortage of people who would like their voices heard. The problem is that these voices are fleeting. Like your post and perhaps like mine, people will read and think, "Yeah, I agree with that!" but then they will go on about their business without really connecting with our ideals. If people don't commit, ideals will simply exist as wishful thinking and we end up standing alone.

It's true that there is power in numbers, but to gain those numbers, there must be a way for people to commit. This is why real organizational work must be done. There needs to be a highly visible resource that people can join; a resource that acts as a platform that together we can use to fight for our freedoms.

Ideally, the platform would aggregate issues that threaten our freedoms and provide information about the appropriate actions to take for each issue. People who have joined and are committed to the cause know that they are not alone and that they can take actions that will actually be meaningful.

I'm aware of various sites/petitions that try to inform about threats to our freedoms and some do provide info about possible actions to take, but I found that not only do they typically have poor visibility (some sites I've only found by chance), but they mostly only address specific issues and not the problem as a whole (i.e. government thinking they can take our freedoms). Since the sites only address specific issues, people are forced to scour the web looking for any new issues and they must manage all of that activity themselves. Let's face it: for the average person, this represents too much work. It doesn't mean they don't care at all, but just that they have other priorities in their life (like making a living). Simplifying the time consuming process of independent research into a single resource is bound to create more awareness and also increase participation.

Until a platform comes along to rally the people together, expect the strength of the people to go to waste. People are getting angry but so long as they do not gather together, their voices will not be heard.

Because if you read the page, they have responded:

The site would be pretty cool if the administration actually kept their promise to address petitions after a number of signatures. I'm looking at the popular petitions and even though they have tens of thousands of signatures, they have not been addressed. I don't know. Maybe this is because signatures were added after the deadline, but why is there even a deadline? I think the fact that the signatures exceeded the threshold at all is reason enough to address the petition.

Another problem with the site is that your voice still doesn't make a difference. The things that do get addressed are typically of the form: "Oh, yes, that does seem to be an issue. Thanks for the input." In other words, "See, we're listening! We just don't particularly care about what you're saying."

They will come in due time.