Prescienceby
Tim Case
"But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was affected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people." ~ John Adams, Second President of the United States Do you remember the first time you read Charles Dickens opening paragraph to his book Tale of Two Cities? "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." It was November 22, 1963 just before 10:30 AM Pacific Standard time; I was sitting in my English literature class, when those words were forever burned into my mind. I had no more finished reading Dickens’ opening paragraph when the school loud-speaker system came on with the disquieting news that "President John F. Kennedy has been shot in Dallas, Texas." Within seconds many of the young ladies in the class began to quietly sob while an otherwise stunned hush fell over the class. Our literature teacher then gave permission for the girls to leave the class but told the males to stay put he had something he wanted to tell us. As the last girl left the room, the door to the classroom was closed and locked. Turning to those of us remaining; that wise old sage in a controlled but stern voice said: "Gentleman, your world is going to change. I know most of you hunt. I doubt there is anyone here that doesn’t own a firearm. The day is coming when the Federal government is going to try and disarm you. I won’t see it, but you will. Mark my words and be on your guard, the Second Amendment is the only thing standing between you and the suffering you can’t comprehend. Class is dismissed." What experiences had brought that literature teacher to make those proclamations, I’ll never know. Of course, we didn’t see any immediate change in our lives. Groups of us still made the weekly rounds to the Sears’, Wards’, and Penny’s stores to look at and drool over the racks of firearms. We still bought our ammunition from these stores or the local gun shops even though none of us had reached our fourteenth birthday. No one gave us a second look when a troop of us walked through town carrying our weapons on the way down to the river to plink at tin cans or to go bird hunting. If we were approached by a police officer, there was no fear. He was one of us and would tell us to be careful or warn us of something he had seen that we needed to know to stay out of harm's way. When bird hunting he would ask us to let him know where the birds were or to tell us where he had had some success during his hunts. Life really hadn’t changed but we often talked about what that literature teacher had said and we wondered what was going to happen. It was as Dickens’ had said, "the best of times…" while the worst times were not having the fifty-five cents it took to buy a box of 22 long rifle shells to plink with or the ninety-nine cents for a box of shotgun shells during bird season. My, how times have changed! What we didn’t understand, in those early years, is that the government is an entity which stays benign only so long as those who make up its character are so disposed. The very soul, mind, heart and action of any government are a direct expression of the morality, or lack of it, by those who make up the government and those who elect them. Now, we are seeing the truth of that statement. Recently, I was sent an article entitled, "Does the Right Want a Civil War?" by one Sara Robinson, Orcinus. The blog is one long diatribe which blames every recent illegal shooting on anyone who doesn’t hold her perverted view of reality. In her words, the Department of Homeland Security was perfectly correct when it "expressed their worries about right-wing extremist violence last April…" Furthermore, anyone who objects to the policies being foisted on the American public doesn’t "seem to give a damn about the future of this country, either." Sara Robinson condemns any objections as "selling hate…without regard for the cultural sewage you're creating, without regard for the way you've polluted the political landscape, and now apparently without even a moment's regard for the innocent lives that are being lost because you seem bent on destroying every shred of trust required for our democracy to function." It is not my intent to dispute an obviously sick ideologue who clearly has never seen what war can do to society. One such as Sara Robinson lives in a world of morbid paranoia supported by the dementia of those in the media, DHS, or a number of governmental positions, Federal, state and local. What is relevant is that it seems to be spreading. How far from social chaos are we when the question can be asked: "Isn't it time we started rounding up promoters of hate before they kill?" Bonnie Erbe of CBS isn’t kidding, she means without trial, or without just cause. She wants people arrested and jailed based simply on some "authority’s" concept of hate. She would be perfectly happy to incarcerate those who have any opinion contrary to hers and the present administration. It is no wonder then that "terrorists" as defined by the state must be an ever-expanding all-inclusive term. Between delusional state agents and rampant governmental paranoia they must try to marginalize and herd all those they fear into one giant boogeyman. Never realizing the "terrorism" they fear is not a single unified adversary. If you think this isn’t getting a little out of hand consider this; On Friday, June 19, 2009 the NRA-ILA posted "In Border States, BATFE Asks: "May We See Your Guns?" It seems that "[i]n some cases, agents have asked to enter these people's homes, and requested serial numbers of all firearms the members possess." "In each case, the agents were making inquiries based on the number of firearms these NRA members had recently bought, and in some cases the agents said they were asking because the members had bought types of guns that are frequently recovered in Mexico." So who changed? Was it those of us, who, in our formative years, understood the inherent danger in the misuse of weapons? Are we who grew up respecting other’s property rights and the sanctity of life the ones to blame for the tension being felt in the current social environment? It sure isn’t those of us who looked to remove ourselves from governmental oversight, while remaining productive members of society, which entailed avoidance, as opposed to open violent confrontation with the state. We learned early the necessity of self-reliance; looking to provide for ourselves and our community. We knew instinctively that this is the road to happiness. No! What changed was not us but the state with its support from those statists, conservatives and progressives who fostered continuing, never-ending oppression, seeking to place all human activity under political control. For a while it worked, didn’t it? A friend’s correspondence concerning what has occurred over the last 50 plus years seems more than appropriate. "I suspect that some of us recognize that with the term ‘sheeple,’ we herd up. We've got a shepherd, big government. That government even has dogs. ‘Don't worry, they're not there to attack you (even though they… look like wolves), they're only to protect you from the wolves.’ And we buy that. Of course the shepherd is only willing to expend his time and resources because he can fleece us and maybe even sell us as mutton!" This, by definition, is that most common and loathsome circumstance known throughout history as state-sponsored terrorism. With it comes intimidation of citizens by their government using state resources such as the police, judiciary, news media and military to quell domestic opposition to its policies. To that list we can now add the banking system and domestic thugs funded by the state through "private community" organizations. The old Literature teacher was right; to stay in control those in favor of government domination must find a way to do away with the Second Amendment right and confiscate private weapons. The catch is that some within the "herd" are now starting to question all those altruistic lies. Why? Maybe it is because they are learning that they would be better off not sacrificing more wealth for a new set of lies. Maybe they are beginning to understand that big government is not the sweet smiling parent figure it has pretended to be. Maybe people would just like to keep what is theirs. Could it be that people are just sick and tired of having a government that will not listen but continues to act without the consent of the people? It happened in 1776. Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th Circuit Court in 2003 wrote in part:
Progressives and statists are you listening? June 25, 2009 Tim Case [send him mail] is a 30-year student of the ancient histories who agrees with the first-century stoic Epictetus on this one point: “Only the educated are free.” Copyright © 2009 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.
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