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What To Say to a Bunch of People Who Want To Kill You by
Greg Perry My previous article about Windows Vista (Is Vista Ready For You?) prompted a nasty and massive batch of emails from fans of Macs, Linux, and those jealous of Bill Gates’s wealth. That’s why in the future I’m going to stay away from risky topics. I’ll stick to simpler and far less controversial subjects such as gun control and the total destruction of children by the government school system. (In that article I did promise a follow-up column or two giving new Vista users tips on how to make Vista work better for them. I never want to break my word to you. If you still need tips or if you want to flame me some more you can see the document I’ve put up on my auction site pages here for you, called Ten Great Vista Tips That Save You Time and Money.) 300 & 600,000 This week a new movie launches in theatres called 300. You’ll hear that it’s based on a comic book and graphic novel by Frank Miller. While that is true, it is also based on a historical event that Lew Rockwell readers should understand. 2,500 years ago a Persian Emperor named Xerxes roamed his part of the earth battling, conquering, and doing general emperor-like things to the armies and countries that got in his way. Xerxes thought his little Persian empire should stretch far outside its home territory, the area we know as Iran today. Xerxes created a fierce fighting force of 600,000 well-trained men. It was a really bad "pit bull" troop. The kind of troop that didn’t like to sit around. The kind of troop that killed entire countries. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Greece Xerxes wanted Greece. Greece was a historical marvel, a center of art, sculpture, architecture, commerce, and a former world-ruling empire. Just as all good Democrats and Republicans think today, Xerxes thought the best way to get his hands on all those goodies in Greece was to steal them from their rightful owners. Greece knew the battle was coming. They took steps to prepare a defense for their country. The problem was that they had very little time to prepare. A Spartan General and King named Leonidas took 300 fighting men and placed them and himself between Persia’s 600,000 advancing troops and the area where the larger Greek army was formulating a defense. That initial battle would be 300 men against 600,000. The odds didn’t look promising. I’ll spoil it for you ahead of time. The 300 lost the battle. That lost battle was significant however. Somehow, those 300 men held off the 600,000 invading Persians long enough for Greece to plan their defense, set up a stronghold front, and ultimately keep Persia’s Xerxes from his prize. A Quick Time-Out to Help Public School Geography and History Teachers If you teach geography or history in the public schools, you’re no doubt confused. You should know that Greece is a country in southern Europe. When a country is said to be southern, that means it’s lower than others on a map. Grease (spelled with an a) is the stuff in skillets that was one of the things that initially confused you about all this. What you probably don’t know is that Europe is located east (it’s probably easier for you to think "to the right") of America across the Atlantic Ocean. Just go up to New York City and take a hard right; in a couple of thousand miles or so you’ll be getting close to Europe. If you want to know more about Greece, Persia, and other things like geography and history, just ask any homeschooled student. He or she can fill you in on all the details that you’re lacking. And now back to 300. We’ll Protect You Keep in mind that those 300 Greek men sent to hold off the invading 600,000-man Persian army did not win the battle. They lost. They really, really lost. The 600,000 Persians knew that the little Greek army led by Leonidas wouldn’t be a problem. Just a minor stepping-stone on their way into Greece. Like any warrior, however, the Persian leader Xerxes knew it would be better to get the 300 men on his side than to expend the time and minor casualties to fight those 300 Greeks. That’s why the Persian Emperor sent word to that small band of 300 Greek fighters with the following: we will spare every one of your lives. All you need to do is disarm yourselves. Put down your weapons and you will live. It’s a lot like what the Third Reich told many in Poland and elsewhere right before they spent the next few years firebombing those who lay down their guns. It’s a lot like Janet Reno told the wacky David Koresh and his church in Waco right before she firebombed and slaughtered all those children. It’s a lot like what your government has been moving toward since the 1934 National Firearms Registration Act started the same ball rolling here. "Give us your weapons. You don’t need them. We’re from the government. We’re here to help. We will protect you." Molon Labe When the 300 Greeks heard that all they had to do was to give up their weapons to live, they didn’t do what hundreds of thousands of Jews and other victims did 7 decades ago. They didn’t do what millions of British have done in the past 2 decades, seeing an intense exponential increase in violent crime ever since. They didn’t do what probably millions of Americans will do over the next few years as older generations who understand the importance of freedom, personal responsibility, and personal protection pass away. What they did do was this: those 300 Greeks sent two words back to the 600,000 who requested their weapons. "Molon labe." Translation: Come and take them. The Result of Molon Labe Those 300 Greeks really got angry that the 600,000 thought they would just lay down their weapons and give up. Even though those 300 men died in battle, they were angry enough to hold off the entire 600,000 Persian army long enough to delay so that the full Greek army could assemble and prepare a defense that would keep Greece free from the Persian takeover. The 600,000 lost many fighters in both the battle against Leonidas’s 300 as well as against the Greek stronghold army they eventually had to face. Many LewRockell.com readers will understand the importance of this battle. It took something special for 300 men to hold off 600,000 invaders long enough to give their fellow countrymen time to build a suitable defense, one that was probably the largest defense the little country of Greece had ever needed to assemble. Real men (and real women) will not lay down their weapons along with their freedoms and give up. Not even in the face of 600,000 warriors. A writer named Boston T. Party wrote a modern-day account of Molon Labe. His book, entitled Molon Labe appropriately enough, tells how a handful of Libertarian-like freedom lovers refused to lay down their weapons against the massive invading force called the United States Government. I wrote about one of Boston T’s other books called Boston’s Gun Bible in another Lew Rockwell article a few years ago (Don’t Bring Ayn Rand to a Gunfight). Some of you responded in a big way to that article. Some of you are now better trained with your weapon than you were. I’m grateful that my little column affected some of you in that way. Support Your Local Gunfighters I think you should go see 300 this weekend. Is it a good movie? This is a movie preview but not a movie review because I have not seen the movie. I know the story, I’ve read the book, but I haven’t seen Miller’s story on the big screen. I will see it. I will see it multiple times. I will see it today, its national release date, and I will see it again later in the week. I will take other people with me to see it. After a few weeks, I plan to see it again. I plan to buy the DVD. Those are my plans. I’m realistic. There’s a great chance that Hollywood will change the historical message of this battle and remove all freedom-related aspects of the story. If that happens, I won’t see it a second time. Neither should you. But now that you understand the story you owe it to yourself to give the movie the support of at least one viewing. We should support those causes, and yes even Hollywood movies, that further our freedom in a just and right manner. What is Your Response? How will you respond when President Hillary or President Obama or President Giuliani gently tells you that your family will be safe as long as you get rid of those nasty guns that can accidentally fire and hurt someone (like what happened in Dick Cheney’s hands)? I hope you will cry out, "Molon labe!"
But as for me and my household, Molon labe says it perfectly. March 9, 2007 Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. What he does best is teach others how to maximize their eBay income. That's because he smashes his eBay competitors by implementing time-proven Direct Marketing techniques that others completely ignore. If you've ever considered eBay, you'll make far more money when you read his newest book, eXtreme eBay – How to Quickly Apply the Most Powerful Direct Marketing Techniques in the World to Every Item You Sell on eBay. Copyright © 2007 LewRockwell.com |
If
you don’t want to speak Greek, you can also say, "You can have
my guns. Bullets first."