Wrote this a little while back, but I figured I would post it here. It's also at www.ryansheets.com.
Two-hundred and thirty-three years ago, an idea was written down. The idea was that common people were capable of living on their own. The idea was something that hadn't really been considered in a while, and it was seen as something that was pretty radical in those days. The King wasn't quite as enthusiastic about the idea as the people.
The idea did not come without consequence! Many men and women lost their lives over it. In fact, an entire war was fought over it. Once the war was won, many other wars around the world were fought over the same idea!
In this short time, individualism has yielded the greatest era of advancement in the history of the world. Take a look around you. How many of the things you see have been invented in the last 2 centuries? Is it mere coincidence that, after thousands of years of stagnant collectivism, technology took off?
How radical is it that we should be left to live our own lives? How radical is it that we should be trusted with the one thing we have been given in this world? How radical is it that our actions should come from personal preference, not the orders of men who know almost nothing about us? How radical is it to believe that the common man is just as capable of living his life as a king?
The idea has been forgotten. We are told- and we have come to believe- that without leadership, there would be utter dissonance. If this is true, how do cars navigate city streets so successfully? If stop signs serve as a reasonable proxy for kings, why do we need kings? Are we to believe that an octagonal piece of red metal with a single word on it is responsible for such a miracle?
Here we are again, on the brink of tyranny, believing that the problems of the world can be solved by increased force. Here we are again, believing that the ingredients of prosperity are incapable of providing for prosperity. Here we are, ready to sacrifice the world for a false promise. Here we are, chasing a dream of justice for all, ready to sacrifice the future to attain it. Here we are again, joyfully perpetuating the operation of a machine that does nothing for us.
We have come to worship the Operator again. He tells us to ignore the value of gears; they're regularly replaced and they keep getting smaller. As the load increases, the machine begins to strain. The torque directed at the gears doesn't seem to be sufficient to keep the machine going so fast, so the Operator asks for more power. Fearing that the entire machine will be forced to slow down, we gladly oblige. Eventually, the pressure placed on the gears will cause them all to shatter, and the entire system will come to a screeching halt, but the gears wouldn't know the difference.
A wise man, seeing the imminent collapse of the entire system, suggests that we should increase the gear ratios or allow the system to slow down rather than throwing more power at the machine. He is largely rejected, but a strange thing, an impossible thing, happens. A few of the gears hear what the man said, and they realize the death sentence they have placed on their successors. The gears we logically assumed to be inanimate begin to resist! Unfortunately these gears shatter under the pressure of the very complacent machine, but the idea spreads to remaining gears! The Operator demands more and more power, and his wish is repeatedly granted, but the increased torque is met with more and more resistance. Eventually, the resisting gears force the system to shut down. Ironically, this would be called a revolution.
Maybe this world will never be perfect. Maybe friction is a law and our approach should take this into account. Maybe we should embrace this and try to increase efficiency. Maybe we should do the logical thing!
Life today might be acceptable, but what about all of the the lives that have not even begun? Can we justify the enslavement of our grandchildren? Can we live with ourselves, knowing that the debts we have racked up may come due during the lives of those we will bring into this world? We are trying to purchase heaven for the present at the cost of hell to the future.
We forfeit all of this money so someone we've never met can take action, yet the real killer, the definition of population control, is the apathy that has brought us to the reclining position as our neighbor is thrown out on the street. The idea that we could open up a spare room until our neighbor is able to get back on their feet isn't even considered; the government needs to fix this one! It seems natural that, as we increase the size and scope of our government, which exists only because we cede responsibility to it, apathy will go on another killing spree. This is the historical way of things.
People ask me why I fight. People ask me why I stand up when everyone is sitting down. People seem to agree with what I'm saying, yet they dare not repeat it. People vote once every 4 years, and that ought to be good enough, right? I'm just a disobedient gear, but I have an idea, and my idea is immune to torque.
There's people out there fighting, and there's people out there complaining. Almost everyone's complaining, few are fighting. Complaints aren't the same across the board, but everyone has a couch. Most of those complaining have functioning legs and voices. Imagine if everyone with a complaint got off of their couch and called their representatives!
If we are to believe that war is ever the right choice, what the hell are couches for at a time like this? How can we trumpet the virtues of interventionism abroad while we watch our nation crumble on the news? How can we advocate the use of deadly force to spread Democracy when we are unwilling to lift a finger of our own? What is happening to this country is greatly unjust and if you don't get up and do something after reading this, you deserve your fate.
The tyrants tell us our lives in danger. If we don't act swiftly, thousands, even millions, will die, they say. We must fight them there so that they do not come here! Never mind that they do not even have an air force, man the fighter jets!
As I have said before in a previous post, United States code title 18, section 2331 defines "domestic terrorism" as follows:
(5) the term "domestic terrorism" means activities that- (A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; (B) appear to be intended- (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and (C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States
If they're a terrorist, no trial is necessary! Habeas corpus is for potential criminals, not potential terrorists!
If dissent is not intimidating to the government, is it effective, or in any way remarkable? The definition of terrorism now includes, albeit implicitly, essentially any action found in the first or second amendment so long as the government can find a criminal violation dangerous to human life. The wording is so loose that a man could be defined as a terrorist if he was caught speeding with a dissenting bumper sticker on his car. Clearly, speeding patriots are a threat to national security, and that's why we passed the Patriot Act!
So you say that I worry too much, and that the government will only use this definition for the good of the people. What happens if I'm wrong? Nothing. What happens if you're wrong? What if they lock me up without a trial and threaten to imprison you for 5 years if you speak of it? Under the Patriot Act they can do that, you know?
Furthermore, United States code title 18, section 2385 makes it a Federal crime punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment to acknowledge the duty of a people to overthrow a tyrannical government:
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or
Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or
Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof-
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
If two or more persons conspire to commit any offense named in this section, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
As used in this section, the terms "organizes" and "organize", with respect to any society, group, or assembly of persons, include the recruiting of new members, the forming of new units, and the regrouping or expansion of existing clubs, classes, and other units of such society, group, or assembly of persons.
A warning to all the teachers out there: it is illegal to teach the Declaration of Independence, and you can be sent to jail for 20 years for doing so. Apparently, Jefferson was wrong! It is not our duty to overthrow tyrannical government, it is our duty to rat out anyone who dissents. Please forward information about any terrorist teachers caught teaching their students about the Declaration of Independence to flag@whitehouse.gov.
How many billions were spent bailing out banks, who pretended that every dollar they had was worth $35? How many billions were spent bailing out Chevy and Chrysler, who pay their employees more than 4 times the average American wage? How many billions were spent bailing out AIG, who made guarantees they simply could not back? We are replacing gears that wouldn't have shattered in the first place had the Operator not been given so much power!
They tell us the economic meltdown is so complex we would never understand. What is so complex about a bunch of banks loaning out way more money than they had to people who couldn't afford to pay back the nonexistent loans? They tell us nobody could have seen it coming, but a quick YouTube search for "Peter Schiff was right" demonstrates otherwise. They tell us that inaction is not an option, but it seemed to work fine in 1921. Roosevelt's depression lasted about 10 times longer, and people still believe that he helped things! Ignoring logic, we allow the same people who caused this entire problem to try and help us out of it!
We the People are growing more and more disillusioned with the nanny state which has taken, and frivolously spent away, our future prosperity and Liberty. Even as we are burdened with single-year Federal deficits nearing 2 trillion dollars, we are told that Medicare and Social Security- supposed guarantees- are on the verge of bankruptcy. Taxes levied on the pretense of providing for the People in hardship and retirement have been spent elsewhere. Promises, made and broken, are now being used as a supplement to the argument for socialized health care and more government. Our children are being born into slavery, our seniors are at the risk of being cut off.
At this moment, a baby is entering this world with more than $180,000 dollars of debt on their tiny shoulders. At this moment, a soldier is risking his life to fight a war that was waged on lies and funded with that same debt. At this moment, citizens are being detained without trial or contact with the outside world on the supposed threat they pose to Liberty and the American way of life. At this moment our president, who notoriously spoke of transparency, is pushing thousands of pages of law that has will only be read after they are passed. Indeed, as people are finding, it is tyranny. Like always, it has been sold to us on the false promise of spreading justice and freedom.
If the estimated 2 million people who showed up in D.C. today are any indication, I think this thing is about to take off big time. With Cap and Trade and Health Care Reform coming back up for a vote soon, voter outrage will only grow. While some, like 14 year old girls obsessed with an unattainable love that thoroughly abuses them, still believe this tragic love affair with the state can end in happiness, most now realize that something is wrong. If they don't take a stand now, they will surely take a stand when their couch is stolen from beneath them. A revolution is coming, one way or another, and I pray it will be of ballots, not bloodshed.
Categories: Foreign Policy, Civil Liberties, Domestic Policy, Just For Fun, Miscellany, Economy
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