A childhood friend of mine posted the above picture on Facebook yesterday, and while I flippantly replied to it, I felt that my responses needed further explanation. I am of two minds on the subject. While I do agree with the sentiment that government cannot be trusted, I do not agree that guns are the way to keep government honest. The United States Government has no fear of people owning thousands of guns. A person can only shoot two at a time anyway, and quite frankly, if you do attempt a government coup, a laser guided bomb will render your invasion immediately inert. In short, guns are not a threat to the U.S. Government, only its citizenry.
Now…before the gun lobby gets its hackles up, this article is not about gun control. It’s about personal responsibility. With that said, own a gun if you want one. Just learn to use it responsibly.
OK…the real reason I’m writing this article…
The problem with most of us is that we think that government is the problem. We are at odds with a political process we find confusing and cumbersome. We listen to the talking heads on TV that have little or no knowledge of the issues on which they speak, and we are constantly bombarded with misinformation on any number of subjects from idiots to industry. We are led into thinking that those who don’t agree with us are a threat that must be eliminated, and that politicians should be the first to go. The thing is that the politicians are not the problem. WE are the problem. Politicians are only the result of that problem.
We, as citizens, vote any number of crazy people into office. That’s because a great majority of us don’t spend any time actually educating ourselves on what’s happening in the world. Politicians know this. They prey on this fact. If they can give you a three word phrase to make you afraid, then they have done enough to get themselves elected. Is that their fault? Yes. However, we are equally culpable. If you give a thief your wallet, don’t be shocked when they rip you off. The same goes with your vote.
You do have the option to buy an arsenal and start your militia. In fact that’s a right protected by the Constitution. The problem is that this will really get you nowhere except dead. Not only that in my experience the organizations that do that are not doing it to exercise their rights. They’re doing it to cover up their wrongs. I will give you an example:
Separatists like to use the FBI invasion of David Koresh and the Branch Davidians as an example of un-checked government power. And while the FBI may not have handled it well, the crimes going on inside the compound were unforgivable. Koresh used the Bible, and his twisted power to prey on children. Don’t believe me? Watch the hearings on CNBC where pre-pubescent children testified how they were given to him for sexual sacrifice. One poor 12 year old girl testified before Congress on how Koresh would masturbate over her. It was obvious she didn’t understand what he was doing, but she described it in great detail. Burning them all alive was too good for them if you ask me.
However let’s get back to the issue at hand. Many people walk around afraid the government is going to go rouge. This picture shows evidence of that. Let’s face it, if you think what happened to the Japanese in the above picture can’t happen today, you’re wrong. In fact as I mentioned to my friend it is right now. We have people who are in prison for no other reason than they are addicts. In my opinion, that’s crazy. Why does this happen? Because we voted for politicians whose campaigns are funded by corporations that run privately managed prisons. Since those funds paid for advertising that made us afraid, we wanted those politicians to make us unafraid. We didn’t take the time to see who was going to profit if we took ill people and made them criminals.
In fact just like Germany we have our own ghettos where we corral the poor and infirm and then blame them for being in ghettos. The rich and powerful systematically remove any means of getting out of these places, only to tell us these people are trying to steal our wealth. We should be afraid of the poor and the weak? What power have they? Now compare that to the power of the rich and influential. In other words, who’s paying for the message?
Even today politicians are coming out of the woodwork like cockroaches to get us wound up for another war. Why? Because two people were brutally murdered by some thugs half way around the world. Who’s paying for them to talk to us as if we’re on the verge of being invaded? This is what needs to be researched. I would hazard a guess that the money is coming from people like Boeing, Honeywell, and Halliburton. Why do you think Dick “Darth Vader” Cheney is out of his box promoting invasion? As a former CEO of Halliburton he’s got a lot of money riding on it.
So with all my ranting it really comes down to one thing: If you want to control government then educate yourself and vote. That’s how you control politicians. If more people got involved in government, then the money spent by industry to control government would become virtually useless. Think about it. GE, Koch, Microsoft, Google, BP, Gulf, and the like spend billions of dollars to sway elections. If we were all paying attention and voting in our best interest then money would have no power at all. Their money would have no meaning in the political process.
It’s very easy to do nothing to participate in the process and then criticize it when it fails you. People will stand and throw rocks at the machine, destroying it, only to say “See…it doesn’t work.” It’s very annoying. In reality if we put forth any effort for support we would see that our labors would be eased. Participation is the key.
Now, do I think my friend has any intention of starting his own militia and taking over the country? No. I do however believe that he is so frustrated with what he sees as a failed process that he thinks major changes need made. So what I say to you, and to him is this. The process is not a failure. However, the only way to make it work is to participate. Get involved. Learn everything you can on how the system works. Shout from the highest mountains that you want things to change.
We don’t need gun control. We need voting control.
Rex