It seems like these days, one would be hard pressed to find just a single American who doesn’t think that the government is oppressing people in
some way, shape or form. What I am wondering is just how much people are willing to take? When is enough, enough?
What I see is the gradual erosion of liberties in just the same way Nazi Germany did. They creep the laws in, hoping that no individual right will be
enough to spark violence from the people. They hope that no single event will be enough for us to risk our comfortable ways of life, our jobs, our
very lives.
What do you think the people in Nazi Germany thought? “Well, they will probably stop with making the Jews wear those silly little yellow stars.”
What do you think of those Germans who whined after the war that there was “nothing we could do about it, it was the law, how could we stand up to
them?” How different our history books would be if every German, upon hearing of the first despicable acts of Hitler, had picked up arms and said
“No, Herr Hitler, you will not do this. You will not do this to those Jews. You will not do this to those Gypsies. You will not do this to our
Country!” They didn’t do it, and look what happened. They let the strongest military on earth destroy their country and half of the world along
with it. What did they do this for? Comfort. Jobs. Security. To save their own individual hides. Are these excuses enough? Are they enough for you?
Harmonious One asked this in another thread
what will happen if martial law is instituted for some reason and their rules are relaxed? Will we be in danger from the ones who are supposed
to protect us? I am growing very tired of those in positions of authority, treating citizens with disrespect and as though our rights mean nothing;
all under the guise of security and "for our own protection". It seems to be happening at all levels of government. Is there anything we as citizens
can do to stop this abuse of power?
Our constitution says....."We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is
the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers
in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
How? How do we do this? Is there an instruction book somewhere? Or do we just do what we think is right , duck alot, and prepare to be arrested or
shot? Or maybe, for those who are more publicly known and so our demise must appear an accident, taken out in a plane crash . Am I just completely
paranoid? Or are we truly losing our liberties?
Well, all of you, answer up. Are we losing our liberties? What can be done?
Our founding fathers have an answer for you, Harmonious One. They have quite a few answers for you, actually.
“To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use
them.”
- Richard Henry Lee, drafter of the Bill of Rights, 1788
“I hold that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms are in the physical. Unsuccessful
rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people, which have produced them. An observation of this truth should
render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions, as not to discourage them too much. It is the medicine necessary for the
sound health of governments.”
- Thomas Jefferson, writing to James Madison
“What country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let
them take arms. … The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
- Jefferson, to William S. Smith, 1787
“ [armed government forces] can never be formidable to the liberties of its people, while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all
inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow citizens”
- Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist No. 29
“A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves. … [T]he Constitution out to secure a genuine [militia] and guard against a
select militia, by providing that the militias shall always be kept well organized, armed, and disciplined, and include … all men capable of bearing
arms, and that all regulations tending to render this militia useless and defenseless, by establishing select corps of militia, or distinct bodies of
military men not having permanent interests and attachments in the community [are] to be avoided.”
- Richard Henry Lee, 1788
It is always dangerous to the liberties of the people to have an army stationed among them, over which they have no control, … The militia is
composed of free Citizens. There is therefore no danger of their making use of their power to the destruction of their own Rights.”
- Samuel Adams, 1775
“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. [But] the supreme power in America
cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops
that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States.”
- Noah Webster, 1787
There of course is so much more, but I think you all get the point. The founders had one thing in mind when they included the 2nd; to make sure we
never had to suffer a government that was oppressive. Our current government is, in most ways, much worse then the British government General
Washington met with cold steel.
So, I ask the question again; how much is too much, when is enough, enough?
At what point would all of you advocate loading your magazines and putting sticking your necks out.
