Can't Happen Here? It Already IS Happening Here.
By Bastiatarian
From at least as early as the first leftist attacks on F.A. Hayek's classic work The Road To Serfdom, the blind and ignorant in both major American political parties have been saying "Can't happen here!"
Although I understand their reluctance to accept the idea that the United States is walking a path strikingly similar to that taken by such totalitarian collectivist states as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union (which had few meaningful differences between them), the parallels are there for all to see. With so many decades of socialization of the United States in accordance with the stated aims of the Communist Party, only the hopelessly blind or the hopelessly indoctrinated could fail to see that it is already happening here.
The federal government is in everything we do, and almost none of it protects our rights to our life, liberty, or property. Government in today's America is all about power. If it were not, then we would be little taxed, little regulated, little bothered at all by government. Politicians would rarely be in the news, and none of them would make a career out of politics.
What we have now, however, is a federal government--pushed forward by career politicians from both major parties--that has already reached a level of tyranny that should make any liberty-loving person keep a gun close at hand. The fact that it may not be quite as bad as certain other countries does not make it right. Would you be satisfied with failing kidneys since it's not as bad as late-term cancer? Neither is good health, and both are fatal if they are not cured.
Even when the federal government claims to be doing something related to protecting our lives, it is essentially a lie, ineffective and ultimately transformed into another power grab. And yes, I mean GRAB. The current problem with the TSA, the porno scanners, and the grope-downs is a typical example. The arrogant response of the thugs in the Obama administration is even more typical of the disdain the self-appointed elites have for you and me. They are the royalty; we are the peasants.
The people don't want to be sexually abused? Let them take a train!
Marie Antoinette would be proud.
Americans have become so accustomed to having their property confiscated in massive chunks that even the plans for lower taxes such as the Fair Tax or the Flat Tax are seen by many as being low. However, with the proposed percentages typically around 23% and 17% respectively, they are in reality oppressively high. Nobody, at any income level, should have to pay 23%, or 17%, or anywhere near even 10%. Eliminate government programs that are not directly related to protection of our rights to our own life, liberty, and property, and we can have an income tax that is a low-single-digit percentage. We can decide ourselves what we do with our own property.
But, that would mean that politicians would not be able to oppress us and control us. It would mean that most government workers would have to get productive jobs somewhere in private business. It would mean that those who are living off property confiscated from you and me would have to stand on their own two feet. It would mean that those who rely on the violent power of government rather than fulfilling their own moral obligation to others would actually have to get out there and help people if they want people to be helped. It means that each and every person would have to work hard and work smart to succeed, and that they would have no ability to control others or take what is theirs.
Nazi Germany didn't start with 6 million dead Jews in the campaign to power, and Russian Communists did not kill 50 million people in the ramping up to revolution. It started small. Then it got bigger. It got to where we are in the United States right now. Ultimately, it got to the concentration camps, the gulags, the rapes, the torture, the slaughter of millions. One step at a time. One law at a time. One regulation at a time. One tax at a time. One right at a time.
It's a power thing, and it's right here, right now.
From at least as early as the first leftist attacks on F.A. Hayek's classic work The Road To Serfdom, the blind and ignorant in both major American political parties have been saying "Can't happen here!"
Although I understand their reluctance to accept the idea that the United States is walking a path strikingly similar to that taken by such totalitarian collectivist states as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union (which had few meaningful differences between them), the parallels are there for all to see. With so many decades of socialization of the United States in accordance with the stated aims of the Communist Party, only the hopelessly blind or the hopelessly indoctrinated could fail to see that it is already happening here.
The federal government is in everything we do, and almost none of it protects our rights to our life, liberty, or property. Government in today's America is all about power. If it were not, then we would be little taxed, little regulated, little bothered at all by government. Politicians would rarely be in the news, and none of them would make a career out of politics.
What we have now, however, is a federal government--pushed forward by career politicians from both major parties--that has already reached a level of tyranny that should make any liberty-loving person keep a gun close at hand. The fact that it may not be quite as bad as certain other countries does not make it right. Would you be satisfied with failing kidneys since it's not as bad as late-term cancer? Neither is good health, and both are fatal if they are not cured.
Even when the federal government claims to be doing something related to protecting our lives, it is essentially a lie, ineffective and ultimately transformed into another power grab. And yes, I mean GRAB. The current problem with the TSA, the porno scanners, and the grope-downs is a typical example. The arrogant response of the thugs in the Obama administration is even more typical of the disdain the self-appointed elites have for you and me. They are the royalty; we are the peasants.
The people don't want to be sexually abused? Let them take a train!
Marie Antoinette would be proud.
Americans have become so accustomed to having their property confiscated in massive chunks that even the plans for lower taxes such as the Fair Tax or the Flat Tax are seen by many as being low. However, with the proposed percentages typically around 23% and 17% respectively, they are in reality oppressively high. Nobody, at any income level, should have to pay 23%, or 17%, or anywhere near even 10%. Eliminate government programs that are not directly related to protection of our rights to our own life, liberty, and property, and we can have an income tax that is a low-single-digit percentage. We can decide ourselves what we do with our own property.
But, that would mean that politicians would not be able to oppress us and control us. It would mean that most government workers would have to get productive jobs somewhere in private business. It would mean that those who are living off property confiscated from you and me would have to stand on their own two feet. It would mean that those who rely on the violent power of government rather than fulfilling their own moral obligation to others would actually have to get out there and help people if they want people to be helped. It means that each and every person would have to work hard and work smart to succeed, and that they would have no ability to control others or take what is theirs.
Nazi Germany didn't start with 6 million dead Jews in the campaign to power, and Russian Communists did not kill 50 million people in the ramping up to revolution. It started small. Then it got bigger. It got to where we are in the United States right now. Ultimately, it got to the concentration camps, the gulags, the rapes, the torture, the slaughter of millions. One step at a time. One law at a time. One regulation at a time. One tax at a time. One right at a time.
It's a power thing, and it's right here, right now.
Yoy hit that nail on the head.
ReplyDeleteYou've probably read the piece that I mentioned yesterday on my blog. If not, you should, though you probably already know a lot of the information given.
He who sleeps, stays free in his dreams ...
ReplyDeleteGorges - Great link. Really makes you think, and the future isn't looking all that rosy.
ReplyDeleteOdie - Are we in the era of "Rip Van Winkle"... so to speak?
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, Les!
ReplyDeleteI've got more to say in a post here on Wednesday.
"Show me the man and I'll find you the crime."
-- Lavrentiy Beria
This is becoming the motto of our legal system.