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I wrote this a few years back, still applies today:
OBEDIENCE IS NOT PATRIOTISM
“A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.” George Washington
Constitutionally limited government, the Bill of Rights, a strong and thriving free market system, respect for private property, an unbiased judicial system. These are some of the worthy ideals that made this nation the envy of the world. These are the qualities of a great nation. We are no longer that great nation we once were because the government ignores the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. There is no free-market system, and we are ruled by a sort of fascism, an oligarchy backed by an ever growing military police state. Even elections are rigged and the same party rules, just different mascots. What private property? Property taxes are not private, eminent domain is not private, and probable cause is not private. Plus massive surveillance over the private affairs of ordinary citizens is not private, nor democratic one bit. Courts are also in bed with the authoritarian and corrupt system of government we have, sanitizing their power and abuse. America used to be great, it no longer has the form of a great nation.
I get restless of folks blaming Obama, blaming Bush or even blaming the government. The two party system is nothing short of a tool for division as with using race, religion, sex and economics. Finger pointing and blame keeps us divided and the powers that be are laughing at us as a result. Their power is our ignorance and their tyranny is concealed through elections.
But what do we continue to see today? Folks lining up waving the 50 star flag of obedience, paying tribute to a federal military that works more for the banks, Wall Street and military industrial complex and not defending the Bill of Rights nor Constitution as their oath of service demands. The latest boogeyman that they created themselves to scare the public into obedience and servitude to their Orwellian ways. The public does not know the truck that has hit them. The truck of tyranny and taxation. They do not care to know or they are to blind and deaf to understand the reality of what is going on around them.
“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…” Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776.
Powerful words by our Founding Fathers that should be a blueprint and a call for action. Those of us that are awake and pay attention know what I am talking about. We The People have been beaten down to the status of “subjects” rather than citizens where Liberty and Freedom have been replaced by a blind Patriotism. Society has become ignorant to the truth of this silent attack upon us. As Rod Serling, the creator of the Twilight Zone Series explains, “You walk into this room at your own risk. Because it leads to the future: not a future that will be, but one that might be. This is not a new world: It is simply an extension of what began in the old one. It has patterned itself after every dictator who has ever planted the ripping imprint of a boot on the pages of history since the beginning of time. It has refinements, technological advances, and a more sophisticated approach to the destruction of human freedom. But like every one of the super states that preceded it, it has one iron rule: Logic is an enemy, and the truth is a menace.”
Today’s modern world with its conveniences has relegated society into a blind Patriotism, a form of fascism ruled by oligarchy. Patriotism shouldn’t be hostile, divisive, and uninformed. Patriotism has become a vehicle for division and aggression, increasingly immune to critical thinking and ultra-militaristic. Folks wave their flags and place their magnetic ribbons on their vehicles. Politicians place lapel pins on their jackets as they all pound their chests of national pride, but they are oblivious to facts relevant to their own civil discourse. They are not even able to find Iraq on a map or name their Representatives none who is on the Supreme Court. The results are a proliferation of uniformed American exceptionalism. Self-centered sense of importance and superiority that can, and will, have dire consequences.
We must come to grips with the reality that the present system does not foster freedom. Our authoritarian system is based on cruelty and control. We need to recognize our government’s primary purpose is maintaining that power and control an oligarchy ruled by corporate giants in bed with government officials who benefit from this relationship. In other words, it is motivated by greed and exists to perpetuate itself.
This is why the government places so much emphasis on the ritual of voting. It provides the illusion of participation. By voting you think you have the idea of freedom of choice but you don’t. You have no choice. You have owners and they own all of the important land, and corporations. They have long since bought and paid for Congress, the state houses and even your local city halls. Judges on all levels are in their back pockets as well as the large media outlets to control the information. Do you honestly think there is much difference between the two main political parties in this nation? The fact that they write the rules to keep third parties out of the national debates and fair media coverage is proof enough that they seek the same agenda’s.
I hope it upsets you like it has to me. In the past when you walk into the voting booth, you see 6 or 7 presidential candidates, as with other partisan elections yet wonder why just two political parties are given the bulk of the media coverage and debate time? The answer is simple, the system is rigged, vile and corrupt. I always like to say, a two party system is only one above communism. Your vote does not matter, especially in a system where the two main parties are virtually the same, just different mascots.
I speak like this having worked the political system myself before. I worked with local campaigns and grass roots at the federal level. I was a poll watcher at a local voting ward to ensure supporters came in to vote that day. I can tell you things have changed over the years. A process that can be summed up with a bumper sticker, “It does not matter who you vote for, the government always gets in.” I champion the third parties now, but even with social media or Facebook, the conformist society only understands one thing, it’s a two party system and they know no different. They will label you a “conspiracy theorist” simply because you think as a free man with logic and critical thought to question the system outright. Questioning the status quo today is a crime against the state.
Let’s face it, do you really own anything? Take for example your home and your property. You take pride about private ownership and private property as a benchmark when compared to other societies. But dig deeper, you really do not own anything. First off you pay property taxes. Translation is you are renting from the local government even if you may own that land. Try to build upon that land, you will need a permit and pay more fees or taxes for that permit along with compliance to local codes. Eminent domain means the government can take your property, pay you fair market value but still take it away for the benefit of the community. If the police do not have probable cause to just invade your land, they can always get a warrant to search your property. Even the fire department can simply trounce upon your land without permission during a fire or one next door.
I bring up ownership because we now live in a secretive surveillance state that has virtually no accountability, transparency, or checks and balances of any kind. We have the surveillance state upon us packed full of listening devices, drones and satellites to invade our privacy. They can invade inside our homes and private affairs by simply listening through our smart TV’s and smart phones. I recall Jam Echelon days back in the late 1990’s. Echelon was the NSA’s keyword data interception system. When you spoke on the phone or sent in email words like “terrorist” or “assassinate”, the NSA began listening. Agencies like the NSA have had these technologies. They have the power to listen and act because we gave it to them through legislation like the Patriot Act, now called the USA Freedom Act. The NSA today now collects all of our data in bulk collection facilities and stores that data for some future Orwellian use. The National Defense Authorization Act and the rise of the militarized police state are also troubling to basic Freedom and Liberty.
George Orwell’s 1984 was right indeed, big brother is watching and listening. “It is perfectly possible for a man to be out of prison and yet not free, to be under no physical constraint and yet be a psychological captive, compelled to think, feel and act as the representatives of the national state, or of some private interest within the nation wants him to think, feel and act… To him the walls of his prison are invisible and he believes himself to be free.” Aldous Huxley, A Brave New World Revisited. In fact, a person under surveillance is not free but a society under surveillance is no longer a democracy.
We have now come full circle, from being held captive by a British police state to being held captive by an American police state. No longer can we rely on the president, Congress, the courts, or the police to protect us from wrongdoing. If you look at the police department, their creed is to protect and serve. A soldier’s mission is to engage the enemy in close combat and kill them. Sound familiar to what has become of our police forces, just look at how they dress. Like combat soldiers. When did it become like this?
The president can now direct the military to detain, arrest and secretly execute American citizens through the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act). These are the powers of an imperial dictator, not an elected official bound by the rule of law. Despite all of the listening devices, camera’s and soon drones, we have a much bigger danger creeping up on us referred to as community policing. That’s right, you’re local schools, churches, private businesses, service providers, nonprofits and your own neighbors. They have become the eyes and ears for the police state, reporting anything suspicious giving probable cause for no-knock SWAT raids upon innocent citizens. DHS’s “See something, say something” program is the hallmark of a society under authoritarian leadership. They want you to rat out your neighbors, co-workers or even relatives to sanitize their power. I recall the 1978 science fiction thriller, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. When they discover you are not one of them, they scream out loud and point their arms at you to expose your nonconformity and be captured. This oligarchical collectivism is theorized in Orwell’s 1984. People who don’t abide by the will of the collective ruled by Big Brother are tortured, re-educated or executed for their political insanity. Scenes to this brutality were evident in the classic cult movie from 1984, Red Dawn.
Citizens have traded in their Liberty for a false sense of security, a safety utopia if you will where the authority figures promise and seek which is impossible and reckless as Ron Paul explains, “Freedom is not defined by safety. Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference. Government cannot create a world without risks, nor would we really wish to live in such a fictional place. Only a totalitarian society would even claim absolute safety as a worthy ideal, because it would require total state control over its citizen’s lives. Liberty has meaning only if we still believe in it when terrible things happen and a false government security blanket beckons.”
I recall a recent 2012 presidential debate where the media mogul turned to the sitting president and asked if re-elected for a second term, what would be his top priority. He responded, “The safety of the American people.” Nobody flinched, not even the opposing candidate to question his line of thinking. In his oath of office, the top priority is to defend the Constitution from enemy’s foreign and domestic as the priorities of any citizen, holding federal public office and service in the federal military. The silence by everyone means blind acceptance of a totalitarian system of government as we see today. Blind Patriotism once again.
Since September 11, 2001, the frightened and emotionally pliable American public has gullibly relinquished its civil liberties and free heritage in order to allow the government on ALL levels to wage a fake “war against terror.” Where in reality, the “terrorists” are us, free men, and sovereign if you will. The “war on terror” is a joke! We armed and trained the Taliban in the 1980’s, kept Saddam under our CIA payroll, helped al Qaeda rise to power and yes, helped to foster the rise of ISIS. A recent Freedom of Information Act lawsuit victory by Judicial Watch exposed what the Defense Intelligence Agency knew back in 2012. The DIA knew that support for radical Islamists we like to call “rebels” in Syria would lead to the rise of the Islamic State. It happened like clockwork or as planned. We create these horrible “terror” groups to serve the interests of the banks, Wall Street and the military industrial complex. It justifies their existence and solidifies their power over the citizenry using fear and scare tactics to round the sheep into the fold.
How else can you explain the massive powers of the federal government through agencies like the NSA and DHS? This is not thy bidding of a free and open society, but a dark and controlled society. A society full of conformists and obedient citizens brainwashed by thinking flying the flag at all times as their badge of honor. As Morpheus explicitly explains to Neo in the movie The Matrix, “The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it.”
This is why so many conformists have become compelled to this blind Patriotism, they are dependent on the government for their livelihoods and/or pensions, and they have been brainwashed by an education system, corporate media and blind allegiance to the military establishment over the years. They will even label folks that are awake to the truth or anybody that opposes the system as “conspiracy theorists”, “domestic terrorists” and they should leave this nation if they do not like it here. A fascist speaks that type of language. How on earth we ever become a nation against British tyranny is beyond me with that line of thinking today. I guess the “never give up” fighting mentality that made this nation what it was has been replaced by an obedient society that seeks tyranny. They are ignorant of the way things are run and, they have given up.
But how can this be? The people have the power or so says perception right? Remember the ritual of voting the politicians, corporate media, and the oligarchy, and the illusion of participation? They want you to vote to think your voice matters but nobody is listening. In fact unless you are a corporation or have millions to spend, nobody cares. Our ignorance is their power. “The government is merely a servant, merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right or wrong, and decide who is patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them.” Mark Twain
Society is compelled and beaten down to even challenge such a massive network of power over them. One has to wonder, what is the role of the federal military in this power struggle? Are they not entrusted through their oath of service to defend the Constitution from enemy’s foreign and domestic, emphasis on domestic? We already know the government and the courts do not follow the Constitution but should the military go after the domestic threats? A few points about the federal military, they are bound to follow orders and also follow the flag. The late U.S. Marine General Smedley Butler stated so well years ago, “We are told the war dead died for us and our freedom. Our soldiers died for the profits of the bankers, Wall Street, Standard Oil, and the United Fruit Company. I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we’ll fight. The trouble with America is when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then its gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag. I wouldn’t go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.”
The global policy of America and NATO since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 has been to wrap up the remaining states that are independent of the New World Order’s financial and banking matrix. Every war since the USSR’s collapse has been to enforce the imperial dreams of the American-dominated West, which is the global harmonization of markets via the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The federal military indeed follows the flag. It’s called Empire! When you have over 700 military bases in over 100 countries around the world, why call it anything but Empire. And this Empire needs sacrifice, not only the wealth of the nation but the blood of our sons and daughters to continue with its war mongering around the world for glory with American exceptionalism and not for the good of humanity. It has become a self-serving industrial machine, “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together,” President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961.
President Eisenhower saw the danger signs, so did General Smedley but so did one of the founding fathers and first president George Washington pointed out, “Overgrown military establishments, which under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty.” So why would a society that lives under the umbrella of freedom as they view the rest of the world, want such a massive military machine that does more harm than good abroad? Nobody is going to attack us on the home front less nuclear weaponry and false flag type attacks. We saw this on 9/11 when we had adequate defenses but for some reason they did not want to do their jobs on that day. The powers that be took advantage of an emotionally weakened society to lay war upon the entire earth, especially to folks called citizens of the United States.
It is a simple formula. The ruling oligarchy of banks, Wall Street and the massive military industrial machine and your government, sent the flag abroad after imperialistic adventures they label as the “war on terror”, “war on drugs”, or worse the mentality of “we must take the fight to them before they take the fight to us.” Remember what General Smedley said, let them come over here to fight, we have plenty of defenses and a well-armed citizenry. Bring it on! Because most U.S. citizens do not have an understanding of what goes on abroad, it becomes very easy to sway public support for these immoral and unjust acts of aggression, they like to label as war.
Congress is the only body that can declare war per the U.S. Constitution that has not happened since WWII. So every military engagement after WWII was nothing short of doing thy bidding of the banks, Wall Street and the military industrial complex. The establishment even handed the keys to a dictatorship to any sitting president through the War Powers Act of 1973 where the president can deploy troops for up to 60 days without oversight by Congress. By then, the whole nation will be compelled to follow the flag in support. The powers that be want to do as much as they can to bury it to blind the public and the media they control anyways to pass legislation to get their personal wars for profit and glory.
I recall the bombing of Serbia back in 1999. A military engagement that was not justified by the rule of law or anything written. NATO by order of the Clinton administration decided to bomb Serbia on behalf of Islamic militants in Kosovo using the War Powers Act as the basis for troop deployment. Congress even sued the president but the federal judge appointed by Clinton ruled the 212-212 vote in the House as evidence enough to throw out the lawsuit. Still think the courts rule what’s best for the nation? The UN Charter (Article 51) was violated because Serbia did not threaten nor attack another member of the UN, nor could NATO’s own Article 5 but the bombing commenced. Forget the rule of law, might makes right with these guys and they had the ultimate weapon, information control. Nobody knew where Kosovo was on a map, nobody knew why they were fighting, they were bombarded by images of crying women and children and a new demonization term, “ethnic cleansing.” Remember the baby incubators and WMD’S? Information control is a powerful weapon when used correctly, more than any firepower of any standing army.
So where do we go from here? What do we do and how do we march forward? First and fore-most, we have to recognize who is the potential enemy out there. The conformists, the sheeple and the drones. The ones that cannot think for themselves. The ones that do not understand God’s unalienable rights, history, humanity, government, rule of law less what authority figures tell them to think, do or act. The conformist that waves the flag of blind Patriotism, the ones that obey orders without question. Boston when the order was given to “shelter in place”, code for martial law. They not only obeyed such commands, they let the police state violate every Civil Right. Scenes of the military armed police walking door to door pointing weapons at them, telling folks to allow their presence into their private property and affairs without proper warrant or just cause. Boston strong they called themselves, more like Boston weak! The sheeple that is easily rounded to obedience by responding “better safe than sorry” or “I have nothing to hide” or the other famous one “if you do not break the law, you do not have to worry about the police.” The drone that cannot think for themselves. They wait for the mega-horns, the media, government and police to speak and think for them. Confederate Battle Flag issue through social media sound familiar?
Even the police and military must be treated as a potential enemy. Disregard your Veteran status, have relatives or simply know someone currently serving. Until you can guarantee they will dis-obey illegal orders to round us up or shoot us down, they have to be treated as such. I speak as a Veteran myself of the United States Marine Corps. A stout defender of the Constitution, Bill of Rights and my oath of service. I do not see our current police and military forces respecting or defending any of that. They are serving the tyrannical system ruled by the banks, Wall Street and the military industrial complex. They follow the flag as General Smedley Butler stated so well. They beat us, arrest us, kill us and bomb any nation that does not serve their ideals as defined by them.
“The common people are the cattle being led to slaughter. We are kept docile with incessant propaganda from the mainstream media; marketing messages to consume from Madison Avenue; filtered, adjusted, manipulated economic data fed to us by government agencies; an endless supply of iGadgets and other electronic distractions; government education designed to keep us ignorant; 24/7 reality TV on six hundred stations to keep us entertained; corporate toxic processed food to keep us obese and tame; and an endless supply of Wall Street supplied debt to keep us caged in our pens with no hope of escape. The butchers of the deep state have maintained control for decades, but we’re entering a new era.” Anonymous
Recall the Revolutionary War period. It was not a standing federal military or police force that stood up and faced tyranny head-on. It was average Colonists that were awake and had enough of the crown’s taxation and tyranny. Patriotic groups like the Sons of Liberty secret societies were created to secretly challenge the status quo which led to the Boston Tea Party. This further ignited the 3% of the populace to rise up and take action. It was Militia’s that stood their ground at Lexington and Concord. Militia’s that engaged British troops as they searched for weapons and powder. Militia’s that engaged those same British troops as they marched back to the safety of Boston. Militia’s played a vital role during the Revolutionary War, even with the creation of the Continental Army under General George Washington.
George Washington did not use what we have today, the First Amendment to change the crown’s ways. He used what we have today, the Second Amendment to accomplish when words fell on deaf ears. Recall the ritual of voting described earlier. You actually think the First Amendment and voting is going to change anything today? The Colonists and Militia knew what to do when the time came. We should likewise prepare ourselves, what we know our gut feelings are telling us. We have to prepare and be ready for tomorrow before it’s too late. Dissent is in our blood. Dissent is what created this nation, “one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Dr. Martin Luther King.
I am normal, living in an abnormal world. I see things as they are, always aware of my surroundings and paying attention to details. I do not bury myself in a smart phone or other iGadget. I used to fight for truth, wisdom and justice on social media and local Facebook news sites. But I shook my head in disgust as to the level of society’s weakness, conformity and obedience. They seek the 99 cent burger, short term gratification and personal toys and not worthy ideals of what made this nation the envy of the world. They seek a safety utopia, a virtual prison state like cattle in a pen. I speak normal conversations and enjoy looking out the window to life as it is and not through an electronic device. “With the proliferation of iGadgets, the masses have been trained by the Bernaysian propagandists to have the attention span of gnats. Rather than enjoying themselves on vacation, they have to prove to the world they are having fun. They “need” to check-in on Facebook. They must post selfies from the bar. They have to take a picture of their meal and tweet it to the world. The vacuous multitude are gloriously distracted from reality by their technological chains. The State is ecstatic, as the plebs wallow in bread and circuses.” Jim Quinn.
As I close this chapter, I will share another great quote from Rod Serling and turning a blind eye to this growing threat to our nation. Something that should compel each one of us to action, to dissent and to open the eyes and minds of as many folks as we can before it’s too late. “Things that scream for a response, if we don’t listen to that scream and if we do not respond to it, we may well wind up sitting amidst our own rubble, looking for the truck that hit us or the bomb that pulverized us. Get the license number of whatever it was that destroyed the dream. And I think we will find that the vehicle was registered in our own name.”
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I have to admit , I skimmed through this fairly fast . But what I got out of it was well said , and needed to be said .
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To me, this provides an excellent window into why the right wing is sticking to Trump through thick and thin. The end state (small government, limited military, individual freedom) justifies the means. While the end state is a distant possibility with the Republican party, there is absolutely no chance of it happening with the Democratic party.
For those who feel the system is too powerful and cannot be resisted, you might try reading the first volume of The Gulag Archipalego by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. It doesn’t provide an easy solution, but it does accurately describe the least desirable end state. If nothing else, it’s a motivator and a prompt for each of us to determine where our true boundaries lie.
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