(cont)
Why have I gone into all this? What does it have to do with gun control? What’s my point? It’s this…in this country, the people don’t prevent a tyrannical government by being armed (but let me state for the record that NOBODY is calling for a total gun ban or for taking people’s guns away)…they prevent a tyrannical government by BEING the Government. They protect their rights, while enacting reasonable restrictions on them to prevent individual rights and liberties from infringing on the rights and liberties of others and maintain a civil society, again by BEING the Government. They exercise collective responsibility AS WELL AS individual responsibility. They recognize that sometimes they cannot do or have (or even say) every single thing they want, if society, collectively through its elected, representative Government, has determined that the untrammeled exercise of a particular liberty is detrimental to the common good, if it infringes on the rights and liberties of others. Once again…this is NOT tyranny. Tyranny is the arbitrary restriction of liberty by an unelected (or fraudulently elected), non-representative government or a dictator with unlimited powers. And again, we have the judicial branch to weigh whether society’s collective expectations, manifested in its laws, are reasonable or unwarranted intrusions on individual liberty. (In extreme circumstances, such as during an existential struggle such as the Civil War or WW2, we may collectively agree to temporarily restrict certain liberties moreso than usual, if the unrestricted exercise of that liberty is determined to be excessively detrimental to the war effort.)
If our Government is moving toward tyranny, it is not a sign we need more guns…it is a sign we need to become more involved in it, to take back government for WE THE PEOPLE. And contrary to your view, the threat of a tyrannical government is not coming from liberals, or from gun control proposals. It is coming from right-wing politicians who claim to serve your interests but actually serve billionaires and corporations (and gun manufacturers) who spend millions upon millions to convince you that THEIR best interests are YOUR best interests. You are being played, and you don’t even realize it. They convince you there are all kinds of “conspiracies” on the Left to deprive you of your rights, when the real conspiracy is that of incredibly wealthy people and corporations with no national loyalty and with massive economic and political power that you can barely conceive of. And YOU are an unwitting participant in their plans to deprive you, a member of the working or middle class, of ever more economic and political power so they can continue to do whatever they want and more.
And here you are, working WITH them by calling YOUR Government…YOUR most powerful tool against these interests to ensure YOUR rights and liberties…your most effective avenue for collective action to secure your future and that of your descendants (there are others, such as unions and other political organizations, but Government of the people, by the people and for the people is #1 by far)…the primary means by which the people build and protect a stable society with a reasonably level playing field on which they can pursue dreams and opportunities—“the ENEMY.” The legacy bequeathed to us by the Founders has become, to you, not your Government to be taken back, but an enemy to be battled and destroyed.And what then? You’ll be free? No, you’ll be subject to the tyranny of those with vastly more money and resources than you, who are not beholden to you in any way, shape or form (except as consumers and customers, which, with them making the rules, won’t mean squat).
And all your guns will not make a bit of difference against them.
(Cont)