for those of you here in the United States celebrating July 4th today... maybe you should stop to think about what that actually means.
your forefathers were, by todays standards, terrorists. at least as far as what your government would have you believe.
they rebelled against the government, they illegally kept their firearms... they created this "freedom" which you are so quick to shit away in exchange for some alleged safety against an almost wholly imaginary threat.
before you party or light a firework... maybe you should stop to really think about just what it took to win the independence you're so ignorantly celebrating. and contrast it to what the government of today is doing... and take a really hard look at what they would try to convince you that gun control means etc.
just remember, gun control only controls the people who obey the law. removing your right to bear arms is not going to affect crime, but it sure as hell is going to prevent you from standing up to your government as the founding fathers intended.
think about it... where do many of the major gun crimes happen? day care... post office... schools... and guess what? they're all regulated and protected gun-free zones. now how about a gun show... have you EVER heard of someone going on a shooting spree at a gun show? or any violence at all for that matter?
think about that kids.
"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ... And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."
Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President
November 13, 1787, letter to William S. Smith
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U.S. Constitution - Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
3 comments:
On terrorists...
Actually, that has very little basis in fact considering the basis for the American Revolution was derived from the same natural law principles that were enshrined in the British Constitution. If one reads not simply Jefferson's _Declaration of Independence_ but also his previous tract _The Rights of British Americans_ you see a very sophisticated argument laid out for why, by the right of nature, the American colonies ought to be a self-governing entity. Such a view was predicated upon the British Constitution itself--it was not derived from a competing or even an alien ideology.
The legality or illegality of the actions of the Americans who rebelled against England really should not be an issue if one is concerned with the larger, universal right they appealed to over the positive law of England at the time. To sit with your logic would mean that a people are limited to the laws of their time and ought not to look for the higher principles which might make a better guide for how they live their lives or even organize society. By your reasoning, should we not look down at those who harbored Jews during the Nazi reign in Germany since they were breaking the law?
The trade off between freedom and security has always been there, only one has to wonder what freedoms we have really lost. If you think your library records are that sacred, then I suppose I pity you or anyone else who thinks the government having quicker access into possible links to any form of terrorism is not worth the fact they may discover someone checked out _Sex_ by Madonna two dozen times from the local library.
Anyhow...
I think I was speaking more generally of the actions of the rebels themselves. which history does actually validate.
beyond that, you've really lost me, because from what you're saying, it doesn't sound like anything I disagree with... or more to the point, that it sounds like what I do believe and advocate.
as for the last part, I do not agree with you there. I think it's ridiculous of you to even infer that the risk of being a victim of a terrorist act is justification enough to give up my privacy. I'd rather take the risk of being blown up by islamic militants than you very much... as the chances of this happening are about as great as me being attacked by a shark. and I'm sorry, but I don't spend my days fretting over an imminent shark attack, or being struck by lightning. I go about my daily business, thankful for my civil liberties and privacy etc.
fucking ridiculous. seriously.
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
attribute that to whom you will (usually attributed to Benjamin Franklin), but the point generally stands (although I'm sure you'd love to debate that as well). when you start giving up your most basic rights in order to gain some false sense of security (remember, the terrorists who blew up the WTC were all caught on camera... did that stop the attack? not at all. or how about the gun laws in effect during Columbine? nope. not at all.), you really are just screwing yourself on both counts.
what you fail to realize is that the government is so saturated in information with it's orgiastic gluttonous gathering... with it's cameras and databases etc.. that BY FAR... and I mean FAR AND AWAY by far... the only real effect that it has is losing your privacy. criminals don't obey the law and this crap isn't helping to slow them down... all it MIGHT do is help after the fact to catch them... in which case generally the normal law would apply anyway. in the meantime thought MILLIONS and MILLIONS of absolutely innocent people are losing their rights because people like YOU foolishly and ignorantly think "well, if you haven't done anything wrong, what do you have to worry about?".
and I know you're smart enough to have read books on that subject Gabe. honestly I'm a little shocked that you'd write something so ridiculous here.
christianconservativefreak: glad that we agree on that. :) thanks!
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