The danger of this is evident in a couple of posts I have read lately. The first is from Karl Denninger and his post "How Do I Protect Myself From This?" Denninger explains the situation pretty well. The government has us (the people for whom it was created) at a disadvantage and unless one has been prepared to deal with the situation for a long time, there is little one can do now. Screwed is the preferred term for it. Another piece of the puzzle is from Washington Rebel and is a clip of Glenn Beck explaining what happens if the Chinese decide not to purchase any more of our debt. Of course, it is possible to find a few other nations whose interest in America is genuinely tied to their own security, but allegiances are fleeting.
Another piece of interesting information is this article from the Financial Times. They are watching us and warning us that the fears of Glenn Beck and the facts presented by Denninger are closer than it seems.
From the Denninger piece:
"There is only one way, and that is to save everyone. That is, to force this crap to stop - by whatever means are necessary - and possible."He says that and then he makes sure everyone knows that he doesn't mean by violent means. So, "by whatever means" doesn't mean that. What it means is to do exactly what the Tea Party has been doing for nearly two years, which is putting their foot down, protesting, electing people who say they are going to do what they say.
This is also from Denninger:
"Forget it folks, unless you're planning on going Rambo. And if you're going to do that, you may as well get started now. You'll go to prison or die - but over time people dying for what they believe is nothing new. We call them terrorists when they lose - and freedom fighters when they win. In 1776 a bunch of men decided they had enough, and they pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honors. They, in aggregate, won and thus are 'freedom fighters' - but some of them also died."
So, how and when do we stop putting up with it? The trouble with all of these answers that are proffered by people in the media is they don't get it. If the biggest problem is the fact that the Constitution is not being adhered to, how is it possible to peacefully use the Constitution to rectify its own flaws?
My take is that one must go back one step further than the Constitution to the Declaration of Independence. What we face is not an oppressive force as the colonialists did. Neither are we facing troops being housed in our homes. We are not enduring a lot of the physical oppression of the British Crown, but we are facing more or less treason from within our government, or fidelity to an opposing ideology, which might be the same thing.
What do we do about it? Shall I put on my Tea Party hat and go carry a sign? Will that do it, or is that tactic already too little too late? I think it is. I think we are past that. I am taking direct actions to protect myself from the mess that is sure to come, but what can I do to protect "everyone" as Denninger calls for?
Let me suggest to you, Christian, Atheist, Buddhist, whatever, if you care to live here in America the way it has been done for the past few centuries you need to make a downpayment on discomfort and set some things right. The first thing that should be done is to call for a repeal of the $45 billion tax relief plan given to Government Motors. That is right now. Next, or at the same time, we need to call for the resignation of Bernanke. There should be a price paid for actions that are likely to lead to economic upheaval. That is as much of a "dangerous" move as any patriot could make. We will have to get to repealing Obamacare later, after January 20, but right now these things need to be addressed.
Okay, so, having been involved in the Tea Party Movement, I can say clearly that doing this in any way short of outright and immediate rebellion is going to rely on massive demonstrations, the likes of which no Tea Party has ever seen. I have stood in those crowds, usually as a buffer against violence done to participants, and I can tell you that the media will bring down the wrath of liberals on any such demonstrations and by the time the demands are even heard by the rest of the concerned public, there won't be much left.
So, now what do we do? Do we demonstrate, or find a more effective way of protest. What would define a "more effective" way? What say you? As Denninger says: Time's UP!
Cross-posted at WASHINGTON REBEL.
Graciously linked at Western Rifle Shooters Association.
Graciously quoted and linked at Green Mountains Homesteading.
10 comments:
Or is the wise move to withdraw to high ground and bide one's time?
Wise for society, or wise for oneself? If we plan to save something then we have to get active into saving it. If we are not, then high ground is the best place to be.
If me and mine are alive, a segment of society is preserved.
You and yours fall back and survive as well, and we are better still.
The biggest obstacle I see to returning to the founders' vision of the Republic by any means you care to contemplate is that people who think the way we do are a very small minority. The ardent, believing communists in our society are a similarly small minority at the other end of the bell curve. The big slopey part in the middle is occupied by everyone else, including a lot of the Tea Party folk.
We know that not everybody in the Tea Parties wants to do away with all the government safety nets and entitlements. They just want a less-intrusive government. A lot of the Tea Party signs I saw at rallies I've attended indicate no desire to eliminate Social Security and Medicare, for example. When they don't always stop to consider is that these programs make up the bulk of our present oversize government, and that in pushing the government camel's nose out of the tent they are leaving the rest of the camel inside. Getting rid of any government overgrowth without getting rid of it all is like trimming back your kudzu just a little...it grows back, and then some.
The result is that the government most of America wants may be somewhat bigger or somewhat smaller, but it will still be recognizably akin to the leviathan we enjoy today.
How, then, to achieve a return to our Liberty roots when the majority of our countrymen do not really want what we do? Even if we hector the pols into shrinking the state by several orders of magnitude, when the pain of that hits the electorate they will just vote in people who promise to put all the programs back in place. If we took the violent route and somehow managed to seize the reins of government, we would either have to stand and watch while the voters undid all we accomplished, or else become tyrants ourselves by removing that choice from the table. Are we willing to destroy the Republic in the name of saving it?
You can't protect people from the consequences of their decisions. That's the mistake the nanny-staters make. Our principles require that we allow the majority to enjoy the fruits of its folly, and do what we can to survive and preserve the vision for the rebuilding.
Temnota-
There are many in my personal experience who want to cut back government who don't KNOW how to do it without leaving the old folks out in the dust. The system is so entrenched that you can't reform the thing without leaving someone out to starve. I would personally say that families and churches would have to step up and take care of folks who lose their benefits, but unfortunately the commies have managed to destroy that infrastructure over the last 50 years so that we don't really have that option. I think the only way it will change is when the whole system collapses (sooner than we think) and then come down from the high ground and pick up the pieces.
Mr. Davis, you truly are the new Thomas Paine.
Now I have to agree with Crustyrusty. here in Vermont, the frauds who have driven the state a 100 million + into the hole ether got re-elected or moved up the ladder of power by talking about spending money we do not have on a openly neo-Marxist agenda.
The People do not want to be saved. Especially from themselves. Any action taken on their behalf will fail without popular consent.
I will always help and educate those willing to better themselves. But I cannot, and will not any longer go to bat for those who prefer to be slaves. I will look to the security of my family, and my fellow patriots first and fore most, as there at least the slow match of liberty and understanding of freedom still burns. I also realize that unless societal group think changes, that the keepers of the flame will slowly be crushed under the weight of the lazy, the stupid, the evil, the predatory. It is a rock and a hard place handed to us from the previous generation. I do not know what a poor boy is supposed to do, but I will try to figure it out anyway. My son is depending on it.
Quoted and linked at http://greenmnts.blogspot.com/
Toaster, that is quite a compliment (Paine), though I doubt I am worthy of it. I thank you.
I think the three of you are right, there are too many people at the trough to cut off the manna, but that is phrased as if it were a question. The fact that there is not enough money in the world to pay these debts, even without an ideological confrontation, there is an economic one.
No matter how much our people might want to hold onto their benefits, ultimately they can not be paid for. It becomes a choice between being ruled by the Chinese or the Islamists. Only in the salvation of the Constitution is there a third choice.
What Denninger is saying is that flat-out DEFAULT is a better thing than what is going on now.
An announcement that T-bills and bonds owned by non-US citizens AND residents have been devalued by 90% as of 30 days ago registered owner is now an accounting fact would instantly eliminate the ability of the Treasury or the FED to borrow money from foreign sources. There would be much crying, gnashing of teeth, wailing, open threats of war, etc., but Americans would not starve to death or be enslaved. eF' em, and if they don't like it, stop shipments of grain that are on the high seas. Food, nukes, and small-scale global high-speed delivery are what remain of US power, and we should take full advantage. Domestic banks would need to be "sanitized" of their current leadership and begin banking on a sound basis. Gold/not-gold, whatever, but it can't be at infinite leverage, probably more likely at 8:1 maximum with no moral hazard of FDIC/Congress bailout possible. That would bring real interest rates being offered for deposits and only safe/productive/industrial-farming-extraction activities being funded. Want to buy a house? Work hard, save 50% down, and take out a loan for 10 years variable (fixed mortgages won't exist except with gold/silver clauses). Until then, rent from parents or just plain rent/lease a good place. Banking/finance ought not to be a way to get rich before you hit 35.
I hate that we are supporting Sharia anywhere. Sharia is a way for small tribes of tent&camel people to get along in a harsh climate, not for civilized people with refrigeration & jet engines in a land of plenty. Stop the high-tech Western Civ. support and let them slit each other's throats over a gallon of uncontaminated water, a kilo of maize, an uncovered face of a 14 year old girl, and polygamous pedophile prophets ranting.
Call me a Nationalist, and isolationist, intolerant, a controlled-trader, but also call me an American Patriot.
Cheers.
I agree with Denninger. I was against TARP. All we have gotten instead of economic collapse in 2008 is economic destruction in 2011.
Purge and replant.
Go, Tea-Party-Hardy, go!!! No one can stop U.S.!!! If the super-wealthy-33 think they have control, they're sadly MissGuided. God bless you and all who stand for what the Revolutionary War was fought against. Live free or DIE. PS See 'peace-de-resistance' first. Thank you. And as Ghandi once sed, 'Let's kick some ass' --- The funny thing is, now I’m on BIG, BAD Janet’s list of bloody terrorists even though I’m a head-injured-wetard for speak’n the TRUTH. Most of U.S. are controlled, conformed, walking ‘the Wall’ to our demise: rise above, America. Think summore past the vastly impotent, world government; don’t do the suicidal, whorizontal reality; and please don’t get played like a HAARP. Hope you got something outta this I-candy: Truth Shall Set You Free.
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