Rick Darby of Reflecting Light has a good piece of advice for those of us who were in attendance this past April 15 at a Tax Day TEA Party near us. I.e., all of you potential domestic/homegrown terrorists out there.
Rick's advice? Read it for yourself.
I said once before at this blog that the chosen TEA acronym (Taxed Enough Already?) was/is a rather uninspiring bit of phraseology. And I add further that it really misses the point. But ultimately I tend to think that the TEA rallies, whatever the chosen acronym might be, represent a more (pardon the term) 'comprehensive' understanding of a deeper and more pervasive problem. People may not yet understand the root of the problem, of which excessive taxation is merely a symptom or an effect, but we'll get there eventually.
As has been said before, scum rises to the top (can there be a more profound example of the principle than the current occupants of the U.S. Congress and the White House?). I've personally always thought this natural phenomenon, as it manifests itself in government and politics, is ultimately a good thing, for it gives us, if we'll put any measure of reflection to it at all, some idea of what lies beneath the surface. And that is ultimately where we'll need to turn our undivided attentions in order to make the appropriate corrections necessary to clear out the scum residing at the top and elsewhere.
"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it." -Daniel Webster
The TEA parties are about confirming the common sense of Americans that the current actions of their government are completely unsustainable (besides being totally idiotic). Those who went, and saw that thousands of sane, ordinary people share the conviction that it isn't possible for the current course to end in anything but disaster, are that much better prepared to do what is necessary.
ReplyDeleteAnd what is necessary? A supply of essential necessities like food, medicine, and self-defense sufficient to survive a total breakdown of government and the economy. A plan to reach some place of relative sanity. And an understanding of the principles on which such a place is necessarily going to be run.
People are preparing to survive, though probably many preparations will be inadequate to the event. Some are thinking about where they'll go. And there is a renewed interest in American principles of self-government.
Is this too grim? Shouldn't there still be some way to preserve the nation? If enough people speak out, if the current crop of swine are turned out in the next elections, if...if....
It is too late for that. Years too late, decades. In a sense, what is coming has been inevitable since the beginning. The founders of the nation knew that no people can remain free unless they have the courage to put their lives on the line. Nor can you survive committing your life to liberty unless you are willing to kill those who would enslave you.
Did you think it would be enough to protest? Is the enemy bound by some fundamental respect for human life? Perhaps they at least value common decency? But surely they love the principles of freedom, do they not?
Be thou prepared.
Thank you Chiu.
ReplyDeleteCan the value of something so rare and precious as liberty be so lightly esteemed, or be thought to be so valueless as to be accessible to those not willing to give their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honors in its acquisition and maintenance?
Forbid it Almighty God!
I don't know that I'm to be thanked, it isn't like I'm actually helping anyone to prepare or acting to avert the crisis (granted that I believe it beyond human power to avert).
ReplyDeleteI cannot give life, and I have neither fortune nor honor. But imagining that others may dedicate those things to the cause of liberty does comfort me. Thus I should rather thank all you who give me cause to believe.
Terry,
ReplyDeleteI've always thought that one must "stir the pot" otherwise the people on the bottom get burned and the ones on the top lose something to evaporation turning them into a thin layer of scum.
chiu,
From my own experiences lately, common human decency is about as common as common sense.