If a nation expects to be ignorant and free . . . it expects what never was and never will be. – Thomas Jefferson
Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. – Benjamin Franklin
IGNORANCE, and SHAME
After the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government the United States would have. His reply was a warning, “A republic — if you can keep it.” He knew that a free self-governing people was the historical exception. With tyranny being the rule, liberty would have to be vigilantly defended.
Sadly, through the generations We, the People, have dropped that vigilance. We become ignorant of history, and of our founding. The knowledge that liberty was the source of our prosperity grew dim, then vanished. Our ignorance of the U.S. Constitution has left us unarmed in the face of an incrementally encroaching federal government.
Since the election of Obama, with his agenda to “fundamentally change America”, the systematic dismantling of our republic has been at break-neck speed. Except for the Civil War, which bloodily decimated our Constitution by denying the Confederate States their right to secede (Amendment X), most of our losses have been slow and stealthy. The “progressive” degradation began in 1913 when Wilson levied a tax on income (XVI Amendment) (refer: the “Ten Planks,,,“ Communist Manifesto). Liberty lost more during the 1930’s when FDR’s New Deal expanded the federal government.
Another marked loss for individual freedom was Johnson’s Great Society (1960’s) which stifled the dignity of all citizens after co-opting the Civil Rights movement. Through affirmative action, welfare programs and lowered performance standards, poor minorities were taught to be victims and that they were less than able to create their own destinies. The policies mandated discrimination against middle-class and non-minority Americans, and enslaved the taxpayer who’s labor would fund the programs.
More individual freedom was curtailed in the first decade of this century as Bush -43 doubled the size of the federal government, signed the Patriot Act, enacted unprecedented financial redistribution, and set up the spike for the next administration’s furtherance of socialism.
All of these policies are communistic, and were largely glossed over by Americans’ ignorance of “cultural Marxism“ (ref: The Frankfurt Institute.) Euphemistic “isms” abound to soften our repulsion at the utterance of the word “communism“. Socialism, leftism, progressivism, and statism were the more palatable labels used as ideologues strategically wormed their way into every thread of our society; politics, education, entertainment and media. They started dumbing us down, instigating rebellion against the establishment, and by the 1960’s, had unleashed a full -blown cultural revolution. (ref: Congressional Record–“Current Communist Goals”, appendix, pp. A34-A35, January 10, 1963.)
Each successive generation followed along with less and less awareness that the social decay was just that — decay — rather than the faux freedom the sales-pitch proclaimed. We progressively eschewed our Judeo-Christian ethics for less respectable values. Behaving like decent human beings: being honest, hard-working, and self-respecting in dress and manner, became uncool.
Prosperity made it too easy to break up our homes and families with divorce; we mocked God; indulged our whims; and grew disdainful of our elders. Rudeness, self-absorption, and promiscuity lost their shock value.
Even though our society screamed at us that it was acceptable to betray everything about ourselves that was decent, our souls knew differently, and we suffered.
Three generations of freedom from traditional taboos have left us ashamed.
Walking with that shame now, leaves us vulnerable to our enemies. We internalize the psychological beatings administered by the Guilt Merchants; politicians, the media, and special interest groups – who tell us that we are bad. We believe them when they tell us being American is bad; we let them shame us for having wealth; for being white; for being successful blacks or Latinos. They tell us we’re bad (racist, xenophobic) for wanting to maintain our “language, borders, culture” (ht: Michael Savage). We’re called names, mocked and vilified if we show ambition or patriotism. Eco-terrorists would even have us believe that, as parasites to “gaia”, we shouldn’t even exist.
Finally, badgered, shamed, and wanting to feel better about ourselves, we unclench our fists and hand over Liberty.
We cede our right to free speech by adopting politically correct language. We abide this self-censorship because our shamed egos can’t tolerate accusations of racism. We cede our right to speak our minds because we cannot withstand being marginalized as “extremists”, “tea-baggers” or, God forbid, “Bible-toting gun- clingers”.
We cede our privacy rights in exchange for the illusion of government-provided security. We are the ones who are restricted — our conversations tapped, our internet activities monitored, and our bodies scanned – in response to an enemy’s attack on us in 2001.
Cowed and lost, we cede freedom from state-mandated religion, arguing against ourselves by siding with Islam’s “freedom OF religion”. We fail to study Muslim countries, so we don’t know that Sharia in America would have us stripped of our freedom NOT to worship their god.
We are ignorant of the fact that liberal politicians have allied with Islam in their shared hatred for, and desire to destroy us. Their blueprints for our destructions are similar. (see: “The Ten Planks of Communism, K. Marx, The Communist Manifesto, 1848 and “Twenty Year Plan: Islam Targets America“, A. Shorrosh.) We are under a double attack. As our government wages civil war on us in the courts (Arizona suit), CAIR uses ACLU’s playbook of “lawfare” to do their damage.
Previous generations had to fight for their freedom – we got ours on credit – so naturally, we couldn’t fully appreciate it. We’ve given up so much too easily because, as a people, we did become less than — less than well-educated, less than decent, and less than the noble spirit of our American legacy. Have we given up so much that we are now less than capable of rescuing our Liberty?
Just as our souls knew better with each piece of falling societal debris, our hearts now know what must be done in order to “keep the republic”.
God Bless.
(Props to Mike Church, Mark Levin, Kevin Gutzman, David Horowitz, Pamela Geller, et. al.)
