I remember a conversation I had with my ex father in law a long time ago. It was during a rare occasion where we were working together and the talk turned to politics for some reason. I had almost always been one who voted for third party candidates and I let him know that I did not go by the party line. He let me know that he did not discuss politics. He felt that it didn't really matter who was voted into office, that there was nothing we common folk couldn't do to change the inherent corruption bred by politics. They were going to do whatever they wanted to do. The discussion ended and nothing of any significance had changed in the world.
I see and understand his point in many ways. The world of politics, and more specifically the world of the political and power elite, certainly does seem impenetrable for people of little means. In many ways it seems nearly incomprehensible to anyone who operates on common sense. This is particularly true of federal politics. As far as that goes, we all have our own personal lives to worry about. Why should we have to worry about the laws and regulations coming out of Washington DC which is so far away? As long as those laws don't affect our personal lives, why should we worry about them? And the perception is that as long as we are law abiding citizens going about our business and bothering no one else, such laws and regulations will not affect our lives. So it is that many of us common folk remain apathetic and believe ourselves helpless against the federal leviathan, if we think about it at all.
I believe this perception of national politics is an illusion. More than that, I believe it is a carefully crafted illusion put in place purposely to shield the power elite from being held accountable to the will and power of individuals whose natural rights have been violated. Those in power don't care about the opinions of the politically inactive. They don't care if their actions or laws affect the politically inactive. They just care that the politically inactive keep paying their taxes, ducking their heads, jumping through hoops, paying their fines and fees, asking for permission, and basically going along to get along. Those behaviors, as far as the political elite are concerned, show tacit approval for their tyranny. Those behaviors support the political elite no matter what their agenda.
As the collectivist centralization of power that has been going on for decades matures, the federal power grab has begun to affect more and more people. The federal government has begun to intrude on more and more lives. I believe this is beginning to cause a backlash. It has always been difficult enough for the common folk to deal with the local mob. They have always grumbled and complained about having to pay for permits and stickers and other local excuses for extortion, but at least it was local. At least you know who the busybodies and control freaks are and perhaps how to avoid them. At least the money is staying in the community. With the feds, they are sticking their hands in your pockets from miles away (unless you live near DC) and the money is going to fund boondoggles, wars, bailouts, banks, and who knows what else. The money is being funneled up to the already too wealthy power elite rather than going to help the local populace. Much of the money is going to fund programs that many people don't approve of. It is no wonder that the anger is seething and palpable in this nation, and indeed around the world.
As more people feel their lives are being directly affected by the collectivists in Washington DC, more people begin to become involved. Some people might even do something radical like vote for the first time in their lives. Of course these people, being that they have sat on the sidelines and just watched for most of their lives, might be prone to having their enthusiasm quickly squelched as they come to find out that their ideas and candidates are viciously attacked by the establishment powers. They are likely to quickly figure out that voting leads nowhere, that they are usually left with the choice between a crap sandwich and a douche bag. Honest, freedom loving candidates are forced out by the power hungry, war mongering, big government loving Republicans and Democrats who align their agenda with the corporate elite who fund them. Any candidate with any kind of smaller government message is quickly overwhelmed by other interests. The establishment wants to keep most people apathetic and they do so by controlling the political landscape.
It doesn't take much to figure out the electoral system has been compromised. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that electronic voting can be easily manipulated and genuine populist candidates undermined. It doesn't take much to see how easily an election can be fixed or stolen. The establishment media and the political establishment believe most people are stupid, and maybe they're right. They believe most people won't do much of anything about their criminal behavior and evidently they are right. Yet more and more people are doing something. The anger is growing. They are peacefully protesting against the TSA at airports. They have stopped flying because of the porno scans and the groping. They are dancing at the Jefferson Memorial. They are voicing their opposition to the tyranny, but the tyrants are refusing to listen. They are disobeying the collectivists mandates more and more often. The spirit of freedom is awakening across the land.
The political elite might be panicking, but they insist on ignoring the growing numbers of common folk demanding freedom and a return to constitutional governance. Maybe they seriously believe if they ignore us we will just go away. Maybe they seriously believe if they crack down hard enough on some of us the rest will get scared and go cower in a corner somewhere. You know, for all their supposed intelligence, scientific studies and super computer modeling, the elite don't seem to understand the common folk very well. They don't understand common decency, they don't understand common sense, they don't understand empathy, and most of all they don't understand the tenacity of the common folk and their resolve to make better lives for themselves. When such things are severely threatened, and recently they have been, folks will mobilize as never imagined by those in power who think of others as nothing but livestock.
It might take a lot to get people to sit up and take notice, but once they do it doesn't take much to start a revolution. As long as the common folk were left alone, they were content to go along to get along. As more and more lives are affected by the poor economic conditions, ruined by the police state, destroyed by endless war, fleeced by the unblinking eye of the surveillance state, and groped, prodded and probed by the uncaring hands of the security state, more and more people will feel forced to get off their butts and to something to help right the situation. It doesn't take much to win a revolution, either. I've heard estimates ranging from three percent to ten percent of the American populace who took active roles in winning the War for Independence. We are likely approaching and may have more than that percentage now who are fed up with the feds.
Many people may be despondent about any chances that a revolution will do much good. That's likely how the elite would want you to feel. According to many historical accounts, soldiers fighting on the American side in our battle to free ourselves from the tyranny of King George III and the British Empire were often not too certain about their chances against the world's greatest military power. While they may have won the war, their revolution was based in violence and so the violence of the state is now revisited upon the descendents of the revolutionaries. I believe it is time to change the system through peaceful means, though it may be tough, and become a prosperous, peaceful society many wish to see.
Even more people might be certain that peaceful means of change will not work. They forget the lessons of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. It seems to me that they showed us best how peaceful non compliance can work. It seems to me that they showed us how to best change the world for the better. Peaceful non compliance is a great way to expose the "authorities" as the violent control freaks that they are. Civil disobedience is the best way to tell those in power that we do not accept their dictates, that we are not their slaves, and that we will live our lives on our feet as free people rather than on our knees begging for their permission to act human and pleading with them not to hurt us. This is simply not acceptable any longer. Some brave people might get hurt by peacefully standing up to the power elite, but in the long run it will be worth it as even they begin to realize that what they are doing is wrong.
There is only a very small percentage of people who are psychopaths and want to cause harm to others. There is only a small percentage who are sociopaths and want to control others through the violent use of force. It seems to me that many of these people seem to obtain positions of power, perhaps because of their willingness to do harm. Most people just want to live peacefully. Most people just want to be left alone to go about their business and their day to day lives. I think we would do well to remember that everybody participates in markets of one form or another, but not everyone participates in politics. The marketplace counts on peaceful, voluntary exchange between people to succeed. Politics seem to count on force and deception. It seems to me that a free and open marketplace would be a much better and more efficient way to solve our problems than counting on a secretive government monopoly that has been proven to lie time and again. I think the best way to bring about positive change will be to expose the psychopaths for who they are and then refuse to obey them any longer.
My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.
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