Posted by
JP Neil on Monday, April 06, 2009 9:21:53 AM
Monday, April 06, 2009
Are we heading toward a dictatorship? The answer is…every time you give up one of your rights you move a bit closer to that possibility. But, know this; a dictatorship cannot take hold in America today. That is, if you have anything to do with it. Our country, as yet, can’t be ruled—but it can explode. It can blow up into helpless rage and blind violence. (Did you just say civil war, anarchy)? YOU, won’t be cowed into submission, passivity, malevolence, and resignation. YOU, can’t be “pushed around.” As Americans, Defiance, not obedience, is how we’ve always answered overbearing authority. Listen; it was this great country that helped the slaves escape by way of an underground railroad, right? Or, how about in the roaring twenties? They were roaring all right when right smack in the face of Prohibition we began drinking on principle. In fact, by 1925 in New York City alone there were anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasy clubs.Therefore, I seriously doubt we’ll say “Yes, sir,” to those who would tell us what color car we can own. Or, what temperature to keep our thermostat.
Am I proud to be an American? It depends on what the definition of proud is. Being an American wasn’t a goal I set for myself, like my Grandparents, who immigrated here. They were busting with pride. My mom’s dad arrived at Ellis Island at the age of sixteen. He was so proud to be here, -he converted his paychecks as a Philadelphia School District carpenter into Silver Dollars, (Remember when they were real silver, big and heavy)? Placed them into a sock and paid a weekly visit to the Liberty Bell at Independence Hall. There, with each dollar he touched the bell while saying a prayer of thanks. Every U.S. President from Woodrow Wilson to Dwight Eisenhower had in their possession, one of those coins. He was so, looking forward to presenting one to John F. Kennedy. Max Elman was indeed a proud American. Proud to take an oath as one. It’s those who sacrificed their lives and limbs for this country that I’m so very proud of. I do have to tell you though-how eternally blessed I feel to have been born on U.S. soil to first generation Americans. Yes, I do love my country! Just how much, I didn’t know until September 12, 2001.
Shortly after the devastating attack of 9-11, I marveled at all of the vehicles that had the Stars and Stripes unfurled as they traveled the streets of Los Angeles. The thought occurred to me, (The free market Capitalist that I am). even in tragedy, there are those who seize the moment and become instant entrepreneurs. So, there they were, on many street corners-Red, White, and true Blue flag merchants. Another thought was how wonderful this is; Americans coming together after that horrendous sucker punch. Of course as was to be expected, it didn’t last all that long.
We Americans have the attention span of a gnat, and so, at the urging of our leaders we got on with our lives while at the same time were being told to be vigilant. Life for me has not been the same since then. I have compartmentalized events. Pre and post 9-11. Do you, like me get a maudlin feeling watching movies shot in New York City with the WTC as a backdrop? How differently do you look at the world now? I feel that what Al Qaeda could not do- by their attempt at destroying us on that fateful day- is now being done from within by our own government.
The first and second Amendments in my opinion, as is the whole fabric of our society, are in grave jeopardy by those who do not share my romance of capitalism. How easy it is for the Ideologue to “cut and paste” the United States Constitution to suit an agenda. We MUST take a stand! Or else suffer the consequence of the real possibility of history repeating.
During the Hitler years-in order to finance the party’s programs, including the war expenditures-every social group in Germany was mercilessly exploited. They were drained. If you had a white-collar job you wouldn’t be making very much. The same went for anyone who owned a small business. Wages of the salaried and earnings of the of the business owner were deliberately held down by government controls, freezes, taxes. Big business was bled by taxes and “special contributions” of every kind, and strangled by the bureaucracy. (Could it be…that the news you’re getting out of Washington these days is, maybe making your shirt collar feel a little tight?) My colleague, Glenn Beck recently spent some time on this subject for the benefit of his Radio and Television audience. He pointed out that the farmers suffered as well. Their income was held down also. This resulted in a mass rural exodus-a desperate flight to the cities. What they found in those cities however, was the middle class, especially the small tradesmen, were soon in desperate straits themselves, and workers were forced to labor at low wages for increasingly longer hours (up to 60 or more per week). But the Nazis defended their policies, and the country did not rebel; it accepted the Nazi argument. Selfish individuals may be unhappy, the Nazis said, but what we have established in Germany is the ideal system, socialism.
In its Nazi usage the term socialism is not restricted to a theory of economics; it is to be understood in a fundamental sense. “Socialism” for the Nazis denotes the principle of collectivism as such and its corollary, statism-in every field of human action, including but not limited to economics.“To be a socialist,” said Goebbels, “is to submit the I to the thou; socialism is sacrificing the individual to the whole.” So, is this the life you want for yourself and your family? Think about it! . The Constitution, Declaration Of Independence, Bill Of Rights, Liberty Bell- they all go bye, bye. Of course we know that by their definition, of socialism the Nazis really did practice what they preached. They practiced it at home and then abroad. No one can claim that they did not sacrifice enough individuals.
JPN
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Note: Author Dr. Leonard Peikoff ("The Ominous Parallels-The End of Freedom in America") argues, Nazism was made possible by the German philosophers who advocated unreason and self-sacrifice-and whose ideas now rule American universities.