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 As a libertarian, I've had considerable contact with those who have been victimized by government. It's interesting that people contact libertarians for help when government is coming down on them. I suspect that, in their desperation, they recall having read or heard that we understand that innocent people DO become victims of government. Not surprisingly, such people have ignored our warnings, assuming that we were exaggerating or even not being truthful... until it happened to them.
Unfortunately, when they do realize that what we said was true, and real, and that it could happen to anyone, it's usually too late. Once the heavy hand of government has come down on you, your alternatives have become terrible. Worse, there is usually very little that libertarians can do to help except sympathize. We wish we could do more, but as long as Americans continue to live their lives with their heads in the sand, ignoring our warnings, and making no attempt to help us, we will remain little more than sympathetic when you become the victim.
It's ridiculous to expect anyone else to help protect you from unjust government actions while you go on your merry way indulging yourself and paying no attention. Libertarians are almost always unpaid volunteers... citizens who do not ignore what is obvious to anyone paying attention... that government is the cause of most of our problems, not the solution.
I understand that it's much easier to blame "others" and to blindly hope that our government will take care of it. It's much easier to listen to politician's lies, vote for them, and then pat yourself on the back for "helping to solve problems"... even though a great many of you know that by doing so, you're living a lie. You delude yourself by thinking "what else can I do?", and by hoping that somebody else will get the axe instead of you. No sense helping the libertarians; they have no power or influence, and it might even draw attention to me. "Better not rock the boat and be seen as a threat to government". "Just in case the libertarians are right, I had better keep a low profile".
I understand... you have a job, you have a family, and chances are you need all of your paycheck to keep the lifestyle you've enslaved yourself to. You have no extra time or extra money. You can't afford to lose anything. It has become the American way.
So... when your time comes, you'll act shocked, outraged, and desperate, and you'll look around for sympathy. What you'll find is the same attitude you had before you were targeted... you'll find that almost everyone else will ignore your plight, afraid that associating with you might make them a target too. They may even display the common attitude that if you're a target of government, you must have done something to deserve it. Your protestations are not likely to be believed by anyone except libertarians or other victims. If you should run into a friend who was a victim before you, and was shunned by you, I'd suggest that you avoid trying to appeal to them for sympathy.
The Libertarian Party is filled with individuals who have been caught up by a personal need to not ignore reality, their sense of justice, and a desire that we all (yes, including you) might live free of oppression. Many of those libertarians, in their zeal, have dedicated themselves to that struggle to the point of literally destroying parts of their lives that they once, like you, valued greatly. They've reduced their lifestyle, devoted much of their incomes and their time, and endured great frustration in trying to awaken others to what they're choosing to ignore.
Our nation is rapidly descending into a totalitarian police state. If you honestly think that is an exaggeration, you're one of the privileged few who is oblivious to what is happening right in front of you.
- Are you aware that the government is watching you, and compiling information on you, assuming that you're a potential criminal, even though you haven't done anything to be treated like one?
- Are you aware that our government is putting people in prison without charging them, without trial, without legal representation, and even without visitors?
- Are you aware that our government is taking property away from citizens to give to others?
- Are you aware that our government is taking their children away from parents who have done nothing worse than being poor, or having been falsely accused of something wrong... no charges, no trial?
- Are you aware that our government is destroying families by bribing mothers to divorce and collect child support, or to exclude the father altogether in order to get welfare?
- Are you aware that our government is creating a large population of fathers who are broke, desperate, and who can't even see their children?
- Are you aware that our government is taking children from parents and putting them in far more danger?
- Are you aware that our government is making many corporations wealthy by writing legislation to specifically benefit them, at the expense of others?
- Are you aware that our government has more people imprisoned than any other large nation on earth?
- Are you aware that our government has violated virtually every part of our Constitution, and continues to deny us almost every article of the Bill of Rights?
I'm sorry to say that I suspect that most readers are aware of the truth of most of these indictments, but are doing their damndest to ignore them, hoping that others will change them. It's more likely that you're just busying yourself with other things, convincing yourself that building a career, raising your kids, getting some entertainment, and accumulating things are essential... that if you could do all that, and had time and money left... then you would get involved.
Ask yourself what value your career, your home, and your lifestyle will be if libertarians are right? What good will all that do you if we allow government to expand until we are all helpless slaves? Is that the heritage you want to leave to the next generation? By ignoring clear warning signs, you are playing right into the hands of those who would take and wield power at our expense.
What luck for rulers that men do not think. -- Adolph Hitler
the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty not safety. -- Benjamin Franklin
Do not fear your enemies - for at most they can only kill you.
Do not fear your friends. At most they can only betray you.
But be afraid of the disinterested ones.
They do not kill and they do not betray -
But only due to their tacit agreement
do murder and treason rule in this world!
-- Bruno Jasiewski
It matters not where you live, or what rank of life you hold, the evil or the blessing will reach you all. The far and the near, the home counties and the back, the rich and the poor, will suffer or rejoice alike. The heart that feels not now is dead; the blood of his children will curse his cowardice, who shrinks back at a time when a little might have saved the whole, and made them happy. -- Thomas Paine. |
