Circle around government: Large institutional partners
Circle around institutions: Citizens in “support” of suppression
Circle around citizens supporting: Citizens against suppression
“Recently a couple of stories have surfaced that most people are not associating with one another. In Russia, opposition leader Alexei Navalny returned to Moscow after having spent several months in Germany recovering from an attempt on his life by means of the old Soviet method of poisoning. In what was almost certainly at the direction of Vladimir Putin, Navalny was arrested as he stepped off the plane.
Meanwhile, here in the United States, Russia’s opponent during the Cold War, the City of Philadelphia took the gun away from 51-year-old Police Detective Jennifer Gugger. Her “crime”? She attended the rally in Washington on January 6th. There was no indication that she was inside the Capitol, simply at the rally. She had some strong posts on social media, especially about Vice President Mike Pence, but not anything that would constitute a direct threat.
What do these two seemingly quite different people have in common? They are both dissidents. They both acted as though they had the right to say and do what they said and did. They were both mistaken. In Russia, given its history of totalitarianism, Navalny likely knew what he was getting himself into. In our country, however, where totalitarianism is in its infant stages, it is quite likely that Gugger was caught unawares.
This is going to be commonplace for many of us over the next several years as we are forced to come to grips with the fact that this is no longer the “home of the free and the land of the brave.” We can stomp our feet and deny it, we can try to act as though we don’t accept it, but it is not going to change the reality that the great American experiment that was launched just over 230 years ago is finally producing empirical results. The conclusion: People are capable of sustaining individual liberty only for as long as they can be constrained by a system of law that suppresses and contains their true nature.
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What exactly should we do in our role as dissidents?
Let’s break Western Civilization into two segments, secular and religious, and ask this question: Who was the most important dissident in history? In each segment, I believe we can come up with a clear winner: Socrates and Jesus Christ, respectively.
Socrates planted a flag in the ground for reason and rational thought. He built his intellectual “church” upon the rock of Plato, the philosopher to whom other philosophers say all must answer. Every advancement in Western Civilization, whether in agreement or not with the Ancient Greeks, is somehow derivative of what Socrates started.
As for Jesus Christ, there is hardly a need to defend this choice. To the extent that Judaism preceded Him and launched Him, He transcended it. As for other religions of the world that already existed, He surpassed them. As for religions that came after, they were in answer to Him. He built His church upon the rock that was Peter, and the world has never been the same.
These two great dissidents had two things in common. First, they were both killed, dramatically and tragically, as thanks for their efforts. Second, and more lastingly, they both embraced a method of teaching that caused them to last eternally and grow in influence:
They asked questions.”
This is one of the best articles on the subject I have read in a long time. It’s not a short read, but well worth your time to read and understand, and share…
“We will not be able to win this war in which we now find ourselves by fighting. We can win it only through persuading. We need to teach. We need to lead by example”.
BS. We are well beyond talking or voting our way out of this.
Agreed. Look at the comments on this site. Do you see people persuading/teaching or offering negative criticism for personal attention? If we cannot unite against tyranny, at least we can go down fighting it.
Perhaps. But what is the left most afraid of? Our guns? Nope. Us going to kinetic war against them? They know we won’t do that, at least not right away… remember, the conservatives are the ones that just want to be left alone. They know this, because we have told them. They use this to their advantage.
No, they are most afraid of what we have to say. To teach. Our own ability to persuade. Why otherwise would we be banned collectively from Facebook and Twitter? These are instruments of persuasion. Why was Parler taken down? Because it was a place for conservatives to teach and express opinions. Why was WRSA shut down in it’s old format? Same reason. They cannot control us if we are out here successfully persuading people about freedom. This is why they despise Gab and are doing everything they can to take it down and ruin it’s ability to allow people to persuade.
Ask yourself this… what are you doing to effect change? Are you homeschooling your kids? They really don’t like that. Are you trying to attend church? Uh oh, there’s another place where people can be persuaded not to worship the state. Are you attending county commission meetings? Are you speaking with your representatives? Some of us are. Not enough, but some.
Re-read David’s article “Here is the answer of ‘when‘”. Now, we have all been “fighting” tyranny, here and elsewhere. By persuasion. It takes time. Also re-read Atlas Shrugged. If you haven’t read it, at least once, then your ability to understand what is happening and why is not fully developed. Going on strike and waiting for the collapse may be the only way, but in the meantime, we must be teaching our children and others about why their world has collapsed. We will never garner enough support to take down the tyrants by force before a total collapse. We have the guns, but will not have the will or the support until everything has completely collapsed. So, our options are limited, but this is all part of the cycle. We can persuade people to realize what that they are walking off a cliff, or into the boxcars, or we can sit back and simply watch it happen. Option two is much easier, but if are the moral people we claim to be, we should have the will and the strength to keep trying for option one.