Libertas

“Politics is the conspiracy of the unproductive but organized against the productive but unorganized.” ~Joseph Sobran

Sabastian Haffner (December 27, 1907 – January 2, 1999, pseudonym for Raimund Pretzel) The Germany that was "my country" and the country of those like me was not just a blob on the map of Europe. It was characterized by certain distinctive attitudes: humanity, openness on all sides, philosophical depth of thought, dissatisfaction with the world and oneself, the courage always to try something fresh and to abandon it if need be, self-criticism, truthfulness, objectivity, severity, rigor, variety, a certain ponderousness but also delight in the freest improvisation, caution and earnestness but also a playful richness of invention, engendering ever new ideas that it quickly rejects as invalid, respect for originality, good nature, generosity, sentimentality, musicality, and above all freedom, something roving, unfettered, soaring, weightless, Promethean. Secretly we were proud that in the realm of the spirit our country was the land of unlimited possibilities. Be that as it may, this was the country we felt attached to, in which we were at home. This Germany has been destroyed and trampled underfoot by the nationalists, and it has at last become clear who its deadliest enemy was: German nationalism itself and the German Reich. To stay loyal to it and belong to it, one had to have the courage to recognize this fact -- and all its consequences. -- Sebastian Haffner, in Defying Hitler (1939)

It is frustrating to be dismissed as a “conspiracy theorist” when the police state is becoming so obvious. It is unnerving to read the journals and accounts of Germans in the 1930s as they witnessed Hitler’s raise and consolidation of power. Today I am seeing the same things and having the same thoughts and questions as they did:

“This can’t be happening.”

“I’m over reacting.”

“Oh my God! We must do something to stop this.”

“No, we have a Constitution. We have the rule of law, we have a judiciary.”

“I haven’t really seen any injustices. I’ve only heard about them.”

“It can’t be happening. The reports are exaggerations.”

“There are lists of people? Who’s on the list? Am I on the list.”

“Should I leave? No, leaving is cowardly. If I leave, they win.”

But there are people now, who lived through it before in Nazi Germany, Eastern Europe, Cuba, and South America, who have seen the signs before. They are warning us, some are already leaving. Some of the very rich have already left. At the same time, the American government is increasingly making it difficult to leave with one’s wealth. That too, is an evil omen.

The dismissal of conspiracies is usually not based on facts but on a general laziness to investigate and an unwillingness to be seen as weird. Holding the opinion of the majority is somehow comforting, but could very well be deadly in the end.

The American Government’s habit of manufacturing terrorist is an example of the problem. Instead of wondering why the FBI can only find patsies to arrest instead of real terrorist or remembering that entrapment is illegal, people faithfully accept the government’s story and dismiss those of us who don’t accept it or at least question it as “conspiracy theorists.”  Anyone the government arrests must be a terrorist and must be guilty, so Constitutional protections and due process be damned! “As long as I’m not doing anything wrong I have nothing to worry about.” The law abiding Germans of the 1930s thought the same.

These sting operations do no one any good except the State. It gives the State a reason to implement tighter controls on the population. They justify more power and money to “keep the people safe.”

People have forgotten that under American Law a person is not guilty if entrapped into committing a crime. To entrap, government agents must fulfill three conditions:

1) The idea for committing the crime came from the government agents and not from the person accused of the crime.

2) Government agents then persuaded or talked the person into committing the crime. Simply giving the person the opportunity to commit the crime is not the same as persuading one to commit the crime.

3) The person was not ready and willing to commit the crime before the government agents spoke with him.

That is American Law and if the agents do that, it’s illegal and the “terrorist” should be found not guilty. Perhaps that’s why so many “domestic terrorists” are found not guilty. They were entrapped. This is a waste of time and money. Instead of entrapping potential terrorist, they should be looking for the real ones.

After all the lies, all the crimes and misdemeanors, the scandals, the deaths, I am amazed at the American people’s gullibility and trust in government and mainstream media. They have been so thoroughly indoctrinated into believing that loyalty to government is loyalty to country. Any criticism of its actions or policies is labeled anti-American. Sure, one group will hate the current administration or party controlling Congress, while the other group will blindly defend their party. It’s always the people in charge that is the problem, never the system or institution. As long as my team is in charge everything is okay just as criticism of the opposing team is okay.  It shows that we have freedom of speech. It’s democracy in action. But God forbid questioning law enforcement, military actions, the war on terror, the war on drugs, or the banking system. Anyone who does that is an anti-American conspiracy nut.

But mistrusting the government is not anti-American. The Founding Fathers who set up the Constitution, mistrusted government far more than Americans today. They understood the corrupting power of the State and tried to weaken it in every possible way.

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) “The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.”

Thomas Paine in his very first paragraph of Common Sense explained the difference between society and government, something that both the right and left no longer distinguish. To criticize the government is to be anti-American. To love America means blind obedience and trust in the government. But that is not the way of the Founding Fathers. They would be shocked and dismayed to see the people so naïve and gullible, so slavish and servile.

It makes me sick to see my fellow countrymen submit and acquiesce to state power, especially the very people who are trained to defend the American people. They have a duty to preserve and defend the Constitution from both foreign and domestic enemies. But instead, they know nothing of the Constitution, they blindly follow orders. It never once occurs to them that the State, the Government, the very people who publicly swear to uphold and defend The Constitution could be the enemies of that very same Constitution. They have come to think their duty is maintaining security and not preserving liberty.

And the American people? They submit to full body scans and groping by strangers. They have no qualms about the assault on their dignity, their person, or their freedoms. They look away as children, the elderly, the sick, the crippled are poked, prodded, and groped just so they can feel safe. They obediently stand aside as complete strangers pat down their screaming three year old daughters. They won’t even stand up for their own children against the State.

Did they even notice that on the opt out day before Thanksgiving and all the days up to the following Sunday everything ran smoothly because the TSA turned off the scanners? So on the busiest travel days in America, they turn these scanners off. Why? Are we really in danger from terrorists if they can just turn off the scanners. Are the scanners really that important if the danger is real?

And anyone who dares bring up these questions is dismissed as a conspiracy theorist. But I tell you this, I’d rather be labeled a conspiracy theorist than be an unthinking slave the average American has become.

Recommended:

Defying Hitler: A Memoir by Sebastian Haffner

Common Sense by Thomas Paine