by MonteQuest » Fri 10 Sep 2004, 13:43:40
According to the media, the political far-right is populated by paranoids and crazies, denizens of the “lunatic fringe.” But people with political views, which at first glance we find hard to understand, might not necessarily be crazy or irrational.
Why would patriotic Americans feel justified in carrying out a terrorist attack against the U.S. government, such as the destruction of the federal building in Oklahoma City and the outright murder of 168 innocent men, women and children? What would lead self-proclaimed “Patriots” to organize and arm themselves for war against their own government? Why do they fear that any day agents of the U.S. government will come to confiscate their property and arrest or even kill them? What leads them to believe that the United Nations and other international institutions are a grave threat to American sovereignty and the security of our Constitutional rights and liberties? Why would they see themselves as modern-day minutemen, citizen-soldiers prepared to defend their liberties against the depredations of federal agents and international elites?
However misplaced and misguided, they may be trying to make sense of a complex and changing world in terms of the ideas and information available to them. The goal here is not to arouse your sympathy for Patriot ideology, or to excuse the angry words or violent deeds of some Patriots. Rather, we will seek a critical understanding of their world view.
If you are like most Americans, you probably take it for granted that the U.S. is a democracy, and that democracy is a good thing. It may seem surprising, then, to find large numbers of people who consider themselves patriotic Americans but who deplore democracy and insist that the founders of our system of government never intended that it be a democracy. Far-right ideology does not recognize conventional political distinctions between “left” and “right.” However, like conservatives, Patriots believe that the government is too big and powerful, and that this damages individual rights and liberties. What separates Patriots from more mainstream conservatives is the Patriots' belief that the U.S. is now ruled by a tyrannical government which has far over-stepped the boundaries of legitimate federal power as laid out in the U.S. Constitution.
Militias place much stock in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Militia members interpret this as Constitutional authority for them to own military-type firearms, and to organize and train as a citizens' military force. They see themselves as the spiritual descendants of the minutemen, ready to take up arms and fight the enemies of liberty on short notice.
For militia members and their sympathizers, then, gun control takes on a special significance. As they see it, military-style weapons are essential for them to fulfill their constitutional role. When the government limits their liberty to own and use firearms, it reduces their ability to resist tyranny and so moves us all one step closer to slavery. Disarmament is a necessary prelude to the pacification and subordination of a once free people and, since Patriots generally believe that this is indeed the ultimate goal of the elite conspirators, it seems to follow that elites will enforce gun control as part of their agenda of domination.
They feel an armed citizen militia may be all that stands between us and the dreaded New World Order. And, of course, it stands to reason that the conspirators will try to crush such resistance, so Patriots and militia members expect to be the targets of federal agencies like the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), whom they depict as the storm troopers of the New World Order.
Bottom line, they expect stormtroopers at their door, not bandits. If things do go south, whatever we did to prepare will need to be protected from those who didn't.
A Saudi saying, "My father rode a camel. I drive a car. My son flies a jet-plane. His son will ride a camel."
![[smilie=qleft3.gif]](https://udev.peakoil.com/forums/images/smilies/qleft3.gif "qleft3")
I guess I'll second the shotgun suggestion....lotsa bird shot at close range in the house to be followed up with buckshot or slugs.....
