I want to preface my comments and questions with some backstory. I grew up in a house with one .22 rifle that was never brought out and I don’t think my dad ever had ammo for. I didn’t fire a gun until I was 20. My parents didn’t have anything against guns, we just didn’t use them. I do not currently own any guns but have had some firearms training.
Now, you wrote, ”It’s not merely a matter of revolutionary potential; the military is an utterly crucial component of any successful revolution. The reason behind this is remarkably, distressingly simple: The military has the guns.”
In my studies of the American Revolution (War of Independence really) I found the reason we have the Second Amendment was so that when the government became tyrannical, we were to pick up our arms and overthrow it. Thomas Jefferson in particular had a lot to say about the need of armed citizens.
History is full of governments whose first step toward totalitarianism is disarming the citizens.
On the flip side, the abuse of guns is a huge problem, people die everyday due to it.
My question is, what keeps a government from becoming tyrannical of the citizens are not armed?
For my money, I think the simple, overarching answer is: Institutions and the rule of law. The checks and balances we had drilled into us in elementary school!
I wish I had your optimism. I am in the middle of rereading one of my favorite books of all time, Fahrenheit 451, and the world preceding the banning of books seems a whole lot like our time. Maybe I’ve read too many dystopian novels to trust the government and institutions. Regardless of being’left’ or ‘right’, any government can become totalitarian if given too much control.
I don’t think the problem is the government seizing power as much as people being so lazy and afraid that they relinquish control of lives to the government,or a corporation as I see them as one and the same (but that is another conversation altogether).
These are all incredibly thoughtful responses about an outrageously complicated issue. I hope you'll pop into the Atlantis still sunk chat (https://aubreysitterson.substack.com/chat) with some of this stuff. I know there are people in there who would dig it.
As always great stuff
Thank you, brother!!!
I want to preface my comments and questions with some backstory. I grew up in a house with one .22 rifle that was never brought out and I don’t think my dad ever had ammo for. I didn’t fire a gun until I was 20. My parents didn’t have anything against guns, we just didn’t use them. I do not currently own any guns but have had some firearms training.
Now, you wrote, ”It’s not merely a matter of revolutionary potential; the military is an utterly crucial component of any successful revolution. The reason behind this is remarkably, distressingly simple: The military has the guns.”
In my studies of the American Revolution (War of Independence really) I found the reason we have the Second Amendment was so that when the government became tyrannical, we were to pick up our arms and overthrow it. Thomas Jefferson in particular had a lot to say about the need of armed citizens.
History is full of governments whose first step toward totalitarianism is disarming the citizens.
On the flip side, the abuse of guns is a huge problem, people die everyday due to it.
My question is, what keeps a government from becoming tyrannical of the citizens are not armed?
For my money, I think the simple, overarching answer is: Institutions and the rule of law. The checks and balances we had drilled into us in elementary school!
I wish I had your optimism. I am in the middle of rereading one of my favorite books of all time, Fahrenheit 451, and the world preceding the banning of books seems a whole lot like our time. Maybe I’ve read too many dystopian novels to trust the government and institutions. Regardless of being’left’ or ‘right’, any government can become totalitarian if given too much control.
I don’t think the problem is the government seizing power as much as people being so lazy and afraid that they relinquish control of lives to the government,or a corporation as I see them as one and the same (but that is another conversation altogether).
These are all incredibly thoughtful responses about an outrageously complicated issue. I hope you'll pop into the Atlantis still sunk chat (https://aubreysitterson.substack.com/chat) with some of this stuff. I know there are people in there who would dig it.