Sunday, December 28, 2014

And who might "the enemy within" be? Why us, of course.

America needs to study the enemy within.
This opinion piece in the LA Times by Jared Diamond was also mirrored at RealClearDefense. Diamond is no Media Matters collectivist putz. He is a Pulitzer Prize winner and thought of as a deep thinker in certain quarters. So when he writes of "the enemy within," you have to take him seriously. And who are "the enemy within?" Why us, of course.
You may object that the American armed forces, unlike those in Chile or Indonesia or Spain, have no precedent at all for interfering in American politics. That's true. But consider what happened in 1933 in Austria, where private citizens had increasingly been arming themselves and forming private militias. When Austria's Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss abolished the country's legislature and established an authoritarian right-wing government, he didn't use an Austrian army to crush his left-wing political opponents. He did it with a militia of his own armed supporters.
Could that be possible here? Already, plenty of Americans are asserting the right to carry guns in previously unlikely places (such as in schools and government offices). Already, they are forming private militias for purposes such as patrolling the Mexican border and protecting a claimed right to graze cattle on federal lands. Again, when private citizen militias already carry guns for those purposes, it's "just" a matter of expanding the scope of an established principle to use guns for other purposes.
We Americans today are focused on the wrong threats to American democracy. We are obsessed with threats from overseas: from terrorists and Islamist extremists, and from other countries. But realistically, while terrorists and Islamists and other countries will continue to cause trouble for us, the chance of their ending American democracy is nil. The only real threat to American democracy comes from Americans themselves. If our politicians continue to yield to pressure from extremists not to compromise and remain mired in gridlock, the majority of decent Americans may in frustration come to view an authoritarian government as the only solution to political gridlock — as a lesser evil that has to be tolerated.
Uh, pardon me, oh exalted anal sphincter, but "authoritarian government" is here already and it is your intellectual allies who are working their dictatorial wills in violation of the Founders' Constitution upon the rest of us.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Diamond cites only one example. There are lots of other counter examples, where a government abolished democratic institutions with the help of the military. This doesn't count military coups. Also, several current governments which maintain power through the very type of paramilitary gangs warned against, such as Venezuela Gaza or Russia, are governments that the US government has made overtures towards, until their behavior has been so blatantly unpopular with Congress or the public at large that the administration has been forced to distance itself from them.

Jesse in DC said...

The thing they forget is, until the "progressive" intervention, it was perfectly normal for anyone to carry guns in schools, stores, etc..It was completely unremarkable in fact.
I think they have controlled the narrative long enough, and it is high time that rightful gun ownership and carry be normalized once again...
Jesse in DC

Waiting In Idaho said...

Note to self: Buy more rope.

SGT Dan's Cat said...

For a grad school application essay, one of my options was to read both Professor Diamond's excellent "Guns, Germs, and Steel" and Professor Hanson's "Carnage and Culture" and decide which one was right.

After reading Diamond and rereading Hanson, I decided neither was entirely correct so instead I wrote on Dwight D. Eisenhower as portrayed by Richard Overy in "Why The Allies Won."

The 1933 Austria comparison falls rather flat in that the vast majority of heavily armed and skilled Americans are distinctly NOT on the side of governmental authority. I don't think he gets that since we really aren't his sort of people.

VDH on the other hand grew up rural and is still a farm owner. Much of his writings on central California's slide to Third World status is horrifying stuff, and certainly an advertisement for gun ownership in and of itself.

Steve B said...

This guy's pulitzer winning book is much like his take on this subject, completely backwards. Guns, Germs and Steel was complete nonsense - completely ignoring the causality of those variables - culture - as outlined in the far superior Carnage and Culture by VDH. Guns, Germs and Steel imagines these things popped from the earth and created the advantages Western Civ had over others, rather than the other way around.

Anonymous said...

The Left keeps referring to 'grid lock' as a bad thing. The system was designed to move slowly, such that only the most pressing legislation and most acceptable appointments made it through the system. They are upset because the legislation 'they' deem as pressing is not deemed as such by the rest of the country.

Anonymous said...

All you need is to read his idiotic books and you will understand why the beltway and Manhattan "elite" are so very, very delusional.

This talk of his is dangerous if only because his grasp of reality, as manifest by natural laws from gravity to human nature, is nothing more than Plato's Cave displayed on their own closed eye lids.

Oregon Hobo said...

Mr. Vanderboegh and commenters, I urge you to look beyond the personal annoyance of the unflattering implications of Prof. Diamond's warning for a moment. History is indeed rife with examples of abuses by militias, both under the influence of governments and free agents, though in the latter case, the distinction oft blurs quickly.

An important childhood lesson imparted by my father is that just because someone is an a-hole does not necessarily mean he is incorrect. Let us not be fooled into discounting valid possibilities by our desire to repudiate a-holes. While I do not doubt that Prof. Diamond's aim is to defame this movement, that does not mean that his warning holds no merit whatsoever.

We would not be human if the stresses of the age in which we find ourselves gave us no cause for fear, anger and disgust, emotions which can easily be directed to dark ends. Ask yourselves honestly, can you think of no one right now who might wish to co-opt a significant portion of this movement and steer them in a disastrous direction?

I believe most or at least many of us are in fact already aware of this danger, thus the recent addition of the "Three Percent Catechism" on this very blog, and the frequent discussions on various blogs and forums of preparing so that one does not find one tempted by desperation to become part of the problem.

As for the defamatory nature of his diatribe, I submit that a more effective though perhaps counter-intuitive repudiation is to embrace the valid points raised, and in doing so, point out how many aspects of those issues have already been long ago recognized and addressed repeatedly within our movement, as well as the "proof in the pudding" of the restraint demonstrated in every single instance of armed protest and/or civil disobedience thus far.

Though his unawareness of the issues with which we have already debated among ourselves, he offers us the opportunity to demonstrate our own objectivity, foresight, and self-regulation, as well as his own alarmism and irrelevance. Use the energy of his attack against him.

#OREGON HOBO#

Oregon Hobo said...

...and +1 to exactly what Steve B said.

#OREGON HOBO#

Anonymous said...

The guy's a commie. Guns, Germs and Steel was a waste of time.

The unorganized militia is everyone. Too many are commies. Gonna be hard to re-take the Republic with most people supporting communism.
Commies everywhere.

Anonymous said...

At least he begins to realize the utility of citizen malitias - just not the purpose envisaged by the Founders ...

Malitias and Drumhead Courts Martial do rather go together - and nice ring (of rope!) about it!

III

Anonymous said...

The "tell" so often present in loyalist musings is "American Democracy".

Democracy is a tool used within our form of governance. It is NOT and CAN NEVER BE our form of governance.

Collectivist fools first claim to BE the majority and then claim majority rules. Interestingly, they claim that all powerful majorities are what protect the minority and their rights. Facts expose, though, that democracy as a form rather than a tool IS SLAVERY.

Democrats (yes those with an (R) behind their names too) are traitors to the government of of republican form. They tell us all who they are- when they talk of American Democracy.

Enough excusing them. Time to call them out, openly and honestly.

Anonymous said...

The Chilean example ignores an elephant in that room- The CIA provided a whole lot of encouragement and help in instigating the military takeover. As in several other countries.

Popular elections and democracy in other countries certainly should not be allowed to interfere with a good investment!

Anonymous said...

uh, I am not a pulitzer prize winner so maybe I am too dull to understand the grand design of history, inexorably leading this author to summarize him saing "recent americans" shoule compromise otherwise the us mlitary will take over in a coup like chile, or a militia of gun nuts will take over like austria?

I think this guy needs to do less big picture synthesis, and stop fear mongering and get out and visit flyover country.

We arent germs with guns looking to eliminate progtards hecause we dont agree, and arent willing to compromise on Inalienable rights.

Seems to me it was that uniquely American unwillingness to compromise that won Europe back from a crazed Austrian, and kept the Falklands free of coup making military.

Europeans, and their admirers in the progressive movement dont need to go back 13000 years to see what works. They can see :O the EU is not working, and bankrupting ts own wealth, but I digress...





DAN III said...

Eff Diamond and his ilk. We are way past due for a patriotic coup against the illegitimate and illegal presidency of Barry Soetoro. Hemp and lead is the only solution to the ailments of this nation. Sadly, FUSA has turned socialist and our .gov schools are churning out more and more Marxists every year.

We're in deep feces.

Anonymous said...

Originally, government was small. At the time of the Founders, it was exercised on the local and state (provincial) levels. The government provided leadership to militias, through funding and appointment of suitable commanding officers.

Today, totalitarian government has abrogated its responsibility toward militias. Some good work is done at some state levels, more is done at the local level.

"Well regulated" in the best known context doesn't mean just drill. It means financial, material, and most importantly, leadership support. If it isn't provided nationally, it will be found where it is provided, and certainly not by the collectivists.

What the commies completely misunderstand is that militias have no desire to govern. They are made up of citizens organized for their own defense. Members only wish to have a good and decent government to serve, such as the one that the Founders provided for.

bloodyspartan said...

Well regulated means nothing more than functioning properly.

Free state means a state of being free.

Since NY state has confiscated everything of mine snd is now deciding on how much jail I should get for sticking to my rights.

Keep talking, but Mike how about a legal fund to help me pay my lawyers while u all make up your minds.

We are out of time.
Everything I own is confiscated and I worked at a local gun range.

So how far along are we really.

Before I got railroaded a nice Atf gent who came in to verify the books said He does not want to live through what is coming.

I gurss he eas talking about only me right?