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RULED BY FEAR: GUN CONFISCATIONS HAVE BEGUN

Gun confiscations have begun, and they have already claimed the life of one victim. According to news sources, police went to the home of Gary J. Willis at 5:17 am. The suddenly woken man retrieved a handgun and answered the door, not certain who it was at such an early hour. When police identified themselves, he put down his weapon. However, when informed they were there to confiscate his weapons under Maryland's Red Flag law, a struggle ensued and a weapon was reportedly discharged. At which point, an officer fired his service weapon, killing Gary Willis.

So far, everything seems to be going according to plan. The state creates a law that allows interested third parties to petition the courts to confiscate the firearms of someone that is possibly dangerous, and the police can show up at all hours and save the day.  However, it seems a few points have been missed in this scenario.The law allows the courts to order the confiscation of person's personal property, based on the word of a third party. This law is open ended and a bit vague, meaning it will create nightmare scenarios for accused gun owners that are completely innocent of any crime.

 Let's take a moment to envision a hypothetical situation that is quite plausible, given the nature of the law and judicial system.
A gun owner and his ex-girlfriend have an argument, the ex-girlfriend feels scared because the man has several guns. The gun owner has never committed a crime, nor is he known to be violent, but he is quick tempered and can be argumentative and loud. So she turns to the courts, in order to calm her fears. The court determines there is reasonable grounds to confiscate the man's weapons, and the police quickly carry out the court's order. The man must now hire lawyers to represent him in court, in order to prove that he is not threat to anyone and is a responsible gun owner.  He wins his case and  receives his firearms from the police, in addition to a bill from his lawyer that adds up to thousands of dollars.

Who besides the man's attorney benefited from the above example? The courts and police have wasted precious time and money chasing an innocent man. The accused has lost time, his reputation, and lots of money, all because an ex-girlfriend was frightened by his demeanor. The ex-girlfriend has neither gained nor lost; she was honestly frightened by his demeanor, and is thus innocent of perjury, but was never in any real danger. The only ones that benefit from such laws are the trial lawyers that charge hundreds of dollars an hour.

In the example above, I could have been the gun owner in question. I am large, loud, emotional, argumentative, quick tempered, and I have been known to inadvertently frighten people with my demeanor.  I happen to be of Greek ancestry, being loud and quick tempered is a cultural thing. I know lots of other people that are also loud and quick tempered, and most of them are of varied backgrounds. Do we qualify as being a threat to society because we are men, or because we are loud and emotional? 

Some folks make the argument that this law will help prevent mass shootings, suicides, and other violent crimes, by allowing the courts to confiscate firearms based on the word of family members or closely associated persons. There is some merit to that argument, many crimes could have been prevented if the courts had been allowed to act proactively against troubled individuals. There is no doubt in my mind that the Maryland state legislature was focused on the safety of it's citizens when it passed this law; however, I don't believe this law is the correct solution.
 

 I do not know what the correct answer is, but I do know that we are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty and that a whole lot of innocent people will have their property confiscated based on other people's fear. Fear is a powerful emotion, and people can act rashly when they are afraid. This law plays on the public's fear, and when a government uses fear as a tool to implement policy it becomes tyranny. Let's hope that cooler heads will eventually prevail, and draft laws that are based on reason instead of fear.

EVERYONE IS SO VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE ELECTION

Everyone is so very excited about the election, but nobody has considered if this election will actually change anything. After careful examination, we must realize there is absolutely zero difference between the two parties at the national level. Whether the one or the other party won or lost will make no difference, it will be business as usual in Congress. The Global Elite will continue to control everything, and the public will remain as unaware as always. Americans have lost their liberty, but they gladly cheer whenever they are told the next election will make all the difference.

AMERICANS WITHOUT LIBERTY

"Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of the government. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it."

President Woodrow Wilson, 1912

Welcome to the Imperial States of America, where the people are servants of a limitless government. A government that has given itself, and it's agents, the authority to impose tyrannical controls on the public in the name of safety, fairness, and equality. This did not happen overnight. It has taken many years for the power hungry Elite to transform the nation.

Thought Control

The most important instrument in a tyrant's toolbox is thought control, this includes censorship of the news and information available to the public. Today we have Congress demanding social media sites impose controls and limits on the use of their products. With the reasoning that Russian agents managed to influence the 2016 US Presidential election through the use of "fake" news, Congressional representatives from both parties wanted to know how Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter planned to stop the spread of such fake news stories. The Congressional committee had "expert" witnesses testify how social media could be used as a tool to foment a revolution against the US government. The social media companies, under direct pressure from Congress, acted swiftly and capriciously blocking and banning several prominent individuals and organizations.

The first target of this social media censorship was Alex Jones and his site InfoWars. Alex Jones has been spreading his brand of conspiracy theories for about twenty years, first on the radio and later from his website. Many have accused him of racism, sensationalism, and fake news reporting. On the other hand, his website has millions of loyal subscribers that are convinced he's right. A discussion on the merits of his reporting and analysis is irrelevant. What is relevant is that he has the Right to express himself, to say what he believes is the truth. Nobody is qualified to determine if Alex Jones, or anyone else, is right or wrong. That determination is best left to consumers, who decide these things by spending their money.

 Education Becomes Indoctrination

When education becomes indoctrination, both the past and the future are lost. It's been said many times, American high schools and universities have failed in their primary mission to educate students. Instead of intellectually challenging courses that impart some form of knowledge, wisdom, or practical usefulness, students are attending classes filled with strange, politically motivated, or even false content.  Students are graduating from high priced universities and lack the basic skills needed to succeed in the workforce. School administrators, librarians, and other staff, have turned to banning books, banning the American flag, banning the wrong opinion, and have stopped teaching history or teach politicized versions of history. Of course, academicians have their favorite authors or subjects, for example almost all colleges teach Keynesian economics to the exclusion of all else; however, there needs to be some room for debate or at least an honest representation of alternative viewpoints. By limiting the exchange of ideas and teaching politically motivated doctrines, school are in effect brainwashing students. What will happen in the coming decades with our children being given a twisted understanding of the world and society? How will they be able to think for themselves, when they are constantly pressured to accept only certain ideas?

It is said that education starts at home, and if that is the case, a great many parents have failed to raise their children properly.  It is not enough that schools push certain ideas onto their students, now we have multiple generations of college students that have been raised in an environment of fear and apprehension. In a recently published work "The Coddling of the American Mind", authors Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt explore the recent phenomenon of "safe spaces" and other strange occurrences on college campuses across the nation. Many college students have been sheltered to such a degree they feel their safety is threatened if they are faced by an idea they do not agree with. How can such individuals engage in an any sort of legitimate academic debate, if they feel threatened by the opposing opinions of other students? What will happen when such individuals enter the workforce and must discuss difficult topics with customers or other stakeholders?  It seems Allan Bloom was correct when he published his famous work "The Closing of the American Mind" in 1987. The higher education system has failed our nation, and the students it was supposed to educate. 

 Hate Speech

 Perhaps this is in the nature of a rhetorical question, but there is a correct answer. What is Hate Speech? It can be just about anything, or anything the Left decides it is. The definition is completely subjective, and recognizing Hate Speech is dependent on the beholder. One person's truthful and honest answer is another person's Hate Speech. This is the essence of political correctness; the truth is no longer good enough, we must sugar coat everything in order to make it acceptable to everyone, except to those that are interested in hearing the actual truth. It has become a slogan, or a rallying cry, to many well intentioned people on the Left to stop the dissemination of Hate Speech. Whether such speech is on social media, or in a debate in a college campus, or if it is a statement issued by a public figure, anything and everything can be declared Hate Speech if it does not conform to those viewpoints favored by progressives and liberals. Admittedly, there are many cases in which boorish individuals will say something obnoxious, rude, racist, or stupid; however, even the most innocent or factual statement can be declared Hate Speech if it does not conform to the certain subjective parameters set forth by people with a progressive agenda. 

My own Facebook account was recently suspended, after I responded to a friend's post with a comical meme. My comment was declared to be Hate Speech by the Facebook department of totalitarian censorship. With no opportunity to respond, appeal, or argue my case, I have been declared a publisher of Hate Speech. I do not have the money nor the inclination to hire an attorney and fight this out in a court, but if I did I would win my case. It is very easy to declare something is Hate Speech, but it is much more difficult to actually prove it. 

There is at least on ray of sunshine that has not been blocked by this dark cloud of politically correct Hate Speech hysteria, the Supreme Court has always declared the US Constitution protects the public from any Government limitation of Free Speech. The politicians may work through third parties, such as the aforementioned banning of Alex Jones by Facebook and other social media sites, but the Government is still prohibited from directly limiting Free Expression. The Court has unanimously declared Hate Speech is protected speech. The Justices in their wisdom realize that once started on this dark path of prohibiting speech because it may cause someone to feel uncomfortable, there will be no limit to such prohibitions. Perhaps it would be of great benefit to our society if the US Constitution and the concept of individual liberty were to once again become required reading in our high schools and colleges.

The Loss of Liberty, one step at a time 

Government sanctioned Thought Control, Education that has become Indoctrination, and the new trend of declaring everything to be Hate Speech, are all forces that are eating away at the Freedom that Americans have taken for granted. The Founding Fathers of this nation, in their great wisdom, understood that without individual liberty a republic will quickly give way to kings, tyrants, and other forms of authoritarian governments that will put their own good before the good of the people. The people of the United States have enjoyed a degree of liberty and freedom that is unique to our nation, we must not allow misguided people and ideas to erode those freedoms in the cause of some imagined egalitarian future.