Division of People, Multiplication of Power

If I could have a moment of everybody's time, I would appreciate it. I would like to pose a few questions: First, who has gotten more powerful and more wealthy in the last 20 years?

The answer will surprise some of you. It is the United States government that has become both more powerful and more wealthy at our expense since 1987.

Bushes, Clintons, liberals, conservatives, Republicans, Democrats, Limbaughs, Blitzers - they're all wealthier and more powerful today thanks to bad laws, bad policies, bad government spending.

Are you more free today than you were 20 years ago? Sure, you can get debauched every now and then, unless you're Larry Craig, but can you move about the country freely in the manner you choose without having your name go through a hundred different databases? Can you hop a plane from California to Colorado without your drivers' license and a major credit card? Can you visit a library and read whatever book you like without it being registered on the government's radar?

Ask yourself another question: How safe do you feel? Are you afraid in your own city because of the thought of terrorists lurking around every corner? Are you afraid in your own home out of fear that at any moment there could be a crime committed against you? Do you feel uncomfortable when a police officer pulls you over even when you haven't done anything wrong? Do military caravans heading down the highway make you feel more secure, or less? Do you fear that the economy could collapse at any moment because of another major catastrophe?

The whole point is that nobody in power wants you to feel safe. They need you to be afraid so that you will put your lives in their hands. They want you to be divided so that you will never unite against them as they strip away your liberty and property. They want you to join them in declaring war on the most important sovereignty of all - individual independence, or at least give in when they tell you it's hopeless to resist.

Stop thinking in such limited spheres. It isn't about left versus right. It doesn't matter if 9-11 was an inside job, whether Osama bin Laden is alive, or if Iran has nuclear weapons. It is all about YOU and YOUR LIFE, YOUR LIBERTY AND YOUR PROPERTY, and your ability to both KEEP and DEFEND them!

Or, you can play right into the hands of the powers that be. Keep arguing and name-calling like children on a playground. Don't look at an individual and his views based on facts and the merits of the ideas presented. Focus upon his party, his affiliation, his religion, or whatever other classification you prefer to pin upon him. Don't worry about what is real and who profits, stick to the petty stuff.

Tyrants are borne of division as divided leaders attempt to corral a divided body into one and to the benefit of the powerful.

M.A. Hargett