The Complete History of Tyranny in America 1815-Today

[ZRod]

Slavery.

 

Perhaps the treatment of Native Americans.

 

Those are the biggies that jump off the page.

Perhaps?

[HSKR]

This no call.

 

 

[Someone]

I think it is important that we know tyranny when we see it.

 

"The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 65% of American Adults think the purpose of the Second Amendment is to make sure that people are able to protect themselves from tyranny." NRA, Jan 2013

 

"I think without any doubt, if you look at why our founding fathers put it there, they had lived under the tyranny of King George and they wanted to make sure that these free people in this new country would never be subjugated again and have to live under tyranny." Wayne LaPierre in a Senate Hearing Jan 2013.

 

Jim Porter is the new President of the NRA. He said last month that the NRA's greatest challenge is to get citizens trained to fights so "when they are ready to fight tyranny, they are ready do it. Also, when they are ready to fight tyranny, they have the wherewithal and weapons to do it.”

 

All this talk of fighting tyranny got me thinking, has the NRA or it's members ever actually fought the tyranny they fear so much? I guess the Civil War was a call to arms to fight tyranny.

 

Short of that, I am glad that we use more democratic means of change.

 

We have a word for people who what to go to war against the US Government and attack and kill our military and first responders on American soil. We call those people terrorist and the organizations that recruit people to carry out these attacks are called terror organizations or at least militant.

 

I wonder when we get to the place where the NRA is starting to cross that line. At times, they sound willing to violate most other parts of the Constitution to protect their favorite part.

 

One of the most important aspect of America is how we provide for and routinely have an orderly transfer of power. The people leaving office move out and the new ones move in. Never has it required the average Joe using a pitchfork or a rifle to topple the bad guys who won't leave--at least not since 1815.

 

Talk of arming people to fight the tyrants (also called elected American government officials) is just about as un-American as it gets.

 

More importantly: who gets to decide that tyranny is imminent, and by what measure is the imminence of tyranny determined?

[Saunders]

I'd like to see your tyranny list s'45.

Women voting

Segregation laws

Church and state

Abortion

Gay Marriage

Obama

[knapplc]

What key events, policies and actions would you include in a complete collection of Tyranny in America?

 

What would you include?

Right back at ya.

 

The proliferation of lobbyists and the amount of credence our politicians pay to them

The wholesale buying-into of the American government to the military-industrial complex

The training of the average American to be a voter but not a voice

The indoctrination of Americans as a source of revenue without adequate representation

[strigori]

Jim Crow laws.

DOMA

Not letting women vote

Anti-sodomy laws and various other religious based laws that have slowly been forced off the books.

 

I'm not sure how Social Security falls under this topic though.

[JJ Husker]

Jim Crow laws.

DOMA

Not letting women vote

Anti-sodomy laws and various other religious based laws that have slowly been forced off the books.

 

I'm not sure how Social Security falls under this topic though.

 

Those are good additions to the list. I listed social security because; 1- we do not have the choice to participate and 2-the where is that power enumerated for the feds to have the ability to make us do it?

[HuskerThor]

Prohibition of marijuana.

[JJ Husker]

 

The proliferation of lobbyists and the amount of credence our politicians pay to them

The wholesale buying-into of the American government to the military-industrial complex

The training of the average American to be a voter but not a voice

The indoctrination of Americans as a source of revenue without adequate representation

 

That is an excellent list of the causes of and reasons for tyranny but none of them are actual tyranny. If we were able to eliminate or correct those four items, actual tyranny would be much more rare in this country. You get the deeper thinking award for this list.

[BigRedBuster]

The indoctrination of Americans as a source of revenue without adequate representation

 

I think I understand what you are saying here and I think I agree with it. But, could you clarify?

[carlfense]

Alien and Sedition Acts.

[knapplc]

The indoctrination of Americans as a source of revenue without adequate representation

 

I think I understand what you are saying here and I think I agree with it. But, could you clarify?

 

I don't think for a moment that it's an accident that Americans have, on average, something like an 8th-grade level of education. It makes us more docile, less able to think critically, more amenable to advertising and less likely to question authority. A stupid population is far easier to control than an educated population. This is not lost on Those In Power, whether that be our government or the corporations that want the money from our wallets. And often those two entities work hand-in-hand to remove said money. The actions of government and corporate entities to keep the population under control through underfunded education are, in my opinion, a form of tyranny.

[Saunders]

The indoctrination of Americans as a source of revenue without adequate representation

 

I think I understand what you are saying here and I think I agree with it. But, could you clarify?

 

I don't think for a moment that it's an accident that Americans have, on average, something like an 8th-grade level of education. It makes us more docile, less able to think critically, more amenable to advertising and less likely to question authority. A stupid population is far easier to control than an educated population. This is not lost on Those In Power, whether that be our government or the corporations that want the money from our wallets. And often those two entities work hand-in-hand to remove said money. The actions of government and corporate entities to keep the population under control through underfunded education are, in my opinion, a form of tyranny.

Build a society of consumers who are morons, don't allow them to take care of themselves, and force reliance on the government and big business.

 

Sounds about right.

[Someone]

Thanks JJ. Good additions to the list.

 

Well suminabeach, we were bound to agree on something, sometime, although I was beginning to doubt it. It's a rather long article but worth reading. Some may feel it has a slight conservative bent to it but I think that is to be expected when discussing the US Constitution and how the enumerated powers thing has morphed into the opposite of what was really intended.

When I said those are good additions to the list, I wasn't agreeing with you that they are tranny in my humble opinion, but rather they are tranny in your eyes and it good to have them expressed and added.

 

I strongly disagree with 2 of your 4 items listed. I am glad that democracy resolved one of the 4 on your list and the 4th one is just too vauge to know exactly what you are refering to.

 

I also disagree with the quote you posted for 2 reasons. 1: The Constitution is taken seriously. 2. The Constitution provides for, and supports our form of government. It is a threat to attempts to change our form of government.

[JJ Husker]

 

When I said those are good additions to the list, I wasn't agreeing with you that they are tranny in my humble opinion

 

I strongly disagree with 2 of your 4 items listed.

 

OK then, which 2 do you feel are not tyranny and why?

 

Before you answer, I am going to assume here that your 2 disagreements are with Obamacare and social security. Tyranny can be expressed in many ways but one of the simplest determinations is to review what powers we the people have granted and enumerated to the federal government through the Constitution. If you didn't read my linked article, I would strongly suggest that you do so. Part of the problem, as Knapp has alluded to, is that the citizenry doesn't even understand how this is all supposed to work. I would suggest that if you disagree with 2 of my listed tyrannies, you do not really understand what tyranny is. You are going to need to show me where in the Constitution it is within the feds power to require that people have health insurance or that the government should be involved in it in any way and then do the same thing with social security. Liberal USC rulings do nothing to disprove tyranny but actually augment claims.