"While I have a lot of respect for Ron Paul, the main thing he accomplished was to demonstrate that no amount of work, money or enthusiasm is going to put someone into power that the puppet-masters don't want there.  "

Toss in Kucinich and Gravel too.  Their main benefit was educational.  It is a whole lot clearer to a lot of people that the system ain't broke, it is working exactly as planned.  Add the collapse of people's wealth immediately after the election as predicted by Dr. Paul and  the education spreads and is reinforced. 

Now we are in the lull.  We are watching as the new president expands the policies of the old two fold in under six months.  The lid is chattering on the caldron.  Will the population boil over finally? 

I think they need another collapse of the dollar to seal the deal. Until then resistance is as long term useful as the fellow who wrapped steel plate around his tractor and proceeded to decimate city hall and several councilmen's homes.  The fool then took his own life rather than face the applause.  But he accomplished little in the way of resistance.  And is largely forgotten.

A very brave column.  And a wise one, too.

Thank you!

Powell says now we are in the lull. I'm not convinced atall that we needed be so, but it's important to keep perspective: the movement, like the political mood in America, goes through it's phases and shifts.

Larkin's position is uncompromising. He's one of the few to stand serious jail time for his beliefs. But like Larkin, I have sat in the conference rooms where patriot speakers were saying "will you take it anymore" and hearing a thunderous "no" and will you pay taxes anymore?" and the thunderous "no" and are you gonna go out of here and stand for your rights?" and the thunderous "yes" in response.

I don't know what Larkin and other direct-confrontation activists think when they saw/heard this or ditto when they see/hear this but I know almost every single one of these voices is gonna go home and not make a peep, not so much as squeek a fart out of order on their income tax return. Otherwise there would be tens of thousands of us in jail. Right now.

My response to Larking personally is that it's every man's decision how far, how much and when. This is almost a personal decision on the level of taking an oath, something sacred between a man and God. The implications are most dire. A man has much to consider. Has he a family or does he want one? And what does it mean to fight and at what level?

We have seen that we can fight at many levels. There are indeed those who have given their lives. Rosa Parks refused to take a seat on a bus.

I would return to Larkin and agree to watch what you say because one day your money, or lack of it, is gonna be where your mouth is.

Take it from a poor satirist. If I keep up that way I'm going my teeth ain't gonna be where my mouth is but at least I know the risks.

Larkin addresses the apparrent  problem well.  However, to paraphrase Sun Tzu, if you do not understand the problem then you are toast.

I think, and I could be wrong, that the problem is hard wired into us because evolution made us authoritarian in nature.  And by that I mean obedient to authority.   Please, if you have the time to watch his video and speech, take about the same amount to go here

http://factotum666.livejournal.com/829.html#cutid1

and add your comments.  If possible, back them up with evidence.

Thank you

“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero

 

I do think that, to a large extent, obedience to authority is a residual animal instinct, "hard-wired" into us. However, considering the constant, intentional authoritarian indoctrination that the control freaks engage in, and the fact that lots of us still manage to escape the slave mindset, I don't think our DNA dooms us to forever be slaves. The question is, when will our (supposedly) rational minds outrank our primitive impulses? It happens in some (like the readers of FreedomsPhoenix) a lot earlier than it does in others (like Obama supporters).