Monday, October 15, 2007

Recognize the Tyranny

Government atrocities are difficult to watch. Black-armored, masked stormtroopers kicking in doors, stomping kittens to death, and then shooting or otherwise brutalizing families is not a pleasant sight. Not even if the family is running a meth lab, though too many times the stormtroopers have the wrong address in their crosshairs.

Watching government enforcers with automatic weapons staring down unarmed, non-violent protesters is a scene from the worst tyrannies in history, yet is played out in America anytime enough people care about an issue to show up at a protest. It makes those who care "just a bit less" stay home instead of doing their duty. The goons would rather you simply vote and then go along with the results they report to you.

When people like Ed Brown, Wayne Fincher, or Ryan Horsley get targeted for persecution, it is easy to point and say "well, if only he hadn't done _____....." instead of realizing that if the government decides you are an annoyance, it will find some excuse to destroy you. Either a new counterfeit "law" will be enacted to get you, or you will be charged with violating one of the millions already "on the books". It is easier to turn away and ignore the tyranny than to hold the enforcers (and those who are supposed to hold their leashes) accountable. Don't be a tyranny denier. Call it what it is.

Some say that violent movies have desensitized the population to horrific violence. Perhaps that is half of the problem. I think the other half is that some people can't look at violence and unpleasant things at all. They pretend that the world is Candyland. They refuse to see the atrocities no matter what, and if confronted by undeniable tyrannical acts, they will blame the person who makes them look, not the person committing the act.