When people think of things from which they need protection, there’s nature and there’s other people. Nature is easy enough to deal with, mentally: have shelter available, leave the snakes alone, don’t live in the path of annual hurricanes. Through division of labor, we’ve managed to thwart much of what nature throws at us.
But what about people? What are the most dangerous things in that area? Murderers and dictators and greedy capitalists often come to mind. But I think it’s a lynch mob, particularly when backed by a military. No individual stands a chance against it. And this should be the primary concern of any individual wishing to protect his/her life and freedom.
It was the primary concern of the builders of this country. The US Constitution does not protect against individual criminals, but against that mother of all lynch mobs: publicly sanctioned government. Its purpose is to strictly limit what the government can do, not what people can do. Our government is run by the governed, so when the people set out on a mad witch hunt for Communists or profanity in music or weapons of mass destruction, they do so implicitly backed by, or explicitly with, the most powerful military force and the most destructive weapons the world has ever seen.
Where does one start in protection against such a force? What the hell would I do if it one day turned against me just for writing these words?
One Comment
I think bloggers are the most dangerous things in the world.