Protests and Government

I woke up in the middle of the night last night - bolt upright - upon the realization that the government should be wholly terrified of its people. Instead, we are scared of the government.

Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States.

Noah Webster, An Examination into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, 1787

Our forefathers knew it, the rest of the world understands the concept - it's nothing new at all. There are more of us, than them! Yet I have heard, countless times, about how "aggressive" our protests have become. About how oh-so-violent we have become and whining, yes whining, about some of the acts that have transpired during protests - which have somehow contributed to the further restrictions of our freedom to redress the government of our grievances. "Oh, they spray painted the steps!" "Look at the oil on the wall!"

Our government is lucky it resides in America, and not say, Kenya, or the slums of Paris, Pakistan, or Venezuela - or revolutionary France. Our government and the complainers are lucky that spray painting is the worst thing that's happened.

When the votes (for Bush) were contested in Florida, we protested and demanded a recount. When it happened in Kenya they rioted and killed every man, woman, and child they could get their hands on.

When our government passes legislation, half of our population doesn't even know about it, when they put it to public votes we stand outside with signs, or have "talks" before the election to help gain support for our side. In Venezuela they have protests that result in deadly shootouts.

When our country supports police who exercise brutality and profiling, we stand with signs that say "Stop brutality". In the poorest parts of Paris, they protest police brutality and negligence by lobbing bricks, molotov cocktails, and shooting rifles at the police they object to.

People keep complaining about the "Violence of the Black Bloc" here in the states. The kids here barely do anything other than stand around with their home made shields, completely devoid of anything that could be construed as a weapon since everyone is disarmed before entering their free speech cage. In Germany the members of Black Bloc set fires to cars, over turn buses, and throw bricks and molotov cocktails at authority figures.

In America we protest nice and easy - yet people complain about things so simple as "spray painting" of steps. Oh! The horror! They're lucky they don't have to dodge home made bombs and bricks. The people in this country are furious with the way our government is running things - yet we sit in our free speech cages, sometimes engaging in civil disobedience, but nothing more serious than that.

If this were France during the revolution, half of the government would have already met with the guillotine by now.