The Second Amendment reset button

Kim du Toit says, “I’m starting to feel just like I used to feel back in South Africa.” and says he will stop blogging until further notice.  Og wonders if it’s time to press the reset button (see this also).  And Kevin at Smallest Minority has similar opinions about our current political situation.  My blogging about gun rights resulted in me getting fired (PNNL refused to say exactly why but examination of my web logs indicates that was a big component).  So is it time for the villains to acquire acute cases of “lead poisoning”?  Francis at Eternity Road says no.  If you haven’t read it yet then read my essay on this topic from (I think) 1997.  Basically I’m on the no side as well.

That does not mean that I think one should just “take it”.  In fact I am of the opinion you should never just “take it”.  You must always make the enemies of freedom pay a price for their transgressions or you embolden them.  When Hitler took Poland without consequences the stage was set for further evil to occur.  That doesn’t mean you need to fight your battles immediately or on their turf.  The Russian took a terrible initial blow from Germany but then defeated the aggression by using the harsh Russian winters to their advantage.  As one of the comments to Og’s post explains, use cunning.  And we have lots of legal means at our disposal to inflict damage on our enemies.

Many years ago Symantec and I had a disagreement about a contract.  According to their filings with the SEC a company they just bought out (Zortech) owed me between $20K and $50K.  I requested an audit as per the terms of my contract.  They said, literally, “It’s too much work.  We refuse.  Go ahead and sue.  You cannot win because we will drag out in court ‘forever’.”  My lawyer said, “It will cost you a minimum of $100K to see this through to the end with no guarantees that even if you do win you will get attorneys fees awarded.  Think long and hard before going down that path.”  Of course I didn’t go down that path.  But I didn’t let it stand either.  In the end I legally (barely) helped (they made lots of enemies) inflict about $30 MILLION in damages on them by doing battle on turf (in time and space) of my chosing.  I had sources inside Symantec that said discussions went to the ‘highest level’ about what to do about me and they did nothing because any action they would have taken would have increased their losses.  I paid a price for fighting that battle but they paid a much, much, heavier price than if they had honored the contract.

The racist laws of the South were overcome primarily via non-violent actions.  The British were thrown out of India through non-violent actions. Compare our present situation to the situations of those people!  What is our status compared to what theirs was?  And some people think it’s time to start shooting?  If you think so then you are someone only has a hammer in you toolbox and thinks every problem to be solved is a nail.  Think a little smarter.  You are much smarter than a sucide bomber so don’t act like one.  And especially remember these words from Abby Hoffman, “The first duty of a revolutionary is to get away with it.”

Share

4 thoughts on “The Second Amendment reset button

  1. Sure, violence is never the only answer. Sure, I’d rather use any “normal” means to resolve issues. I do the same whenever possible, and I prefer that. It just seems to me that people will be saying “use other methods” until way after our first and second amendment rights are long gone. I hear a lot of “if they ever cross THIS line, then I’ll really do something”. Then it’s another line. Then another. We’re backing up to a cliff drawing lines in the sand. When we draw that last line, when there are no more lines to be drawn, will we wish we’d drawn that line years earlier? Sure, nonviolence has worked, when the conditions were right. India and the south were dirt poor, they had no other resources to use, but nonviolence. the nonviolent were also murdered in huge numbers to make their point. SHould we throw our very bodies at the problem here? assaults have taken place on the first, second, and fifth amendment.

    I don’t disagree with you, amigo, but when the problem is a nail, you sometimes have to go get a hammer.

  2. Think about who are the ‘nails’ that you are going to use the ‘hammer’ on. Do you believe that an attack on them will be any more effective than throwing “your body on the problem”? And what will be the response to that type of attack? Will it push things in the proper direction? We need to think at least two or three moves ahead. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the problem and talking to others about it. Many of the results are not things I talk about in public or even in encrypted email. If we get a chance to meet face-to-face I’ll talk more.

  3. I understand, I appreciate the sentiment, and I would like to meet you in person as well.

    No, I don’t know the answers to ANY of those questions. And I don’t know anyone who definitively does. The answers I’ve been hearing, suck. I’d dearly love to hear your suggestions. I live in Northwest Indiana. I intend to be at Boomershoot 06 if I can.

    Thanks for entertaining my blather.

  4. It is often too easy to lose perspective when you are in the middle of a ‘fight’. Kim’s list of recent abuses against our freedoms is a depressing one, when taken by itself. But we (speaking as a member of the ‘2nd amendment, strict-interpretation of the Constitution crowd’) need to look at where we are at.

    I don’t have time to write up an extensive list, but take concealed carry as one example. We have had huge victories over the last 20 years. I can now carry in all my interesting neighboring states, and if I went to the trouble to get a non-resident Florida permit I could carry in more.

    should I need a permit? No. but the current situation is a hell of alot better than it has been in the past. Look at Alaska! Who would have thought we’d have 2 states that apply the 2nd Amendment as it was written.

    Giving up now belittles the hard work done by those before us. We need to continue to press for more freedom, not give up or move ‘somewhere else’.

    And talk of armed resistence does noone any good. We are nowhere near the need for anything like that, except in isolated cases of government abuse (ie. Ruby Ridge).

    bcl

Comments are closed.