What you are smelling is the stench of a dying republic.
Our dying republic.
We are trapped in a political matrix designed to maintain the illusion that we are citizens of a constitutional republic.
The reality is that we are caught somewhere between a kleptocracy (a government ruled by thieves) and a government run by unscrupulous politicians, corporations and thieves, which panders to humanity's worst vices and has little regard for the rights of the American people.
For years, our government has played a game of cat and mouse with the American people, giving us enough freedom to feel free, but not enough to actually live as a free people.
In other words, we are allowed to indulge in the illusion of freedom while being stripped of the very rights intended to ensure the rule of law and hold the government accountable to upholding the U.S. Constitution.
This is a tough situation, folks.
This is no longer America, no longer a free nation with a government of the people, by the people, for the people.
Rather, this is an America where fascism, totalitarianism, and militarism coexist.
Freedom no longer means what it once did.
This is true whether we're talking about the right to criticize the government with words or actions, the right to be free from government surveillance, the right to not have one's person or property searched by government agents in warrantless searches, the right to due process, the right to be safe from militarized police invading one's home, the right to be innocent until proven guilty, and all the other rights that once strengthened our Founding Fathers' commitment to America's experiment in freedom.
Not only do we no longer have control over our bodies, our families, our property, or our lives, but the government is chipping away at what few rights we still have to speak freely and think for ourselves.
My friends, we are being made fools of.
On paper, we may be technically free.
But the reality is that we are only as free as government authorities allow us to be.
We simply believe that we live in a constitutional republic governed by fair laws made for our benefit.
The truth is, we live in a dictatorship masquerading as a democracy, where what we own, what we earn, what we say and do — our very lives — depend on the goodwill of government agencies and corporate shareholders, where profit and power always trump principle. And now, with government litigation and legislation, we are catapulted toward a new paradigm in which the dictates of petty bureaucrats take precedence over the inalienable rights of citizens.
With court decisions allowing the government to operate above the law, laws restricting our freedoms, and government misconduct that goes unpunished, we are slowly becoming accustomed to a society in which we have little control over our lives.
Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone and insightful commentator on human nature, once said, “We are raising a new people, a people who are very picky about their grains and their automobiles, but who cannot think.”
In effect, we are not only raising a new population unable to think for themselves, but we are instilling in them total trust that their government and its corporate partners will tell them everything on their behalf: what they should eat, what they should wear, how they should think, what they should believe, how much sleep they should get, who they should vote for, who they should associate with, and so on.
This is how we created the welfare state, the care state, the police state, the surveillance state, the electronic concentration camp, etc. Whatever you call it, the meaning is the same: in our quest for less individual responsibility, more security, and the elimination of burdensome obligations to each other and to future generations, we have created a society without true freedom.
Freedom, or what is left of it, is threatened from all sides.
The threats are of many kinds: political, cultural, educational, media, psychological, etc. But history shows that freedom, as a whole, cannot be taken from a people; too often it is voluntarily given up in exchange for a cheap price: safety, security, bread and circuses.
This is part of the propaganda produced by the government apparatus.
That said, the manipulation and organized violence we face today is not new. What is different is the technology used, the massive control over the masses, the coercive police tactics, and the widespread surveillance.
Systematic checks on government abuses and power grabs are lagging behind.
By “government” I don't mean the hyper-partisan bureaucracy of the two major parties, Republican and Democrat. I'm talking about the deep state — Government with a capital G — that is untouched by elections, untouched by populist movements, and beyond the reach of the law.
We are now in the unenviable position of having to restrain all three branches of government – executive, judicial and legislative – which have overstepped their bounds and become intoxicated with power.
If we continue down this path, it won't be a surprise what awaits us at the end.
So, what's the answer?
First of all, let us stop tolerating corruption, bribery, intolerance, greed, incompetence, incompetence, militarism, lawlessness, ignorance, cruelty, deceit, collusion, obesity, bureaucracy, immorality, decadence, censorship, cruelty, violence, mediocrity, and tyranny. These are the hallmarks of a thoroughly corrupt system.
Stop holding your nose to block out the stench of rotting tissue.
Stop the government and its agents from treating you like servants and slaves.
You have rights. We all have rights. This is our country. This is our government. No one can take our rights away from us unless we make it easy for them.
The opportunities for grievances to be voiced, felt and heard within your own community are great, but it will require perseverance, solidarity and a determination to find common ground with your fellow residents.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and its fictional companion, The Diary of Eric Blair, we have made it far too easy for the police state to take control.
So stop being complicit in the murder of the United States of America.
About John and Nisha Whitehead:
Constitutional lawyer and author John W. Whitehead is founder and director of the Rutherford Institute. His latest books, The Diary of Eric Blair and Battlefield America: The War on Americans, are available at www.amazon.com. Whitehead can be contacted at (email protected). Nisha Whitehead is executive director of the Rutherford Institute. Information about the Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
For over 60 years, the John Birch Society has helped patriots find common ground with their fellow citizens and work together to rebuild the United States of America. Click here to learn more.
