At what point does it become morally legitimate to start shooting the employees of one’s government? This is a question a bunch of notorious rural know-nothing anti-government extremists once debated…in Philadelphia in 1774. What answers did they come up with? We know… because they documented their answers. Let’s take a moment to review their answers.
now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
Shorter version: a group people can opt out of their government that purports to rule them – by force of arms – as long as the government is a tyranny and the people who take up arms can document this fact.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
Rule of thumb #1: if there are clear problems that could be solved by better laws, and the government refuses to pass these laws, the government may be a tyrrany.
Examples I would cite: persistent and institutional police brutality; persist-ant and institutional police perjury; mortgage laws aimed at buying off certain voting demographics to the benefit of legislators while creating a disaster for the taxpayers; pension and social security systems that enrich the politically connected few while leaving the younger generations to pay.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
Rule of thumb #2: if there is ample land, and productive people in the world who wish to populate the land and contribute to the American enterprise, and the government refuses them entry, the government may be a tyrrany.
Examples I would cite: The fact that the federal government purports to own around 50% or more of the land in California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Alaska, the 1920 National Origins Formula which slowed down immigration, and the 1965 Hart-Cellar Act, which left-wing wikipedians helpfully explain ass-cover thusly:
This all changed with passage of the Hart-Celler Act in 1965, a by-product of the civil rights revolution and a jewel in the crown of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society programs. The measure had not been intended to stimulate immigration from Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere in the developing world. Rather, by doing away with the racially based quota system, its authors had expected that immigrants would come from the “traditional” sending societies such as Italy, Greece, and Poland,
The result of a Great Society program was – shockingly! – that educated Westerners and First World Asians who can contribute to building a country for the 21st century were discouraged from immigration and our immigration flows were steered towards lower-education groups that make up reliable customers for welfare benefits and in turn make up reliable voting blocks for Progressive politicians.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
Rule of thumb #3: if the government is too vast, the government may be a tyrrany, and the people may be entitled to kill their “leaders”.
Example I would cite: four million federal government employees, 20 million state government employees, 26% of Americans on Medicaid, 15% on foodstamps, 8% on WIC (welfare), 4% on housing assistance, our Imperial Capitol has the lowest unemployment, the highest wealth, and the best real estate market of any area in the entire nation. the federal regulations created by unelected bureaucrats alone is 34,000 pages long and weighs more and 340 lbs.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
Rule of thumb #4: if the government keeps a standing army, the government may be a tyrrany, and the people may be entitled to kill their “leaders”.
Example I would cite:
We have had a standing army of more than a million men since the end of World War II. We have troops in more than 150 countries. We have been almost continuously at war for over a century.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
Rule of thumb #5a: if the chief executive launches wars with out the consent of the elected representatives of the people, the government may be a tyrrany, and the people may be entitled to kill their “leaders”.
rule of thumb #5b: if elected representatives of the people do not protest illegal wars or impeach the executive, the government may be a tyrrany, and the people may be entitled to kill their “leaders”.
Example I would cite: Our Commanders in chief launch new wars in Libya, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia and other countries without even consulting with Congress.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
rule of thumb #6: if government enforces foreign laws, the government may be a tyrrany, and the people may be entitled to kill their “leaders”.
Examples I would cite: the ongoing debate in our Supreme Court over using foreign laws, our government raiding guitar manufacturers for violations of foreign laws that foreign sovereigns do not believe were violated.
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent
rule of thumb #7: if government cuts off trade or passes illegitimate taxes, the government may be a tyrrany, and the people may be entitled to kill their “leaders”.
Examples I would cite: tariffs on all sorts of goods that politically connected people produce at prices far over world standard prices. Sugar. Low quality labor.
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
rule of thumb #8: if government enforces laws without trials, the government may be a tyrrany, and the people may be entitled to kill their “leaders”.
Examples I would cite: Police routinely refuse to accept complaints against other officers and threaten to arrest people for doing so, government routinely levies regulatory penalties without recourse of courts.
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
Rule of thumb #9: if government kills conspires to torture or kill its own citizens, the government may be a tyrrany, and the people may be entitled to kill their “leaders”.
Examples I would cite: A Canadian passing through JFK airport when he was seized and deported – not to Canada – but to allies in Syria for the purpose of torturing fake confessions out of him. He was tortured for a year. Or President Obama’s asserted right to convene death panels and use robots to kill American citizens.
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
Rule of thumb #10: if government unilaterally abolishes long-held rights, the government may be a tyrrany, and the people may be entitled to kill their “leaders”.
Examples I would cite: The attempted court packing by FDR that intimidated justices into bowing to executive will and turning the nation into a rule of man not a rule of law, thus leading directly to the court-ordered end to the Common Law right to contract.
I know I’m a bit extreme, but this act court packing alone was the most momentous thing that has ever happened to the United States, far more momentous than, say, the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
The expansive beyond all sanity reading of the commerce clause of the US Constitution that has given the federal government entirely unprecedented powers and stolen from both individuals and state governments huge swaths of authority.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
Rule of thumb #11: if government destroys or steals vast amounts of wealth, the government may be a tyrrany, and the people may be entitled to kill their “leaders”.
Examples I would cite: The US imprisons a higher percentage of its population than any other western nation and 86% of federal prisoners are in for victimless crimes.
The US government puts the value of a human life at around $7 million. The ISS, to name merely one small boon-doggle among many, cost 150 billion dollars…which is to say that the complete lifetime values of 21,428 people were destroyed in the course of building one small glittering folly. If we assume that merely 1/3 of the US government budget is wasteful or stupid (a very low number, I suggest), then 33% of $3.796 trillion is $1,252,680,000,000 in wasted money…which is the equivalent of 178,954 human lives of value being snuffed out. Not for the total government budget…just for the conservative estimate of the 1/3 that’s wasted. If that’s not “plundering our seas, ravaging our Coasts, burning our towns, and destroying the lives of our people” I don’t know what is.
Conclusion: on 11 out of 11 metrics, the US federal government is a murderous evil tyranny. Not according to me, mind you, but according to the standards set by John Hancock, Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry, Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery, Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott, William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross, George Read, Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean, Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton, William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., John Jacob, Arthur Middleton, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton.
If they were alive today, I suspect that they would give one last warning, then start shooting the mother-fucking bastards.
Now, let it be clear. I am not saying that we should rise up against our overlords.
I’m not saying it, because I’m a loyal citizen of the Empire.
…and also because I don’t want to be disappeared in the middle of the night and flown to Syria, to be tortured for a year then executed by drone.
