What I learned from the Civil War

I just spent the weekend in the 1860’s when gentlemen were gallant and tipped their hats when passing a lady; when children would offer to help a burdened passer-by carry their parcels for no greater reward than a “thank you, young man”, when a nation was torn asunder by many of the same factors that we are facing today.

I know that you believe what you were taught in school, those bastions of intolerance, indoctrination and the aggrandizement of inferiority through enforced conformity, that the bloodiest war of our history was fought over slavery or economic and cultural disparities… but you would be wrong. Granted, those issues were symptoms of the problem and helped to catalyze the conflict, but they were not the driving force behind the eruption of war. The “the causes which (impelled) them to the separation” were, in fact, quite similar to those that drove the 13 colonies to leave behind the Rule of King George and which are dividing us today. Those causes would be such things as the intolerable intrusion of government into the daily lives of its citizens, an overbearing government dictating the terms under which a citizen must conduct his/her private life and an ever expanding government taking on itself authorities well beyond those allowed by the conventions established to guide the government. (In the case of the Civil War and now, that would be the Constitution.)

Then, as now, we had a government attempting to overstep their boundaries and take on a greater authority than allowed by the Constitution. Then, it was the usurpation by the federal government of rights specifically given to the states and local governments; today it is usurpation by the federal Government of private industry and personal choice in our day to day lives. I doubt that this will erupt into a civil war, but there do seem to be some uncivil scuffles happening. They seem to have started when the voices raised against the government’s violation of the Constitution were deemed to be too loud and too numerous by that same government, who then called out the bully boys and thugs to threaten, batter and intimidate those who hold opinions in contradiction to those of their masters in the government.

This weekend I sat quietly, which was difficult for me in and of itself, and listened to a discussion by two brilliant and insightful people. One noted that the repression of opposing thoughts through thug violence and citizens spying on their neighbors were both part and parcel of the rise of totalitarian governments in Germany and the Soviet Union. The other proposed that revolution would occur in this country before we tolerated that behavior for too long. The first commenter then indicated that the essence of “rebellion”, too much citizen unrest, would be the excuse used by a government on the path of Germany or the Soviet Union to establish Martial Law. The second person indicated that she believed that this nation would then rise up in full scale rebellion once again if such a repressive action was taken. Both felt that our military would not support such an order and that would be a decisive difference between this nation and those of then Germany and the Soviet Union.

While I think that this conversation was exploring the outer fringes of possibility, it frightens me that intelligent, insightful people, people well educated in the history and the laws of this land, would even draw parallels to such places, events and behavior patterns as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

And so I am back to the Civil War, to the need to adhere to the Constitution and the requirement to remain ever vigilant and on guard against this government and any government that presumes too much authority over its citizenry, their businesses and their private lives.

But what do I know…. I’m just a Political Terrorist, Union defying, Right Wing, concealed carry permit holding Mob Member. But no worries! I’ve already turned myself in to Big Brother, so you won’t have to.