Terrorists and Tyrants

Fear is a powerful thing. Many people fail to take risks because they fear failing. Despots know this and utilize fear to control others. Evil flourishes when people allow their fear to subvert their desire for liberty. Fear overwhelms our rational thought and drives us toward making choices that are contrary to our best interests. Choosing to live a life that is marinated in fear as opposed to living in liberty is somewhat like a tiger preferring the cage to the wild. You are alive, but are you truly living? People who are free dare to dance. People who are fearful scurry for hiding places. Psychologists tell us that negative reinforcement and positive reinforcement are useful for manipulating behavior, and fear clearly fits into the negative mold.

Fear of ostracism and fear of retribution or pain appear to be the most common forms of internal justification for compliant behavior. Tyrants and terrorists are fully aware of our inclinations to avoid discomfort so they capitalize on our fear. Fear is an instinctive reaction that generally leads to one of two responses: fight or flight. People who resist oppression are the fighters, and those who succumb to it are fleeing pain. Our reactions to tyranny and terror are very personal, but whole groups of people can be motivated to pursue a collective strategy by inspirational leaders. Leaders can sound the “retreat,” or they can lead the charge for liberty.

Tyranny is not necessarily the product of a single forceful individual in a position of power. It can be achieved by a bureaucracy or an overwhelming, over burdening mass of laws, rules and regulations by a collection of individuals who when standing alone would not be tyrants, but when their efforts are compounded, the result is a state of tyranny. Terrorism operates in a similar fashion. It can be a single mastermind, a group of fanatics or a gaggle of well-meaning politicians who spread fear and anxiety throughout the land. Terrified people are indecisive people, so terrorists and regulators capitalize on the people’s inability to act decisively and proactively.

We fear terrorists because they can strike at any time, any place. We fear tyrants because their strong arms of oppression will punish us for any deviation from their laws. The common element is perpetuity...constant fear. In both cases our voices for liberty are reduced to whispers for survival. Our shouts for freedom morph into whimpers of apology. While we may survive the terrorist attack or the tyrant’s control, we are, in essence, already dead. Clearly liberty has no value for zombies.

Here in the United States we have experienced an interesting phenomenon. Our leaders of our REPUBLIC have used our fear of terrorists to advance the rule of tyranny. Our desire for greater safety has led us to accept the early vestiges of enslavement. Our acquiescence to our governments’ calls for more power in order to protect us has drawn us down the path toward tyranny. True, the federal government is mandated to protect and secure our nation, but it has a greater responsibility to protect and defend our liberty. Our fear of outside threats has seemingly given the government carte blanche to run roughshod over our personal freedom. For our liberty to prevail, we must resist tyranny as forcefully as we denounce terrorism. There is no such thing as freedom from fear. The minds of people are fertile enough to imagine monsters of every type under our beds. Liberty can only survive when we reject fear as a lifestyle….and it does not matter what the source of our fear is.

The fear that is used by terrorists and tyrants springs from the same root. Sometimes fear can be a healthy thing for people because it may restrict our compulsion to act stupidly by taking unnecessary risks, but fear is more commonly manifested as paralysis. Liberty is too precious to be sacrificed on the altar of fear and indecision. We can never allow our fear of half-baked loonies to cause us to run to the momentarily safe arms of tyranny. The New Hampshire motto says it best: “Live Free or Die.” Freedom is fleeting, and death is inevitable. Why not live for liberty? It is better to live in freedom and die while pursuing a glorious purpose than it is to die slowly while bound in chains.

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Big Bang - Local view

One of my favorite bumper stickers claims that “An armed society is a polite society.” Works for me. For those of you who remember the Cold War, we had a policy of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) when the Soviet Union and the United States were the two nuclear superpowers. Although nuclear proliferation throughout the globe has, to some degree, removed the certainty of mutual destruction, the principle still endures. If you possess the ability and the will to retaliate, then those who seek to harm you will be very cautious and careful to not provoke you. Although each of the major powers had a sense of the overall capabilities of the other, there were generally some knowledge gaps regarding deployment schemes and technological upgrades. In other words, it was the unknown factors that led to a reasonable hesitancy to engage the opponent. Even when a nation had the firepower to destroy an adversary, it was aware that the opponent could, in turn, decimate it. Stalemate.


When proposed, the Second Amendment to the Constitution was deemed to be a necessary reiteration of an individual’s right to protect himself/herself. Clearly the Founders believed that an armed citizenry was a major deterrent for those in government who were inclined towards tyranny. It should be obvious that all governments drift toward tyranny when their power accumulates to the level that the citizens feel impotent and frustrated. It should also be noted that tyranny is not only the outgrowth of evil intent, but can morph from the government’s overzealous efforts to do “good.” Elitists who manipulate the levers of state power always believe that their visions for a society are superior to the competing ideals. So, given the geometric growth of our out-of-control government and its plethora of laws, rules and regulations that circumscribe and limit our freedom, then an armed citizenry is critical if freedom is to endure.

Another vital aspect of our right to bear arms is in the realm of personal protection. If a potential perpetrator suspects that a likely target may be packing, the perp may hesitate and seek greener pastures. It follows, therefore, that if ALL citizens could exercise their rights to bear arms, then opportunistic criminals would find their targets of opportunity severely curtailed. This represents the local community version of Mutually Assured Destruction. It shouldn’t require a JD in Constitutional Law to understand that many states and localities have “infringed” upon a natural right by their implementation of overly restrictive laws and ordinances that in essence disarm the populace. The McDonald v. Chicago and D.C v. Heller were helpful, …..but not definitive. Certainly two of the most toxic anti-Second Amendment cities were put in their places (somewhat), but the narrow SCOTUS margins encouraged the disarmament crowd to continue tweaking their restrictive measures in hopes of passing Court muster. The slim margins within the court were further compounded by the narrow scopes of the decisions. The likelihood of a clear MAD policy in the realm of personal protection will always be at risk as long as state and local governments seek to usurp our natural and constitutional rights. In addition, if the SCOTUS fails to unequivocally and emphatically uphold and restore our rights to bear arms, then those who wish to do harm, within and outside government, need merely to target more selectively.

It has been argued that a citizenry that can be armed would not be a deterrent against terrorists. After all the argument goes, a terrorist is committed to martyrdom, and an armed citizen can do nothing to short-circuit his (or her) fast track to paradise. My understanding of the theology underlying martyrdom is that the terrorist must destroy infidels to earn his ticket to the heavenly realm and its bevy of virgins. If the crazed zealot unsuccessfully executes the mission, then he/she simply becomes a dead spiritual warrior with no appreciable heavenly benefit. In my view an armed and observant citizenry has the capacity to preempt fast-track trips to paradise. If the alert, armed citizen is present when an individual with theologically-based murderous intent begins to implement the deadly plan, the conscientious and armed citizen can, perhaps, help the zealot to meet his maker….and enjoy eternity alone.

Health conscious people, dentists and accountants all warn us that prevention is the best cure for whatever may ail us. It follows, therefore, that when confronting crime, terrorism or an out-of-control government, then a forewarned and well armed citizenry may be our best and maybe our only cure. When one watches the news or reads the papers, one becomes aware that ALL of our natural rights as identified in the Constitution are under assault. Thoughtful citizens must understand that our rights cannot be taken or given away. Concerned citizens must exercise every available mechanism for protecting our rights. Free citizens will NOT allow our rights to be infringed or abridged.

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