Reflections From a Murky Pond

This aptly and poetically sums up one of the fundamental, intrinsic, a profound ways that America is exceptional. It may, indeed, be the cornerstone of the truth of American Exceptionalism.

Militia Is Only a Bad Word If You’re a Tyrant

It is true that, in America, militias are by and large a good thing for the People and only a bad thing for those in the government who would be tyrants. In other countries this is not always the case – e.g., the Basij of Iran and the various “irregular” forces raised and employed by the hamula in Israel’s West Bank and Palestinian Authority zones.

This may well be the core of American Exceptionalism. We can arm and train the civilian population with confidence in their loyalty to the People, whereas in many other nations and cultures militias are an arm of tyranny and work against the people.

Tangentially, it’s also part and parcel of the reason why those who disbelieve and refute American Exceptionalism – Liberals and Progressives for the most part – fear and hate American militia groups so much.  As they cannot see Americans as being different from- or better in this manner than other peoples, they cannot believe that our militias would act differently than those of of other peoples.

Tags: 2nd Amendment | America | American Exceptionalism | Exceptionalism | Militia | Politics | Society

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 25th, 2014 at 7:12 am and is filed under Politics, Society. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

On Wednesday, August 29, 2012 at the 2012 Republican National Convention Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice took the podium and delivered a rousing speech that brought the crowd to their feet and kept them there throughout her oration.

Her focus on the incredible opportunities America presents and the extraordinary goodness of America was a stark contrast to Obama’s normal complaints about the country and its people.

It was an awesome speech and you can read a transcript of it here. One statement in it, however, stood out and still stands out in my mind, and it’s likely not the point that Ms. Rice would want anyone to focus upon as her speech was largely positive in nature.

Whenever you find yourself doubting us – just think of all the times that we have made the impossible seem inevitable in retrospect.

Ms. Rice spoke a great truth in that simple sentence. Yet, in it she has described the truly perilous exceptionalism of America. We are exceptional and we, as a unified people, have made made the impossible seem inevitable in retrospect. That can cut both ways though.

It has always seemed impossible to normal Americans that our country could sink into a entitlement state. Yet, in retrospect, it seems to have been inevitable. It has always seemed impossible to normal Americans that our country could become a semi-totalitarian nanny state. Yet, in retrospect, it seems have been inevitable. It has always seemed impossible to normal Americans that our societal morality could degenerate so far and in so many ways as it has. Yet, in retrospect, it seems to have been inevitable.

This is why America’s exceptionalism is so perilous. We as a people are so powerful and so dynamic that the seemingly impossible is made commonplace and this has fostered a complacency that may well doom us because we fail to understand that it can happen here.

Tags: 2012 Elections | America | Condoleeza Rice | Cultural Mores | Culture | Degenerates | Entropy | Ethics & Morality | Exceptionalism | Freedom | Liberty | Politics | Socialism | Society | Statism | Tyranny

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 4th, 2012 at 9:35 am and is filed under 2012 Election, Politics, Society. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Is a man and man, possessed of and by a similar nature and drives to his fellows, irrespective of his race, ethnicity, or creed? Are all peoples essential equal at a fundamental level in that they all have similar aspirations and have both base and sublime desires that resemble those of all other peoples?

Many Americans claim to believe that the answer to all these questions is yes, all men are equal.

Indeed, answer is contained within the single most quoted line from our Declaration of Independence and has been used many times as a rationale for changing our nation’s laws.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

The very wording of this declaration, combined with what we know of the Founding Fathers’ theologies and philosophies, sets forth the inherent equality of all of Man as a matter of Natural Law.

But, if this is case, one would be forced to accept the bad along with good. Whether it is merely people’s belief that all men are inherently equal or a fact of Natural Law that they are, in fact, equal in both propensity for nobility and for ignominy then one should expect roughly similar results and responses any stimulus that is applied to a group people, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, or creed.

That being the case, why do so many people in America believe that “domestic aid” programs will achieve any better results than the bulk of both private (NGO) and governmental foreign aid programs have achieved in the many decades of their existence?

Tags: America | Exceptionalism | Foreign Aid | Liberals | Money | Nationalism | Politics | Poverty | Prejudice | Socialism | Society | Subsidies | Wealth | Welfare

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 2:04 pm and is filed under Politics, Society. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.