The"American Wisdom Series"

Presents
Pamphlet #623

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The Circle of Strife
by: Edgar J. Steele

It's the Circle of Life and it moves us all
Through despair and hope through faith and love
Till we find our place on the path unwinding
In the Circle, the Circle of Life.
     -- "The Circle of Life," lyrics by Tim Rice, ã Walt Disney Co., 1994

Does it matter what form government takes?  There is endless debate today,
as there has been down through the ages, as to what constitutes the
"perfect" form of government.

Western nations today unanimously tout democracy as the answer, though
America's forefathers specifically eschewed democracy in favor of a
constitutional republic.  That was then, however - this is now.

Now the debate really is about what form of democracy America has assumed,
with "by public opinion poll" being the leading contender.

Historically, theocracies were the order of the day in most countries, a
form of benevolent dictatorship.  Those theocracies have ranged from that
uneasy alliance between church and state evidenced in European empires of a
few hundred years ago to the Islamic fundamentalism at work in Iran and many
other Muslim nations today.

Dictators have been the order of the day down through history, however,
regardless of the ostensible form that any government has taken.  Dictators
have ranged from ruthless individuals (Idi Amin comes to mind) to committees
of the elite, such as those found in most communist countries, and
benevolent institutions (Popes, for example).  Dictators have ruled over
mobs (Attila), fascism (Hitler), communism (Stalin), theocracies (pick your
Pope) and democracies (Zimbabwe's Mugabi comes to mind).

My idea of a dictatorship is, "You do it this way, and I couldn't care less
what you think."  That is, to dictate, pure and simple.  I know that mine is
a simplistic approach to things.  Call it a weakness.

It probably did not escape your attention that much of what is going in
America today resembles a dictatorship, given my definition.  But, a
democracy, nonetheless.  After all, the majority got to choose its dictator.

Similarly, I view most everything else, other than pure anarchy (every
person for him or her self), as involving some sort of participation by the
people governed (democracies and Republics being prime examples, with
Britain's parliamentary approach, as practiced today, being a variation on
the Republic theme).

And, no, it is not contradictory to see participatory governments as being
dictatorial - how do you think Hitler, Mugabe and countless others assumed
power in the first place?  Say what you will, it seems that most people
quite simply want to be told what to do at every turn, with their
choicemaking reserved for the more personal things in life - mate, car,
pizza, beer, football team, etc.

The illusion of choice, as between Republican and Democrat candidates in
America today suffices, just so long as there are 47 brands of beer in the
supermarket aisles.  After all, most Americans don't even bother to vote any
more (perhaps in recognition of the lack of choice).

So, we have democracies that act like dictatorships and dictatorships that
produce greater personal freedom than any democracy around.  Does it really
matter what form government takes?  I suspect that it doesn't.

Many will disagree with my take on things, of course, but that is nothing
new.

The Circle of Strife.  I see a pattern repeating itself all through the
fabric of society, down through history.  I call it the "Circle of Strife."
And it happens everywhere, it seems, regardless of the form of government.
Simply put, the Circle of Strife says:  freedom fosters tyranny and tyranny
breeds freedom.

Regardless of a country's form of government, its citizenry is subject to
absolute tyranny or near-absolute freedom, or something in between.  And
there is a cycling between the two extremes, seemingly independent of the
form of government extant at any given time.

Only in a truly free country, as America quite nearly once was, can tyranny
be given the space to gain a foothold and grow.  Grow until, like the
noxious weed that it emulates, every bit of freedom is crowded out of
existence.  However, then the seeds of freedom left behind (memories, be
they actual or hard wired via some sort of DNA encoding) begin to sprout.
And grow.  And flourish.  And finally vanquish the tyranny that went before.
Until freedom reigns supreme all over again, creating space for tyranny once
again to gain a foothold.  And so it goes.

We create our own opposition, in other words.

And revolution does not necessarily mark a shifting of the pendulum back
along the course just traced.  The Russian revolution last century was
merely a stopover from the relative freedom under Russia's monarchy to the
nightmare tyranny of the communists that very nearly destroyed that nation.
Trading the devil you know for the one you don't is not always a good idea.

Men want to be led, for they always choose leaders, even though that choice
sometimes is in allowing someone to assume control.  Men want to be led
benignly, in their best interests.  That can happen irrespective of the form
a government might take.

In fact, an argument can be made that democracy is one of the worst forms of
government, since it always results in a form of mob rule.  Two wolves and a
lamb voting about what's for dinner, as they say.

There always will be a sizable minority in a democracy that gets tyrannized
by the majority, an everpresent fear of America's founding fathers, which is
why they established a constitutional republic, instead.  They knew about
mob psychology; how a large group of people sheds its morality and
mindlessly thinks only of its primal desires.  Lynch mobs are the classic
example.  Welfare and open borders are two of the results of mob rule, the
inevitable result when two out of a group of three find they can peacefully
take the third's wealth by merely voting it to themselves.

America truly has become a democracy.  The republican (not to be confused
with Republican, a political party that espouses socialism) safeguards have
been abandoned through time, casualties of Supreme Court lawmaking,
congressional sellout and Executive Order.

The order of the day:  voting for which dictator you want, then government
leading by following the polls, the results of which are engineered by the
controlled media in the first place.  A form of democracy.  A guided
democracy.  A dictatorship, if you will.

Make no mistake about the existence of an American dictatorship, with the
reigns of power held by those who stand in the shadows, orchestrating the
mob to flow in predetermined paths, much as Hitler used his awesome powers
of elocution to hold his mobs in thrall.

And ever-increasing tyranny, as evidenced by the machinations of John
Ashcroft's Ministry of  Homeland Oppression...er, Department of Homeland
Defense...the (anti-)Patriot Act and Bush the Second's neverending war
against the denial of the West its oil.  And the fact that America has a
higher percentage of its population behind bars than any other country in
the world.  And the formation of a federal police force by the commandeering
of each state's National Guard, together with the arming of virtually every
federal employee with a uniform.  And the ongoing disarming of private
citizens.  And the implementation of thought crimes.  And the nascent
Gestapo now forming up under the guise of the "Human Rights Task Force."
And...and...and.....

How long before the pendulum reaches its maximum travel toward tyranny in
America and begins to retrace its steps?  How long before all true freedom
is snuffed from existence, leaving only its seeds to germinate in the dark?
Must it be that, like William Wallace, we demand "Freedom" only with our
final breath?

Make no mistake.  True freedom will return to America.  What form the
government has then doesn't particularly matter, but a constitutional
republic did work once.  It's just a matter of time.  It's all a part of the
Circle of Strife.

New America.  An idea whose time has come.
 

-ed

"I didn't say it would be easy.  I just said it would be the truth."
            - Morpheus

ã Edgar J. Steele, 2002

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Write to me at Steele@PlainLawTalk.com

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