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June
17
2022

The Citizenry’s Willingness to Surrender their Freedoms Risks a Potential Dissolution or Civil War
Steve McCann

Over the past two decades, far too many citizens of the United States have willingly surrendered their rights and freedoms and now they are on the cusp of being unrestorable.  This erosion and voluntary forfeiture have empowered the ruling elites/radical left.  Ominous societal conditions have been created that risk national dissolution or a civil war.

Three events in the past twenty-one years have been the primary catalysts that have accelerated and exacerbated this seemingly irreversible outcome.  The first: the reaction to the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001; the second: the election of Barack Obama; and the third: the lockdown and medical tyranny of the Chinese Coronavirus Pandemic.

After the events of September 11, 2001, Congress, with no outcry from the populace and near unanimous agreement from both political parties, passed the Patriot Act and other legislation.  These laws expanded the definition of terrorism and the government’s ability to define, at their whim, what “terrorism” is.  Further, the government was granted near unlimited power to combat whatever was defined as “terrorism.”  Within less than ten years that power was turned against the American people and new catch phrases began to be used by the ruling class: “white supremacy” and “domestic terrorism”.

A new era was spawned which allowed the government to use its newly acquired powers to spy on and intimidate innocent Americans at home and abroad.  Thus, the post-September 11, 2001 era began an accelerated erosion of these freedoms:

1. Freedom of Speech: as the definition of terrorism and the government’s power to confront it expanded, any non-violent civil disobedience can lead to a terrorist label and potential prosecution depending on the whim of the party in power. Additionally, the government can also coerce conventional and social media companies into censoring, on behalf of the party in power, speech they consider to be disinformation or sedition.
   
   
2. Equal Protection Under the Law: in direct violation of the 14thAmendment the government can and does routinely surveil Americans and can choose to, unbeknownst to those persons, place them on watch or no fly lists because of their political affiliation.
   
   
3. Freedom of Association: the government has the power to monitor and infiltrate (under the guise of fighting domestic “terrorism”) any domestic political or religious group solely on the basis of political activism. Whether that group has a been convicted of a crime in the past or not is immaterial.
   
   
4. Freedom From Unreasonable Searches and Seizures: the government can conduct searches and wiretaps without probable cause, coerce private communication companies into surrendering their users data and seize property without any initial due process.

Barack Obama, the most malevolent president in American history, greatly accelerated the process of eroding American freedoms.  Obama and his henchmen set out to deliberately fan the flames of race and identity politics in order to divide an essentially undivided citizenry.  In 2010 only13% Americans were greatly concerned or worried about the state of race relations in the country (it skyrocketed to 42% by the end of Obama’s second term).  Their goal was to foment racial animosity and riots with the objective of enhancing the power of the central government by further diminishing the rights of the people.

Obama unabashedly and falsely claimed that racism is permanently embedded in America’s DNA (i.e., systemic racism).  He rarely missed an opportunity to pour gasoline on potentially volatile occurrences even if the facts were unknown or totally fabricated.  He effectively espoused blatant racism and discrimination against the white population by promoting radical racist doctrines such as Critical Race Theory.  

It is not an overstatement to say that Obama’s treachery has been successful in convincing far too many Americans to foolishly accept the lie that this nation is irredeemable because of systemic racism therefore radical transformation of society is necessary. 

This ongoing transformation includes: censorship of what leftists define as hate speech or misinformation, the de facto elimination of the Second Amendment, the eradication of freedom of association, the nullification of equal protection under the law, and the purging of economic and religious freedom.    

The third event that hastened the loss of freedoms was the deliberate overreaction to the Chinese Coronavirus and the attendant lockdowns and medical tyranny.  Like 9/11, a crisis created new opportunities to restrict freedom in the name of protecting the people from a so-called “existential” threat.

A lone surfer was arrested on April 2, 2020 dfor violating Covid restrictions 

Freedom of speech, the right of bodily autonomy, freedom to worship or travel or associate were abrogated by political leaders using unlawful “emergency” powers.  Unconstitutional governmental mandates covering virtually all aspects of daily life and medical treatment with unproven vaccines that did not work were enforced.  With little or no push back from the citizenry, governments unnecessarily shuttered schools, forced businesses to close and to dismiss or fire employees for disobeying government mandates, and passed new coercive laws while spending trillions on their favored causes.

Far too many Americans, preconditioned to willingly surrender their rights and freedoms over the past two decades, have submissively acquiesced to this evolutionary process which has brought about a deeply unhealthy society with a dysfunctional albeit powerful government dominated by the totalitarian left.  Forces have been created that are pushing us toward dissolution or a civil war: 

1. Tribalism:  As the nation splits into implacable factions, animosity grows, making dialogue or cooperation virtually impossible.  It has become a zero-sum war wherein the dominant tribe (the ruling elites/radical left) claims they are preordained to rule, and all other tribes must, therefore, unconditionally surrender, an ultimatum that risks inciting violence and upheaval.
   
   
2. The Lack of a Shared Culture:  An increasingly sizable portion of the American populace believes this nation is not exceptional and in fact it is irredeemable.  Its founding is flawed and its history rife with atrocities that are due to the Judeo-Christian underpinning of its founding documents.  The rest of the citizenry passionately does not agree, and there is no middle ground.
   
   
3. Gun Confiscation:  The ruling elites/radical left knows that it would be a logistical impossibility to confiscate guns in the United States, but they are convinced that the time is at hand to force de facto confiscation through red flag laws, taxes, additional regulations, gun registration, and using liability lawsuits to shutter gun and ammunition manufacturers.  Confiscation by overt or devious means could of itself risk an end this republic.
   
   
4. The Federal Government is an Overbearing Leviathan:  The United States is a nation of 330 million people the size of the continent of Europe.  It cannot be unilaterally governed by a central power.  Federalism is the safety valve on the American pressure cooker as the citizens of fifty different states can, for the most part, decide for themselves how they want to live.  When people are forced to live under laws they find oppressive because a left-wing federal government has become an octopus that has inserted its tentacles into every crevice of American life, it creates discontent that grows.
   
   
5. A Lack of Societal Morality:  In their pursuit of shallow hedonism and online fame, an ever-growing number of Americans and their leaders have abandoned morality and respect for others born and unborn.  They unabashedly promote the sexual exploitation and indoctrination of children and justify any duplicitous means to achieve their ends.   As a society, Americans are increasingly becoming a soft and decadent people that will not be able to successfully confront the challenges the future will inevitably bring.  When the citizenry faces challenges larger than the nation can handle because of ideologically bound and self-absorbed politicians and a majority hedonistic populace, then this nation as presently constituted will not survive. 

Unless and until the ruling elites/radical left are bludgeoned into waking up to the stark reality facing this nation and abandon their ideologically driven authoritarian mindset, this nation will, in due course, risk either dissolution or a potential civil war.

American Thinker is a daily internet publication devoted to the thoughtful exploration of issues of importance to Americans. Contributors are accomplished in fields beyond journalism and animated to write for the general public out of concern for the complex and morally significant questions on the national agenda.

There is no limit to the topics appearing on American Thinker. National security in all its dimensions -- strategic, economic, diplomatic, and military -- is emphasized. The right to exist and the survival of the State of Israel are of great importance to us. Business, science, technology, medicine, management, and economics in their practical and ethical dimensions are also emphasized, as is the state of American culture.

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