Just before I began the job I’m in now, The Hunger Games was released in theaters. I prefer books to movies, but having just been offered a good position, and having read the first book, I went and watched it late one night. As always, the book was better, but the movie did at least do it justice. As I left the theater, a man was off to the side, until he saw me and he was excited someone who wasn’t a teen-age girl was there. He was doing a video on this movie, and how people felt. Being a history major, certified to teach, and generally a lover of the subjects in the social sciences, I mentioned the Watts riots, Rodney King, what was going on at the time, which although small and quiet, was showing signs of what was to come.
In this book/movie, the former United States had seen an uprising of the citizenry, which they quelled, obviously by overwhelming military force. This would suggest that the military chose to just follow orders, as standing against a tyrannical government is not a crime in any way. In 2012 we’d already heard the “you didn’t build that” and how “fundamentally changing the country” was blocked by the founders, from President Obama. Others in government, on both sides of the political aisle, also bemoaned that they couldn’t force this bill through, or couldn’t “just do as they want,” proving they don’t care for their oath, let along their constituency.
After the rebellion, rather than simply decreeing that the leaders be punished and all others go back to their lives, the districts were punished by being told they must give up two children between 12 and 18 years old every year, to watch all but one brutally killed. The districts, save perhaps districts 1 through 4, live very simple lives, working to fish, produce lumber, mine coal, and so on, very little of what they produce being used for them. Those who are favored of course live lavish lives, some even growing up being groomed to compete and win.
Naturally, the victors are given a very nice home, money, good food, and more, as payment for supporting those who had only recently tried to kill them. If they don’t tow the party/government line, they are shown that the government is watching and can hurt them, badly. Their families are threatened, possibly even taken or just killed. Later in the books, we see one of the victors from 12 brainwashed through brutal methods, in an attempt to kill the other, who was leading a rebellion against the government, which of course, they react to by just going out to kill all they can, in a push to demoralize the country. Ultimately, the rebels win, only to find that who they thought was going to lead them into a new and morally right future was just as corrupt, and for the two who had set the whole thing off and led the people, had to flee and live in obscurity.
So, the question is simple, could this happen in the US today for real, and sadly, the answer is actually, yes, and it’s being pushed for. The government regularly tries to pass bills that would greatly restrict our second amendment rights, calling for “assault weapons” to be banned, but then writing the bill so pistols and other items they often tell people are just fine would also be banned. They bemoan that they can’t just rule. The election of 2000 gave them a gift, an election where the popular vote did not decide the winner, allowing them to once again call for the Electoral College to “just be done away with,” which didn’t happen, thankfully. They’d watched Reagan help the people by lowering taxes and more, George HW Bush rode Reagan’s coat tails to victory only to lose to Clinton, but Gore failed to ride to victory. 2008 and 2012 saw McCain then Romney run, both of them mediocre on their best days, so of course Obama won, but 2016 saw another Electoral win without the popular vote, and it was Hillary who wasn’t declared the winner.
Naturally, the cries of “sexism” were everywhere, with “this country just voted because she’s a woman,” even if today they can’t define what a woman is. They accused Donald Trump, a man that the DNC had loved for decades because of his donations, of everything under the sun, and when nothing worked, they once again demanded they just be obeyed. 2020 saw what many know to be rampant election fraud, yet SCOTUS refused to even listen, and on 6 Jan 21, when Republicans objected to certification of the vote, something Pelosi herself did in 2000 and 2004, she called in an “insurrection,” even if we all watched police open doors and move barricades, or kill unarmed veterans through a window.
All of these things, when looked at together, show a government who firmly believes they are rulers, not public servants. Some of them inciting violence, such as Maxine Waters, with her now infamous “get in their faces, push back, let them know they’re not welcome anywhere,” which did lead to people harassing regular citizens in restaurants. A man who was so high he couldn’t stand, who was killed during arrest although coroners now say it was an overdose that the police couldn’t have prevented, sparked riots that destroyed countless businesses. When shown that the riots harmed those the rioters claimed to support, none of them cared.
Later, a riot in Kenosha saw three men, all felons, all illegally armed, chasing a 17 year old boy, throwing things at him, doing all they could to harm him, until he acted in self defense, one who lost the use of an arm even admitting he wished he’d murdered said child. Kyle would stand trial where the prosecutor tried to say refusing to speak before the trial, then testifying was wrong, or flagging the jury with a rifle (finger on the trigger while aiming in their direction,) in an attempt to demand Kyle be jailed for refusing to die.
So, the question today is WHEN not IF the government will order the military to “just obey orders” and subjugate the country. The question is how many service men and women will walk off their post when ordered to violate their oath. Who will the government then call in to aid them in this goal? And finally, what will be left after they try it, claiming it’s treason to argue with them, or to oppose the bills they lie about, or some other insane claim? I know I will not bow to a tyrant, but will stand and fight with the spirit of Patrick Henry in my chest, screaming GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH! I will echo Leonidas’ demand, COME AND TAKE THEM, when ordered to surrender my firearms. And very likely, I will be killed, and that will be reported as a “right wing terror suspect attacking police in an effort to overthrow the government” even though video will show them barging into my home and me defending myself.
At the end of all of this, the only question left is what will you do? Will you knuckle under and serve as a peasant in the new fiefdom, or will you refuse to be subjugatged?
