Balance and Unrelenting Opposition

The Other Side of Kim has a great post here about what's required of responsible citizens to affect change in the real world as opposed to wingnut idiocy of either the far right or the far left. It may make us feel good to vent, and we should do so, as it's our right under the First Amendment and we'd be foolish not to make good use of it...BUT as with anything else, the order of the day is balance until extreme measures become necessary and unavoidable. The socialist Democrats in charge of Congress and the mostly RINO in the White House are not my first choices by far, but have things gotten so bad yet that it's time for boiling tar, feathers, and firing squads? Not so much. That said, it is our job to keep it from getting there, to prevail by peaceful and lawful means so that we never get to a place where we have no other choice but to take up arms against our fellow citizens (or some sort of foreign invading force). We do that by challenging idiocy and delusions where we find them, advocating for the things we believe to be right, and defeating through the political process anyone of any ideolgical stripe who would take us to a place where the first two of these things are no longer options. As usual, read it all, and all emphasis is mine.

"The question of what our society would have to look like, or what rights would have to be usurped, that would signal to all of us that it would be time to press the Reset Button. ... We’re nowhere close to that, and I doubt very much that we will ever get to that point.

That said, here are a few of the signs that would be required to press the Reset Button:
--Our country is invaded, or taken over by a foreign government.
--Our elections are suspended.
--A permanent state of martial law is invoked.
--Ordinary citizens are rounded up in trucks or cattle cars.
--Newspapers, radio stations, TV stations and Internet websites are closed by government order.
--Gun ownership is universally outlawed.

Beyond those conditions, any discussion of pressing a reset button is delusional. Remember: revolution is the ultimate step, something which is undertaken with extreme reluctance, and only when all else has failed. One does not apply revolution to change a situation which is only of passing and changeable irritation; and that’s the situation we’re in now.

But as with all things, there’s a balance. I don’t see evidence of arbitrary raids on people’s homes for political reasons. I do see it as part of the stupid War On Drugs, however, and where that power has been abused, I’ve yelled at law enforcement with extreme passion. But I’m not going to make that jump from “they’re raiding drug dealers” to “...therefore they’re going to raid everyone”, even though I view the growing militarization of the police with extreme suspicion and apprehension. ...

In all matters, I believe that the human condition is a search for the most elusive of quarries: balance. I understand perfectly well that the reason that balance is so elusive is that it rests at different places for different people—and that wherever the point of balance finally comes to rest, it’s going to alienate some for being too far in this direction, and others for being too far in that direction.

It’s why I regard totalitarianism, whether on the communitarian side or on the individualism side of the spectrum, with such suspicion and contempt. Ideological purism is the refuge of the unintelligent or the intellectually lazy, because it requires so little effort. All one has to do is state the ideal, enforce it, and ignore or suppress the consequences. Ideological adherence then becomes quite easy.

It’s far more difficult to strike a balance when one is all too aware of consequences—that choice x leads inevitably to consequence y, with society sliding down a slippery slope. To over-use the analogy, therefore, one can overcome a slippery slope by first recognizing its existence, and then by putting on spiked shoes before stepping onto it. ...

The spiked shoes, therefore, have been clear from the beginning: no discussion of “settled arguments” (socialism vs capitalism, anarchy vs an ordered society, unarmed society vs armed society); no slander or ad hominem attacks on other members; and no talk of rebellion or sedition. ...

I understand the reasons for the anger and frustration. The newly-arrived socialists in Congress are pushing all our buttons, because that is what they do. What our country does not need is opposition in the same terms of invective, name-calling and threats. What we need is quiet, firm and steadfast resolve to get rid of them and their philosophy, by peaceful means.

Now, more than ever, we conservatives need to act less like the Howling Moonbats of the Left, and more like the Silent Majority. That doesn’t mean we should shut up—on the contrary: now, more than ever we need to be more vocal in our opposition to the Socialists—but what it does mean is that we need to rein in our emotions, and substitute passion and determination for anger.

Let the Marxists march in the streets with puppets, screaming that Bush = Hitler. Let the socialists in Congress try to raise taxes, institute gun control, implement loony ecological policy and advocate abject surrender and cowardly retreat in the War Against Terrorist Bastards (to name but a few).

What we need to do is raise our children to be conservative, responsible citizens with invincible conviction; overcome the creeping socialism taught in our schools and universities by homeschooling or boycott; fight against political correctness, if necessary through the courts; teach non-gun-owners to shoot; call on our Congressional representatives, even if they’re howling Lefties (perhaps especially if they’re howling Lefties), and express our opposition to any of their actions which displease us.

What we need is quiet, implacable and unrelenting opposition."