By: Gary D. Barnett
“I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; — but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.”
~ William Lloyd Garrison
What does it actually mean to participate in mass physical protest? What is the real use of such a collective display that is nearly always short-lived, and treated as a staged antic, instead of an everyday part of life where constantly striving to remain free is natural and right? Some or many ‘demonstrators’ tend to show up with signs, some in costume, some waving an atrocious flag as a symbol of fake ‘patriotism.’ Some are wearing masks, many laughing and enjoying the spectacle of the performance. As soon as the lights and cameras are turned off, the crowd disperses, and once again hides in the shadows of indifference and anonymity. The signs, the disguises, the hats and flags, and the crowds are at once gone, awaiting another opportunity to gain attention for a brief period, clamoring for herd recognition and crowd acceptance. This is a society steeped in make believe, in spectacle, in theatre; where people are not legitimately enraged due to totalitarian brutality, but are just seeking attention and notoriety in an effort to pretend to care about the most important aspect of life, which is their own liberty. This is of course most always just a show; a mock play begging of a master’s blessing, so as to cajole the ruling class to voluntarily lessen the severity of their tyranny; a very pathetic act of confused, cowardly, and desperate men.
It is easier to pretend to seek freedom than to actually do something of real consequence to take and sustain it. The easy way out is most always sought by the common man, especially as a collective mob, where the presumed safety of numbers is more important than any effort to gain and sustain freedom where risk is inherent. Obviously, at least concerning the masses, it is much more important to appear to be doing something worthwhile, than it is to actually fight for something so important as one’s own liberty, especially where any chance of exposure is present. If any possibility of uncertainty, social embarrassment, ostracism or rejection, or danger exists, most seek the comfort of the herd, hiding in a sea of avoidance and ignorance.
Most all protests, meaningless voting that is detrimental to any cause of freedom, writing letters to criminal politicians, begging for more draconian laws and restrictions, nationalism and state worship, and all compliance to government mandates, causes in all cases the growth and terrorism of the state to expand; just the opposite of what is ‘supposedly’ desired. These kinds of acts empower government, they never temper its evil.
Most every physical protest brings about more chaos and probable violence. Therefore more state censorship, more restrictive laws, more enforcement brutality, more financial risk and control, more tracking and tracing, and more totalitarian legislation meant to disallow future peaceful gatherings are implemented. We all have seen this happen time and time again. We have all seen the result of these inconsequential bogus protests, where permits and schedules from the very government being ‘protested’ became mandatory in order for people to speak out in public. What is so misunderstood, is the power of silence, contempt, and mass disobedience. This is a method of protest that actually makes impotent the state’s efforts to curtail dissent, because when a population of 335 million people can muster any reasonable representation of individuals to disobey and not comply, then the state loses its power to dominate. If this somewhat modest number of people, a small percentage of the whole, cannot be summoned to actively and actionably negate government, then freedom is lost.
It is imperative to look at what has and is happening, not just in this country, but around the world. Consider the January 6th fiasco in the hell-hole called Washington D.C.; a completely allowed and staged coup by government to entrap those who were gullible enough to go along with such obvious trickery. Besides the fact that one innocent woman was intentionally murdered by the state in this crisis-actor enhanced portrayal of a protest, in the end, many were thrown into prison, court cases against protest expanded, new restrictive protest laws were enacted, and definitions changed to limit protest and enhance state enforcement.
Look at the recent totalitarian legislation against protest in Canada due to another staged event allowed by the state, so as to use it to bring about ’emergency’ powers that had never once been used in that country’s history. All active protest and dissent was criminalized, just as had been planned all along, due to this so-called ‘freedom convoy.’ The financial terror alone was beyond imagination, as protestor-supported donations and private account funds were stolen, and many accounts frozen by government. After the fact, physical protest in Canada could be enforced as if a state of war were in place. This is atrocious.
What about the brutality here and all around the world concerning protests and rallies that started out peacefully, but ended with police and military enforcement involvement, all planned by the state? These turned into brutal conflicts between state forces and the people. This happened in many areas in the U.S. during ‘covid’ protests, but it was devastating in places like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and in many other areas. It should be obvious that these protests are purposely allowed to take place, just so the state can have excuses to terrorize, restrict, surveil, and monitor populations everywhere in order to continue to gain more power and control over them.
What about the other side of this type of physical protest, the hidden side that is virtually never considered or addressed by these crowds of hypocritical actors? Protest is supposed to be a way to negate, limit, or tear down the ruling class and its governments, not beg them for mercy or relief, or harm the innocent. The very hypocritical side of this is often displayed without any concern for the harmed innocent among us. When all roads are shut down, when private business activity is adversely affected, when property destruction is forthcoming, when looting and riots by protestors or government plants cause injury and death, when normal activity becomes virtually impossible due to any protest, when getting medical help is greatly curtailed due to closing off of emergency routes, and when great financial loss is evident due to the collective theatre of mob and state blockades, do any consider the destruction of freedom to the general population at large? If large groups of protestors are honestly attempting to protect freedom, why do they disregard the freedom of the innocent adversely affected by their collective gatherings?
Although I think most all large physical protests are useless, can easily become aggressive, whether by the protestors themselves or their state masters, and rarely ever bring about any lessening of tyranny, they are seen by the protesting herd as legitimate, and seen by the state as an excuse to reduce liberty for all. In fact, the normal result of this type of mob action as a rule, breeds more restriction and tyranny at every turn.
Real protest could be life-changing. Real protest could lessen immediately the power of government. Real protest could actually stop the totalitarian drive toward global control, and could lead to vastly limiting or abolishing the criminal state apparatus. It is the total disregard and negation of all government by universal disobedience, of government mandates, of restrictive criminal state laws, and large-scale disregard of the state in general, that is effective, not the madness of crowds seeking attention over single or concentrated issues, where no legitimate ability to actually stop the terrorist state is apparent. Actionable protest in order to be useful, must come from individuals en masse, not collective mobs chanting and carrying signs. Our numbers are such as to allow all tyranny to end quickly, should we act individually, and in our own self-interest, instead of hiding in the crowd.
“Indeed, freedom and the capacity for disobedience are inseparable; hence any social, political, and religious system which proclaims freedom, yet stamps out disobedience, cannot speak the truth.”
~ Erich Fromm, On Disobedience: Why Freedom Means Saying No to Power
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