#battlefield_america

Open Thread - Thurs 17 Oct 2024 - What Works?

What Works?

Like I mentioned last week while writing about Frank Church, I've been reading a book called Battlefield America: The War on the American People, by John W. Whitehead, published in 2015. It's well worth a read, although it's very, very depressing. I can't say it takes a right or a left wing slant; it gets angry at both sides. Towards the end of the book, Whitehead lists 10 basic principles that 'We, the People' can, understand, agree with, insist upon and support in our attempt to stop our country's almost finished progression to a police state, an empire. I found the principles interesting, so I thought I'd list them here.

  1. 'We must come to grips with the reality that the present system does not foster freedom.'
  2. 'Voting is practically worthless.'
  3. 'Question everything.'
  4. 'Materialism is a death knell to freedom.'
  5. 'There is little hope for true resistance if you are mindlessly connected to the electronic concentration camp.'
  6. 'An armed revolt will not work.'
  7. 'Be wise and realize there is power in numbers.'
  8. 'Act locally but think nationally'.
  9. 'Local towns, cities and states can nullify or say 'No' to federal laws that violate the rights and freedoms of the citizenry'.
  10. 'Understand what freedom is all about.'

I think we agree that we already know all these things; maybe most Americans do, whether they acknowledge it or not. So, where do we go from here?


1932: Bonus Army shacks on fire after the attack on their 'Hooverville' in the Anacostia flats (the Capitol is in the background) by the regular army under MacArthur, from Wikipedia. Bye, Bye, Hoover!