The fundamental issue underlying the necessity of free speech is the inherent and unwavering value of Truth.
Truth is not always self-evident. There are many interpretations of a collection of facts that can steer a person or group farther from or closer to base Truth. Statistics and data analysis reveal this to scientists every day. Members of all political ideologies bend data to their biases at every turn.
What brings people closer to Truth is discourse. The exchange of ideas between open-minded but passionate individuals is the best way to whittle down perception to uncover base Truth.
There is no substitute for it.
Open-mindedness is key to this. Discourse cannot succeed in its mission without this critical factor. Those involved in discourse must be willing to be contradicted so that their misconceptions can be remedied.
Passion is equally important. If one is not dedicated to their point-of-view, perhaps one marred by a slight variance from Truth, they may succumb to a more-incorrect, but more attractive, theory, replacing one misinterpretation with another, and thereby carrying them farther from their goal.
One (or a group) who is passionately dedicated to their perception, but also willing to concede when another interpretation holds merit, is destined to find, if not the full base Truth, then something closer to it than was known before them.
This search, the quest for Truth, is at the core of humanity. It is a driving factor in all that we, as humans, do. It is, in my estimation, one of the reasons we exist. When we find Truth, as a Race, something will happen. And it will be Earth shattering.
But we can’t get there if we limit the free exchange of ideas. Even, and especially, ideas that we find repugnant and/or vile. Truly evil ideas should be given their space. Debate them vehemently and expose them for what they are. If we do anything less, they will fester and grow, drawing people secretly in and taking root.
Bad ideas cannot grow in the light. They may not die completely, but they will not prosper. The light put upon them by debate and prudence will show all who will listen in earnest that they are not worth credence. There will always be those who would prefer to join with poorly-conceived hateful doctrine. There is nothing to be done for them. There is no debate or oppression that will stop them, and they are certainly not worth giving up something so precious as the pursuit of Truth in futile attempts to keep them at bay.
We can only fight these by ensuring they are outnumbered by well-informed individuals who base their lives in Truth.
The only way to do this is to not only fight against the curtailing of Free Speech, but by actively engaging in the exercise thereof.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Second Amendment to the Constitution of The United States of America
It doesn’t take much time at all outside of my socio-political bubble for me to realize that the majority of Americans don’t understand why firearm ownership is so important to those of us who have them. Why the Second Amendment to the Constitution is one of my absolutely fundamental political topics. I’m basically a single-issue voter. Some people are Pro-Life. Some people are Pro-Choice.
I’m Pro-Gun.
To many people this seems like a radical stance. How can an educated and otherwise seemingly intelligent person have such an extreme view? I figure if you’re reading this, it means one of three things: 1) You already agree with me on guns and you want to reaffirm your opinions; 2) You’re waiting for me to say something radical so you can dismiss my arguments and reaffirm your opinions; 3) You’re open minded and actually interested in why a person would consider the Second Amendment to be of the utmost importance to modern Americans.
I’m going to speak to the third group. Everyone else, feel free to tag along with me, but I’m going to pretend like you don’t exist.
The most basic and fundamental reason I can give for being a “gun guy” is very simple: Freedom. Owning, carrying, and training with a firearm keeps me Free. Freedom comes in many varieties and flavors, and a gun (or many many guns and lots of ammunition)–and the right training–help safeguard every one of them: Freedom from fear of bodily harm from an ill-intentioned criminal; Freedom to secure my own food if the need arises; Freedom from oppression in an extreme case of historical redundancy.
To address the title of this Ramble: They aren’t “just guns” to me because they literally represent my ability to keep Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. If you’re anti-gun, you’re anti-my-Life.
If you need more reasons than that, I’ve got plenty of Rambling to do on this one.
You Ever Wonder Why It’s Amendment Number Two?
My first argument for the importance of the Second Amendment is fairly simple. There were ten amendments to the Constitution immediately gathered and ratified by the states of the newly-formed Union. These became known as the Bill of Rights. Now, being a group of rather wise, worldly, and organized folks, it would make sense that the founding fathers would endeavor to include the most prescient and pressing Rights first and get them front-loaded so they would be seen as priority.
Therefore, we can say that the Right to practice whatever religion you wanted to was extremely important to them. Also, the Right to speak your mind without fear of the government silencing you. The Right to assemble and request redress of grievances. These were paramount to them because they saw these as the best means by which they could guarantee the free flow of ideas that would help the People to improve their newly-established nation. They were also strong motivators for the war of independence they had just finished fighting.
So, upon figuring out how to word the First Amendment, guaranteeing the absolute most important Rights of the citizenry, what did they tackle next?
Arms.
The Inalienable Right of the People to keep and bear Arms was so crucial to maintaining the stability and freedom of the population–in fact, the security of the free State–that it was the second thing they voted on as a newly-formed government.
That seems like a big deal to me. Maybe like the second biggest deal.
But Muh Mulisha
One of the biggest talking points brought up by proponents of strict gun control laws is the mention of the Militia. It’s been said that a Militia must be an organized military force, and that in the modern world that means the US military. This is supported by the idea that any other “militia” is outlawed in each of the 50 states. They are considered private paramilitary organizations, and are banned.
I ask who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers.
George Mason, Address to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 4, 1788
Let’s go back to the start. In order to understand how to best interpret a governing document from another era in modern times, I posit that we have to first understand the intent of each mandate. Reading through the Federalist Papers, the Anti-Federalist Papers, and other musings of the founding fathers, it seems somewhat obvious that the Bill of Rights was intended to leash the federal government: to limit its ability to muzzle the populace. I believe that the members of that first Congress had contingencies in mind when they crafted the specific limitations on the government that each Amendment represents. In other words: “What were they thinking when they wrote this? What were they thinking when they voted on this? What were trying to keep the government from doing?”
From what I’ve read of the events surrounding the founding of our country from the likes of Madison, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Adams, etc. I believe that their reasons for arming the Militia were two-fold: 1) They needed to be able to raise an army at a moment’s notice against any country wanting the test the fledgling nation; 2) They were inherently distrustful of any organized federal government, and wanted the people to be armed against tyranny. This mindset can be inferred from the series of checks and balances they built into the framework of their new government, combined with the rigid protections they placed against the new government for the populace. It would be understandable given that they’d just been under a regime that had pressed them to the point of rebellion and used exactly the tactics they were barring against to try and keep then in line.
The only way they were able to fight against the crown was because they were natively armed. They wouldn’t have been able to mount an offense against their oppressors were it not for the number of privately-held arms among the citizenry. So in their minds, the best way to keep the people prepared against a tyrannical state or invading outside force, was to make sure the People could fight from every nook and cranny. If a threat, foreign or domestic, wanted to steamroll the citizens of the United States, they would have to bleed for every inch.
But Things Are Different Now!
No, they’re really not. The only real difference between 1776 and 2020 is that we’re softer and have the internet. It only seems different to you because we’ve been a powerhouse since we dropped a couple of atomic bombs on an island nation in the Pacific, and we’ve enjoyed something akin to domestic peace ever since. Sure we’ve been in constant “police actions” but those have been somewhere else–abstract ideas of war to those not fighting in them. Things easily put out of mind. The fight has always been somewhere else, not at our front door.
Soft times.
Outside of a few acts of terror, there have been no real attacks on our soil, no armies knocking on our gates, and no serious internal threats to national security. We haven’t known a real threat to our way of life. This gives many people a sense of security; they believe they are going to be safe no matter what. They’ve forgotten the world is full of predators.
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.
Don’t let yourself be fooled into thinking that just because we’ve been on top that we will always be on top. We have enemies in the world, and they would love nothing more than to see us knocked off our pedestal and onto our ass. I was a Boy Scout. I didn’t make Eagle or anything, but I took many of the lessons from my time in the troop to heart. To wit: “Be Prepared.”
You Don’t Stand A Snowball’s Chance in Hell Against the US Military
That is a pretty accurate statement. I don’t think that I, or some coalition of a significant number of Americans, stand much of a chance of defeating the American military in a war. The government has done a pretty good job of making sure of that by keeping citizens from owning the same level of weaponry that they have, not to mention the proliferation of things like drones, recon aircraft, tanks, and hellfire missiles.
I’ll mention in passing that the North Vietnamese made a pretty good showing back in the 60’s and 70’s, and the Islamists of the last 20 years have given us way more headache than anyone anticipated (the Soviets before that, too). “Hearts and minds.” The only reason any revolt of the last few millennia has had even moderate success was because the people were armed.
An armed individual is a citizen, an unarmed one is a subject.
But the Police!
There are so many ways to approach this one. I’ll see what I can do to be brief.
With everything going on in the “defund the police” world, I can’t even believe that someone would seriously still pull this one out of their pocket. The level of doublethink required is almost laughable, but, that’s where we’re at today. If you can’t trust the cops, then you can’t use them as an argument about why I don’t need them around. Not being able to trust the police is all the more reason to be able to protect yourself.
Then, even if you believe you can trust them, there’s the simple fact that the police can’t be everywhere at all times. They are overworked, overburdened, and often just too damn slow to get there in time to save anyone from anything. There’s a saying among the 2A community that goes something like:
When seconds count, the police are just minutes away.
So, when you’re staring down the barrel of some bad guy’s illegally-acquired M4 or AK-47 or even their little .380 pea shooter, and you’re wondering if you’re going to survive the next ten seconds, you go ahead and let me know how safe you feel knowing that the police are just a few blocks away with their radar guns pulled on the guy doing 5 over on the frontage road to the highway, licking their chops at the thought of meeting that traffic quota.
This next point is the real doozy that most people just aren’t aware of, so I’m going to give it its own little standalone here:
The Police Have No Duty to Protect You!
Supreme Court of the United States, Warren v District of Columbia and DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services
You can read more about that from people that know more about law than I do, but basically, there have been a number of SCOTUS cases that have upheld the established precedent that the police don’t have to do that whole “protect” part of “protect and serve.” Just jump over the wikipedia page for the Warren case, and scroll down to the “See also” section.
I carry a gun everywhere I go because I can’t rely on anyone else to protect me. The highest court in the land has said that it’s my job to protect me, and I plan on taking that job damned serious.
You Don’t Need an AR-15
I’ll address this one last because it’s basically a throw away argument. As such, I’ll give it a throw away answer: It’s not called the Bill of Needs, it’s called the Bill of Rights.
I have the Right to keep and bear Arms. As such, nobody has the power to deny me that Right. So fuck “Need.” I don’t have to prove to you that I need anything. The Bill of Rights asserts that I have an Inalienable Right by birth to keep and bear Arms as a de facto member of the disorganized Militia charged with securing the free state. That said… You’re God damn right I need an AR-15. Have you seen the riots happening lately? Have you ever tried to defend yourself against a dozen or more people trying to surround and murder you or burn down your fucking home?
I need an AR-15 and more, because there are people out there who will use their own number (not to mention illegal weapons, because don’t forget there are CRIMINALS out there who don’t give a shit about the legalities of the firearms they’re carrying) to kill me and take whatever I have.
I assert that as a citizen, as opposed to a subject, of the United States of America, we are all charged with guaranteeing our own safety, security, and Freedom. That’s what the Second Amendment is really all about. In order to ensure that we can live up to that responsibility, the founding fathers insisted that our Rights to Arms be preserved and upheld against any infringement from authoritarian power. If you don’t believe that, then I charge that you are simply in denial–denial of the basic fact of nature that at the end of the day, in the dark of night, when you are alone and confronted with a Wolf, there is no one responsible for your own safekeeping but yourself.
I accept that there are Wolves. I am prepared for them.
Early voting started this week in Texas! Get your ass out there and cast your ballot for whichever train wreck of a human you think will keep us all afloat the longest!
If you take nothing else from my Rambles, please, please, please remember these next couple of sentences. Nothing in the Constitution or Bill of Rights of the United States of America gives its citizens anything. Those documents acknowledge that humans are born with certain Inalienable Rights, and outline a series of restrictions against government to protect those Rights from being stolen away. To emphasize: the Bill of Rights protects rights already belonging to you it doesn’t give you rights through benevolence.
Winston Churchill once said that one should never let a good crisis go to waste. As a politician and leader, it was his prerogative to make the most of any given situation–to turn public outcry, outrage, or fear into a lever to pry more money, power, or influence from the populace. This is not a partisan statement. All portions of the political spectrum are guilty of this, and it has led to the downfall of pretty much every powerful government in history. Eventually the leadership takes and takes until the people refuse to give anymore.
Then war happens.
Historically, there have been many nations where the power was taken from the people by force of arms. There have been a few much more sinister governments who took advantage of confusion, fear, and anger to convince the populace that their Inalienable Rights were too dangerous, and should be forfeited for the greater good. In effect, the people voluntarily gave up their base Freedoms for a momentary sense of security–a deal with the devil.
Never give away a Freedom during times of war that you will miss during times of peace
You, me, our parents, and our grandparents have been the currency of a similar barter for nearly a century now. Since the early twentieth century (and probably before, but I consider the NFA of 1934 to be the first big offender), we have allowed the government of the United States to convince us that our guaranteed Liberties are just too dangerous. So they trimmed them here and there in the name of keeping us safe from ourselves. One of the largest and most sweeping infringements on our rights of the last 100 years has to be the Patriot Act.
The Patriot Act is the sort of draconian legislation that would have made the founding fathers start another revolution. It basically gives the government carte blanche to suspend a citizen’s Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendment rights, if they decide that you might be a terrorist. That’s absolutely nuts, but we were so petrified of a bearded dude with a suicide vest that we allowed Big Brother to trample on our Inalienable Rights in exchange for a promise of safety.
And this happening in a country that revolted over some fucking tea.
This is all to say that we must be vigilant. An organized, civil, and Free society isn’t the sort of thing that just happens. It takes a lot of people making hard decisions. It takes risk. It takes sacrifice. Sometimes personal freedoms mean that you have to deal with idiots doing dumb things, dangerous things, or things that just don’t make any sense. But that’s part of the package. And it’s abso-fucking-lutely worth it.
Never give away a Freedom during times of war that you will miss during times of peace, because it’s not like the powers-that-be are going to relinquish it back to you when the threat has gone. They will hold that action as precedent and use it again and again until eventually it is the new normal. And then the only way you’re buying it back is with blood.
I’m afraid we’re already too far gone in the modern age. “Shall not be infringed” has been trampled into obsolescence. There are no more Self Evident Truths. When the government can tell you that you have to shutter your lawful business or that you can’t take your children to the park or that you don’t have the capacity to choose your acceptable level of risk, then we’ve lost what it means to be American. American used to mean Free to brave the wilds and push against the status quo. Now we must stay indoors, wear masks, and fear hugging our neighbors.
I’m not willing to cede these basic rights to anyone. You shouldn’t be either. I hope, deeply, that there will be legal precedents set with the SCOTUS that strike down executive orders from governors and mayors, if for no other reason than to say that the executive does not have the power to levy these types of mandates, even in a time of “crisis.”
Remember how I started this little piece. Are you willing to be forced to shutter yourself in when there isn’t a virus being spread around? Are you willing to be told you have to close your business, because your governor or mayor or the president said so? If your answer is yes, then I charge that you aren’t worthy of the protections afforded to you under the Amendments to the Constitution. If your answer, like mine, is a resounding “Go fuck yourself,” then I think we can be friends, and I’d be happy to fight beside you when they come to shut us down.
Martin Hodo 