VegasPatriot
11-22-2010, 08:36 AM
This is perhaps the most important interview to date with Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes. Click on the link below to view the full article.
Oath-Keeper Stewart Rhodes on the Rise of Authoritarianism and How US Law Enforcement Can Take a Stand for Freedom (http://www.thedailybell.com/1541/Oath-Keeper-Stewart-Rhodes-on-the-Rise-of-Authoritarianism-and-How-US-Law-Enforcement-Can-Take-a-Stand-for-Freedom.html)
Sunday, November 21, 2010 – with Anthony Wile (http://www.thedailybell.com/Contributors.asp#Wile)
DAILY BELL AFTER THOUGHTS
Words kind of fail of us when it comes to this interview. (That does not happen often.) We have written in the past about how the younger generation – especially in the US – has available to it a level of free-market literacy that is vaster than that of any previous generation. The knowledge that Stewart Rhodes shows us in this interview (some of it obviously written as well as extemporaneous) is positively mind-boggling.
Compare his words to any modern "conservative" American pundit – from George Will to Patrick Buchanan – and in our estimation you will begin to see what is occurring; some sort of quantum leap. Things that took old foggies decades to figure out are common knowledge nowadays among the younger free-market crowd. Times are indeed a-changing.
This brings us to another point we often try to make – that the Internet is a process not an episode. Here at the Bell we often get feedbacks bemoaning the larger lack of awareness among many in the West over elite plans that seem frankly ... authoritarian. Yes, it is true that free-market thinkers sometimes tend to be gloomy; maybe an occupational hazard of thinking too hard about a variety of unpalatable subjects. And yet ... Here comes Stewart Rhodes, a young man who has signed up 10,000 Oath Keepers. If there are 10,000 who have signed up now, there are probably another 100,000 waiting in the wings and another 500,000 who are sympathetic if only they were aware of the message.
The Internet, like a modern-day Gutenberg press, is truly, in our view, ushering in a kind of Renaissance, a rediscovery of knowledge that was purposefully obscured during the 20th century. For nearly 100 years, the Anglo-American power elite controlled most if not all of the venues of conversation in the United States and Europe. But with the advent of the Internet, that control has mostly crumbled and millions have been exposed to free-market thinking and Misesian human action (formally or not).
We will not bother to list all that is happening, but it is almost awe-inspiring. So many dominant social themes of the power elite are under concerted attack now that it is difficult to keep track of them all. The elite counterattacks, reconfigures its fear-based promotions and tries again, but still the swelling tide of knowledge beats back the propaganda and makes proponents look increasingly foolish.
Will the Internet be censored? The elite can try. There are bills moving through the American Congress right now. There is censorship already in Europe and Britain. And yet there is more unrest – and more knowledge of the West's fundamental problems – than even a year ago. Australia censors and a Tea Party blooms. Europe censors and protests escalate. China censors and protestors throw roses at the Beijing Google sign.
Human beings are tool-using creatures and tend to organize around believable narratives. The Internet is a powerful communicative tool and it has allowed a different and more ancient – truthful – narrative to emerge. This is a kind of double-threat for the elite that has dominated the Western conversation for so long – with the intention of creating global governance. Not only is the monopoly on information shattered, the larger sociopolitical narrative is being reconfigured in ways that are inimical to authoritarianism.
Seen from this view, someone like Stewart Rhodes is almost ... (dare we say) insignificant; he is merely one more individual swept up in the larger free-thinking tide of the 21st century. But in another way he is one of the most important people in the world, a young man who has decided to take human action to support the cause of freedom; a person who is determined to be responsible for himself, while helping those around him. His organization is tremendous; his success is noteworthy; his courage is exemplary. He stands among many; and yet by himself as well – human action being both communal and individual.
Oath-Keeper Stewart Rhodes on the Rise of Authoritarianism and How US Law Enforcement Can Take a Stand for Freedom (http://www.thedailybell.com/1541/Oath-Keeper-Stewart-Rhodes-on-the-Rise-of-Authoritarianism-and-How-US-Law-Enforcement-Can-Take-a-Stand-for-Freedom.html)
Sunday, November 21, 2010 – with Anthony Wile (http://www.thedailybell.com/Contributors.asp#Wile)
DAILY BELL AFTER THOUGHTS
Words kind of fail of us when it comes to this interview. (That does not happen often.) We have written in the past about how the younger generation – especially in the US – has available to it a level of free-market literacy that is vaster than that of any previous generation. The knowledge that Stewart Rhodes shows us in this interview (some of it obviously written as well as extemporaneous) is positively mind-boggling.
Compare his words to any modern "conservative" American pundit – from George Will to Patrick Buchanan – and in our estimation you will begin to see what is occurring; some sort of quantum leap. Things that took old foggies decades to figure out are common knowledge nowadays among the younger free-market crowd. Times are indeed a-changing.
This brings us to another point we often try to make – that the Internet is a process not an episode. Here at the Bell we often get feedbacks bemoaning the larger lack of awareness among many in the West over elite plans that seem frankly ... authoritarian. Yes, it is true that free-market thinkers sometimes tend to be gloomy; maybe an occupational hazard of thinking too hard about a variety of unpalatable subjects. And yet ... Here comes Stewart Rhodes, a young man who has signed up 10,000 Oath Keepers. If there are 10,000 who have signed up now, there are probably another 100,000 waiting in the wings and another 500,000 who are sympathetic if only they were aware of the message.
The Internet, like a modern-day Gutenberg press, is truly, in our view, ushering in a kind of Renaissance, a rediscovery of knowledge that was purposefully obscured during the 20th century. For nearly 100 years, the Anglo-American power elite controlled most if not all of the venues of conversation in the United States and Europe. But with the advent of the Internet, that control has mostly crumbled and millions have been exposed to free-market thinking and Misesian human action (formally or not).
We will not bother to list all that is happening, but it is almost awe-inspiring. So many dominant social themes of the power elite are under concerted attack now that it is difficult to keep track of them all. The elite counterattacks, reconfigures its fear-based promotions and tries again, but still the swelling tide of knowledge beats back the propaganda and makes proponents look increasingly foolish.
Will the Internet be censored? The elite can try. There are bills moving through the American Congress right now. There is censorship already in Europe and Britain. And yet there is more unrest – and more knowledge of the West's fundamental problems – than even a year ago. Australia censors and a Tea Party blooms. Europe censors and protests escalate. China censors and protestors throw roses at the Beijing Google sign.
Human beings are tool-using creatures and tend to organize around believable narratives. The Internet is a powerful communicative tool and it has allowed a different and more ancient – truthful – narrative to emerge. This is a kind of double-threat for the elite that has dominated the Western conversation for so long – with the intention of creating global governance. Not only is the monopoly on information shattered, the larger sociopolitical narrative is being reconfigured in ways that are inimical to authoritarianism.
Seen from this view, someone like Stewart Rhodes is almost ... (dare we say) insignificant; he is merely one more individual swept up in the larger free-thinking tide of the 21st century. But in another way he is one of the most important people in the world, a young man who has decided to take human action to support the cause of freedom; a person who is determined to be responsible for himself, while helping those around him. His organization is tremendous; his success is noteworthy; his courage is exemplary. He stands among many; and yet by himself as well – human action being both communal and individual.