That character who shot those teachers and children in Uvalde, Texas turned out to be only half of the story.
Apparently the police neglected their duty to stop the attack. Again, I wonder why. Is it because nobody told them to do so?
In a country founded on individual rights and responsibilities we have now devolved into a country where we depend on authority over ethics or morals. We look toward legality rather than what is morally right, the basis of that being The Golden Rule.
The welfare state is based on a philosophy of authority negating individual rights. It’s obviously wrong to steal, yet we justify it for the nobility of the end result.
The policemen who stood outside and did nothing to stop the maniac are a product of this society where authority rules over common decency. If they had not been indoctrinated into blindly following orders they would have seen the need and done anything to save an innocent life.
We have drone pilots bombing weddings, politicians keeping drugs illegal (which keeps them outside of a safer regulated market), and people who knowingly accept a mistake in their favor at the cash register and are proud of it. Where have our morals gone?
Our country has changed over the years as Jefferson predicted. Government has grown and the rights fought for in the Revolutionary War have diminished. Government and individual rights fight for the same place. One is the opposite of the other. As we see deficiencies, we seek to ameliorate them and the simple way is legislation. Legislation, like language, has to be generalized. That process leads to a loss of the concept of the individual.
As prevention becomes a more accepted way to deal with bad situations, individuals become blameless. I vividly remember the day of the Columbine shooting. I thought to myself, “They acted like the government.”
I think Eisenhower’s warning to beware of the military industrial complex has much wider meaning than just the Pentagon draining the economy. Our government’s macho attitude is infecting troubled people who then… act like the government. We are shocked!
Then the police show up and they can’t act without authoritarian approval.
Nearly every one of us has gone to school funded by coercion. We are coerced into attending school. Don’t misunderstand me to be saying our schools are evil. But a lifelong precedent is set accepting coercion as normal. We shouldn’t be surprised.
Any responses to this column can be sent as a letter to the paper or to my email address: 4selfgovernment@gmail.com. My blog is at www.alternativebyfritz.com.
