How
America Becomes a Police State, By ,
3/27/19.
Editor’s Note: If history has taught us anything, it’s
that those in power will do anything to stay in power. The staying power of the
“Deep State” – the loosely connected cabal of government insiders and
entrenched special interests – has been a regular topic in the Diary for years.
But where is this all headed? In
tonight’s special evening edition of the Diary, legendary speculator Doug Casey takes up
the question. As you’ll see, Doug believes a police state in America isn’t just
possible… it’s quickly approaching.
Is
a police state in the U.S. possible? Absolutely.
That’s because people are essentially
the same the world over, regardless of their culture, religion, race, or what-have-you.
A certain percentage of them are sociopaths.
There is a standard distribution of
sociopaths across time and space. It’s a function of Pareto’s Law, better known
as the 80-20 rule.
20% of the people do 80% of the
work. Another 20% are responsible for 80% of the crime. 20% of the population
always winds up with 80% of the wealth. And so forth, through all areas of
human endeavor. This observation can be represented by a bell-shaped curve – a
“standard distribution” – with a small minority at each extreme, but the large
majority in the middle.
The people who will take us to a
police state are sociopaths – criminal personalities who don’t respect the
liberty or property of others. And sociopaths gravitate towards government, and
eventually come to control it.
My view is that 80% of human beings
are basically decent, get along, go along types. 20% are what you might call
potential trouble sources, that can go either way. But then you take 20% of
that 20% and you’re dealing with the sociopaths.
When social conditions reach a
certain stage, these really bad guys come out from under their rocks and take
advantage of the situation. We’re seeing that right now in the U.S., across the
political spectrum. Just as we’ve seen in the past in hundreds of places
throughout history.
A major tipping point occurred
almost 18 years ago, on September 11, 2001, with the attacks in New York and
Washington, DC. They were disastrous. But not nearly as disastrous as the
government’s reaction to them.
Among them, the creation of the
Department of Homeland Security. Anybody who speaks German knows that a
reasonable translation of Homeland Security is Geheime Staatspolizei, which
is usually abbreviated to Gestapo.
Anybody that goes through airline
security these days should ask themselves, “Where the hell did they find these
people? Didn’t they have jobs before they went to work for this moronic
agency?”
The answer is that there are people
out there who like wearing costumes, are willing to boss, herd, interrogate,
and go through the dirty laundry of their fellow citizens. They take their jobs
seriously and you better not even look at them sideways. There’s no reason to
believe it’s going to get better as they groove into their jobs, and their
employer cements itself into place. More likely the trend will accelerate.
Is America currently a police state?
Well, let’s see. You can still get in your car and go anywhere, although
you might be stopped by the police and you might be detained if your papers
aren’t in order. Or if the officer thinks you’re not properly respectful. Or if
you have “too much” cash.
Was there any particular day that
Germany became a police state in the 1930s? I’m not sure you can put your
finger on any one particular day, even after Hitler was legally and
democratically elected.
It was a progression, with new laws,
new regulations, new taxes every day, while more fear and hysteria were worked
up among the populace. Kristallnacht didn’t occur the day
after the National Socialists took power.
It’s a case of the frog being put in
a kettle of water where the temperature is gradually raised to a boil. That’s
what’s occurring in the U.S. After 9/11, in addition to Homeland Security, we
got the Patriot Act, with, among other things, its suspension of habeas
corpus.
That means that the government can
lock anybody up for any reason and not even have to tell them why. Accuse them
of being an “enemy combatant” – a neologism that justifies anything and is
robotically and thoughtlessly accepted by Boobus americanus –
and anything is possible. Including a trip to a CIA black site in some Third
World hellhole.
This is something I thought was
settled in Western Civilization with the Magna Carta and King John. But we’re
going backwards in most areas of personal freedom. And America, of all places,
is leading the way – even while falling behind economically.
I don’t know if I can put my finger
on exactly when we’re going to go over the edge, but if I was going to guess I
would think the real catalyst is going to be the next 9/11-type event. And I
don’t doubt it’s going to happen.
How are we any different than the
Germans in the 1930s? This was one of the most civilized, best educated
countries in Europe and they fell into the abyss. I suppose we’re a bit
different. Americans are addicted to welfare, anti-depressant drugs, food, and
electronic devices. That should certainly give us a better outcome…
There’s a joke I like to tell. Let
me ask you this: Which is the gravest danger? Is it the ignorance, or is it the
apathy of the average American today? Stumped? Here’s the answer: I don’t know
and I don’t care.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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