William Griggs at Pro Libertate is rapidly becoming a go-to read for me. His most recent post did more to explain the Brave New World in which we live than anything I've read prior to this.
You see, I've been using this blog to rail against the outrages of TSA, ATF, and other organs of Der Staat because I see these things occurring and want to see them exposed and (hopefully) stopped. But I've done so without fully understanding the milieu. Now I get it.
When a grandmother is molested at a checkpoint, it's standard procedure -- but woe betide the grandmother who dares put up what meager and half-hearted resistance she can. Turning traumatized geriatric women into "violent felons" displays one facet of the perverse genius of the Homeland Security State.And the light bulb glows.
You see, from the Leviathan's point of view, only those employed to make or enforce policy are really persons; the rest of us are people.
If this distinction is difficult to understand, then consider the wisdom shared in (of all things) the 1960 Jerry Lewis film Cinderfella. Early in the story, Lewis's character receives a visit from his Fairy Godfather (look, that's what he was called in the movie), played by the always delightful Ed Wynn. Cinderfella makes a remark to the effect that he's always tried to be nice to "people and persons." Asked to elaborate, Lewis's character explains that only a chosen few are sufficiently important to be considered individual persons; the rest of us are people.
As a "people", one who will never be a "person", I can safely say that we will receive no satisfaction, justice, or relief from Der Staat until it either collapses under the weight of its own hubris, or is brought down by the "people". If I were a betting man (I'm not - it's the one vice I managed to avoid in my life), I'd put all of my money on option #1. There's already more than enough hubris among the "persons" to guarantee the collapse of Leviathan. It's what will come out of the ruins and replace Leviathan that worries me.
