Thursday, July 30, 2020

Domestic Kidnappings and What Can Be Done About Them

These are strange and dangerous days here in the United States.  Strange happenings that, if you are paying attention, should send chills down your spine.  On top of social injustice, people confusing public health with personal freedom, and economic woes – there are now federally authorized kidnappings happening right now within the United States.   

Business Insider, reported this week, “A former Border Patrol agent describes the special federal unit deployed in Portland as one of 'the most violent and racist in all law enforcement'”  The article by Oma Seddiq, can be found right here: https://www.businessinsider.com/former-border-patrol-agent-describes-unit-portland-violent-and-racist-2020-7.  Jenn Budd is the former Border Patrol agent.  She describes the Bortac (Border Patrol Tactical Unit) as, “elite federal unit deployed by the Trump administration to quell protests in Portland, Oregon, as one of the "the most violent and racist in all law enforcement."”  She goes on to describe them further, "They don't exist within the realm of civilian law enforcement. They view people they encounter in the military sense as enemy combatants, meaning they have virtually no rights."

The trick is, these are American citizens and not enemy combatants, meaning they have rights.  Trump has authorized this ‘elite federal unit’ on the citizenry of Portland, Oregon and on these United States. 

“But these are lawless protesters!”, you may have grown fond of typing or screaming. 

One could just as well say that these are citizens who are using their First Amendment rights to assemble and petition the government for change – in this case, the Black Lives Matter movement.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying rioting is a right, but I am saying that peaceful protest is.  But, as Juvenal the Roman poet said, “Who will guard the guards themselves?”  It can be hard to hold those in power accountable.  These are soldiers who have been used as muscle to threaten, intimidate, and kidnap American citizens.  Stomping over the First Amendment betrays the oath that they took in becoming soldiers in the first place – remember, that oath to defend the Constitution?  These presidentially authorized kidnappings and federally authorized terrorist actions, are by definition and scope, completely un-American. 

It is disconcerting.  Here in the United States, if you exercise your right to peaceful protest, you can get carted off by a goon-squad that is all too happy to be abusing their power.  The oppression is real, and it is here.  It is the natural progression of tyranny.  Trying to control and manipulate the news, trying to block publications, making people disappear to silence them – these are all hallmarks of a totalitarian regime.  It is only a matter of time before things get worse.  Perhaps when they get to the writers and the bloggers, you’ll see people like me disappear too?  There is historical precedence.   

Disturbing, to say the least.  The brutality of despotism here in the United States is something that keeps me awake at night.  Mainly due to the fact that for my entire life as an American citizen – 51 years, mind you, I have been taught to believe otherwise.  We all were.  Brutality, authoritarianism, tyranny were things that we fought and not practiced or stood up for.  It is a hopeless situation we find ourselves in.  But then I remember, Charlie Chaplin and his final speech from the 1940 film, “The Great Dictator”, and again, I have hope.  You can see that speech here: https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/films/7-The-Great-Dictator/articles/29-The-Final-Speech-from-The-Great-Dictator- and here... 

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost….

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. …..

Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!

In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” - not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power - the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Then - in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfil that promise. They never will!

Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

Thank you, Mr. Chaplin.

Hope in a bottle, the vintage label reads 1940.  I read this speech and, once more, I have hope.  Hope that we can rise above the quagmire that the last four years have brought us.  Hope that, one day, we remember the people we are supposed to be.  Hope that there is a future for the United States of America and that we won’t collapse from the decay of corruption, greed, & lust for power.  The coronavirus exposed our weaknesses.  The social and economic fault lines are exposed and it is time to fix them – the injustice woven through our society, the lack of healthcare so people remain exploited, the willful ignorance where we haughtily reject expert opinions for YouTube videos or for people who have degrees from the “University of Facebook”.  It is time recognize our problems, address them, and move into the future – a decent and good future for all.   

Chaplin’s words hail from 1940 but they are more relevant today than he ever envisioned.  There is an important election coming up here in the United States.  Read this speech before you vote.  Watch it again before you cast your ballot.  This next election is for the soul of our nation.  Register to vote, if you have not, especially, if you haven’t voted before.  The Millennial generation and the marginalized could shift the balance of power and they should for a variety of reasons, but let’s just stick with the most obvious one – this is YOUR country, it is time to put someone in office who represents you and not their own polluted interests.

Read the speech again.  And again.  Allow it to sink in. 

Read it and hope.

“Don’t give yourselves to brutes.” 

Read it and #VOTE.

 

 

 


Final speech from The Great Dictator Copyright © Roy Export S.A.S. All rights reserved