The Cost of Freedom.
With s little comic relief.
In the midst of all the debate and hand-wringing regarding Luigi’s Mangione’s apparent vendetta on United Health’s CEO, Brian Thompson, a respected friend — actually more than one — suggested that violence in the pursuit of political goals is always wrong. Naturally, this person cited MLK and Gandhi, the two requisit examples when people invoke non-violence. After noting that both were assassinated well short of achieving their goals, I added a few comments provided for your interest:
Disagree. Liberty always comes at the price of blood. No exceptions. The food you eat, the life you live, the liberty - insofar as you have it - to say what you think and do as you will was fought for, struggled for, and yes people were killed in order to have the "chains o bondage" removed. Nothing has changed today except that we are softer and far more deluded.
We do not live in a republic. There’s a question whether the USA ever was one. What is certain is that we live in a plutocracy: a republic in name only. We may now be headed towards an autocracy, not because the Cheeto President is that much more dangerous than Biden or Bush, but because of the evolving power of the unitary executive. For those unfamiliar with the term, “unitary executive,” is the idea that the President of the United States has sole authority over the Executive Department and vastly expansive powers to unilaterally make war. The war-making power in the Constitution of the United States, for those unaware, is granted to the Congress:
Article I, Section 8, Clause 11: [The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
The trend towards the unitary executive was discussed in my article originally written for the bicentennial of the death of Thomas Paine, linked here for those who may wish to read or re-read it:
If the US manages to turn itself around -- and I am skeptical that it can or will -- then presidential power will expand and an autocracy, once again in history, emerge from the ashes of democracy and republicanism. Blood will be shed, make no mistake about it. There is no exception to this rule in all of history. Blood has already been shed.
Today our CEOs, financiers, and the uber-wealthy plutocrats are frightened and hiring security at a FEVERISH pace. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has even discussed setting up a hotline for trembling CEOs. This isn’t all bad. The common citizen has been show live-time that she/he can retaliate and fight back in more ways than one. It remains to be seen what further role Luigi Mangione may play in society or what price he may ultimately pay. But let’s not pretend that this is something unnatural or extraordinary. Quibble over the morality if you like, but we are simply seeing the shifting tides of history ebb and flow before our eyes.
The person in the video below goes by the handle “Drill Sarge” on the Sons of Liberty web channel. He has some amusing and perhaps useful comments to add regarding “good trouble.” Violence is a inevitable in my view, but it is by far not the ONLY option. We should all be thinking about good trouble in the meantime. Enjoy the video.
Disclaimer: I do NOT endorse all the political views of Sons of Liberty. I find them enertaining and though-provoking. Their take on Russia, for example, I find to be quaint and a little silly. Drill Sarge says US plutocrats WISH they had the power of Russia’s kleptocrats? HA !! Russia’s economy is maximum 1/14 that of the US. Our ANNUAL national debt is larger than Russia’s entire annual GDP. NONE of the top five walthiest men in the world are Russians. They are all Americans. Russophobia makes fools of so many in the West. Or is it used to control us? Otherwise good minds turn to cottage cheese at the mere mention of the word “Pootin !”
Just enjoy the video below as entertainment. If you want to skip the Russian tanker story — though it’s well worth a listen — start at about 3:50
Hey Kenneth, I couldn't message you privately so I just thought I'd share it here. I see an account named "Harper" also follows you. I just wanted to warn you that she's a scammer running a long-term con on male Substack accounts. If she hasn't yet, she'll start asking you for money soon. Be careful.
One thing often overlooked when speaking or writing about the various non-violent movements for civil rights and other freedoms is this: somewhere in the background of the American civil rights movement were the Deacons of Freedom and Justice, mostly black WW2 veterans who sometimes accompanied the civil rights workers. Yes, they were armed. Mandela had in background the Spear of the Nation guerilla group. Gandhi had in the background the Indian National Army. Revolutions are typically bloody affairs. Pretending they only arise from non violence, while a lovely ideal or fiction, is simply not correct, much like the notion that "speaking truth to power" can effectively change political structures or combat oppression. I think it was Frederick Douglas who first noted that the notion is complete BS for the simple reason that those doing the oppressing know fully well what they are doing and are doing it for their own purposes.