“Democracy must be made safe for the world.”
Gov. Samuel McCall
Playing on the idea put forth by America’s first socialist
president, Woodrow Wilson, the governor of Massachusetts fired back with a
saner ordering of priorities. Wilson sold America on war saying that it was our
patriotic duty to make the world safe for democracy.
The governor had the strange idea that the world would not
truly be safe until, in democracies, like the United States, the people rule in
fact rather than in theory. Such thinking was diametrically opposed to that of
the president.
President Wilson, in his speeches and his writings, equated
democracy with socialism. In his thinking, the two were synonymous and operated
best in the same manner—when they were run from the top down by “experts” and
intellectuals insulated from the interference of the masses and their votes. This
system, according to the 28th president, was for the good of all,
and the only means by which to make the world safe.
Of course, Wilson and his bunch won. Democracy became safe,
experts reigned supreme, and annually expanded their autonomy. This week Brandon
and our social betters in Congress, guided by the experts, have handed down new
gun laws. Unlike past gun laws, these laws will make us all safe from tragedies
involving guns, except, of course, those large-scale tragedies sponsored by the
state we call war.
That is, until the next gun tragedy.
Make no mistake about it; there will be a next one. Ban guns
altogether, someone willing to break the law will find one, and if that someone
is willing to trade his life for the lives he takes, you cannot stop him.
(President Kennedy once mentioned this to his Secret Service team.) Thus far in
human history, there has always been that person willing to make the trade.
In the America of the near future, made safe by the waving of
“red flags”, someone under 21 will find a gun and make the trade. Shock and
awe will prevail. Politicians will signal their virtue and propose yet more
laws. The media and its acolytes will be outraged and decry the humanity of
those who wish to retain their rights. The NRA will be called a group of
domestic terrorists. Gun owners will point out that guns, left to their own
devices, never kill anyone. We have seen it all before and thinking legislation
will end the cycle is insanity.
The quest for safety in an unsafe world will cycle again and
end in yet further disappointment to the wearers of rose-colored glasses. The
problem lies not in the goal, but in the thinking that people rely on while
trying to achieve it. As long as we value My Truth above The Truth, we are doomed
to failure.
“Never let any Government imagine that it can choose
perfectly safe courses…”
Niccolo Machiavelli
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