Government against the People

If there is a single feature distinguishing the left from the rest of civil society, it is the willingness to use force.   While claiming to be for the people, the statists consistently use force against others.  The use of force and disrespect for the property of others by the Wisconsin union mobs and the occupy-wall-street crowd are in sharp contrast with respectful and peaceful Tea Party demonstrations.  Indeed, civil society proponents like the Tea Party oppose the use of force -- for example, when they advocate for reducing the size and intrusiveness of government or for repealing Obamacare.

The goals of the left can be implemented only by using force.  The centerpiece of leftist politics, redistribution of wealth, requires taking by force from those who have.  Proponents of higher taxes for "the wealthy" never advocate voluntary contributions; instead, they go for the full power of the federal government, including the threat of jail.  Government control of health care (Obamacare) forces everyone to purchase insurance, forces the states to comply, forces employers to offer coverage, and dictates what kind of policies insurance companies can offer. 

Be assured when the left has power, the use of force will begin.  They will force your daughter to shut down her lemonade stand and tell your son what he can eat for lunch at school.  They will force you to accept the legal promotion of behaviors you find immoral.

The Obama administration began with the use of force in the 2008 campaign and continues to bully.  Willingness to use force can be found in nearly every corner of the executive branch, such as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who has advocated certain policies as "a way to coerce people out of their cars."

The NLRB pitched in with the use of force against Boeing to prevent the opening of a new factory.  The EPA is using force against businesses across the country.  The Department of Justice is forcing American citizens to accept illegal immigration, opposing any state daring to enforce laws the DOJ will not.  The Interior Department is forcing companies to abandon oil exploration.

A president of the United States bragging about having the government's boot on someone's throat reveals a bald candor about the use of force unprecedented in American history.  This stunning statement was made proudly, as if the administration believed that the American people expected it.

The lessons of history are clear and numerous.  The use of force to create an idealistic society inevitably leads to tyranny and even mass murder.  Stalin alone is credited with the murder of between 20 and 40 million of his own countrymen "for the people."  Pol Pot, who said, "To destroy you is no loss," was responsible for more than 1.7 million deaths.  More than 45 million never leaped with Mao's "Great Leap Forward."  R.J. Rummel estimates the total murders by governments in the 20^th century at 169 million.  Mr. Rummel says this about government's growth of power and willingness to use force:

As a government's power is more unrestrained, as its power reaches into all the corners of culture and society, and as it is less democratic, then the more likely it is to kill its own citizens. There is more than a correlation here. As totalitarian power increases, democide multiplies until it curves sharply upward when totalitarianism is near absolute. As a governing elite has the power to do whatever it wants, whether to satisfy its most personal desires, to pursue what it believes is right and true, it may do so whatever the cost in lives. In this case power is the necessary condition for mass murder. Once an elite have it, other causes and conditions can operate to bring about the immediate genocide, terrorism, massacres, or whatever killing an elite feels is warranted.

Not only does the left try to force us, but the left also expects us to shut up and accept the use of force against us.  To complain about the government's "boot on our throats" is to be called "uncivil."  To defend our culture or even our borders is to be called "racist."  To oppose 2,000-plus-page laws in the halls of Congress is to be called "partisan."  To stand for the Constitution is to be called "radical."

The current party of the left was described in a recent American Thinker article:

Now Democrats find themselves in league with those who believe that we have no right to our borders, that America, your state, and even you have no right to sovereignty at all.

In the streets, Democrats are increasingly supported by a host of nefarious characters including criminal enterprises such as ACORN, union thugs who physically assault the weak and elderly among us, and a wide assortment of vandals who delight in destroying public property.

The American people, having a long history of opposing the use of force against them, will not go quietly.  The United States was founded as a revolt to fight the use of force against the colonists, the latter's complaints listed in the Declaration of Independence.  People came here to escape government use of force against them, to pursue their own dreams without interference.  Susan Stanton described the spirit of Americans in the 19^th century:

In the 1820s, our country was infused with the spirit of Manifest Destiny.  Many of our ancestors settled the American West, where, essentially, there was no government.  They trusted in God, settled the land, birthed broods of children, and made a good life.  They had the opportunity to develop their society without the roving eye of a government agent.  They helped one another, and no one was left behind.

The spirit of our ancestors continues; otherwise, there would be no American Thinker.  The spirit of self-reliance continues; otherwise, there would be no Herman Cain.  The spirit of speaking out continues; otherwise, there would be no Sarah Palin.  The American people will vote their refusal, just as they did in 2010.

The unique American attitude is summed up by an old Hank Williams's song, Mind Your Own Business:

If you mind your business, then you won't be mindin' mine.

Mindin' other people's business seems to be high-toned
I got all that I can do just to mind my own
Why don't you mind your own business
If you mind your own business, you'll stay busy all the time.

The Tea Party is a continuation of Hank Williams's American spirit -- not a tax revolt, but a declaration of independence from government against the people.