While the Y2K factor could be a contributing factor, I think that the
biggest factor in this already happened in 1990: The end of the cold
war.
After sitting back and reflecting on my own anti-authority and
anti-government beliefs/opinions, etc., after growing up as a redneck
Reagan republican, progovt to the core, I would have to say that I think
that during the Cold war, we Americans, in our anti-communist fervor and
armageddon fears, were quite willing to put up with government violating
our rights on occasion so long as is was "In the National Interest" for
"The Interest of National Security" etc. etc. Our tradition of
volunteerism and community spirit served to adhere us to loyally support
the government, even when we had to bite it, kind of like how the blacks
loyally served in the US military in the hopes that things would be
different "after the war".
Now that there is no obvious or publicly proclaimed enemy, many people
are not willing to being stomped on by the government bureaucracy for no
good reason, so they question, they resist, they tell bureaucrats to go
to hell and get off their land, and some back such resistance up with
violent action when the government seems to just not get the hint, or
seems to some to vastly overstep its authority without any reasonable
justification. Given that there is no clear and present danger to
national security, many people think that the 9th and 10th amendments
give them the right to resist in any manner within the Constitution
(which does, contrary to liberal popular belief, support the idea of
armed rebellion against a tyrranical government, just read the preamble
for god's sakes).
Where does this leave us? Well, the government has yet to get it through
its thick skull that the world has changed, that it can no longer be the
big bully it has been for a large part of this century. Because of this,
everytime a citizen gets up and stands on his or her rights, and backs
them up with personal force, the government treats that person like an
enemy of the people that either needs to be reeducated or destroyed.
THis is creating a vicious cycle of resistance and repression that
replicates the sort of practices advocated by revolutionary manuals read
by leftist terrorists and guerrillas around the world. The object of
such practices is to advocate repressive policies. THis ticks off a
small, nutty percentage of the population, which actively resists and is
widely publicized by the government media organs to justify the
enactment of even more repressive policies, which causes more
resistance, and so on and so on until you are left with either a fascist
government, or civil war.
Government cannot help itself in this system, it is built to protect
itself, discourage competition, and perpetuate and grow its power and
reach. It is an unintelligent collection of self perpetuating memes, and
unless a leader able to inspire enlightened thought is able to wake the
electorate up as to the cycle that is being bred, this cycle will
degenerate to chaos or darkness. This is the difficult thing, for such
individuals through history have typically been corrupted by power just
enough to take advantage of the situation to attain empire. We are in a
post republican death spiral, that will either end in corporate
dissolution, corrupt transformation to empirical fascism, or enlightened
transformation into a state the likes of which has yet to be seen in
history.
-- TANSTAAFL!!! Michael Lorrey ------------------------------------------------------------ mailto:retroman@together.net Inventor of the Lorrey Drive MikeySoft: Graphic Design/Animation/Publishing/Engineering ------------------------------------------------------------ How many fnords did you see before breakfast today?