The Ten (Revised) Truths of Tyranny

Ira Brodsky (ibrodsky@ix4.ix.netcom.com)
Thu, 26 Sep 1996 10:09:59 -0600


The Ten (Revised) Truths of Tyranny

Or

Ten Easy Steps Toward Mob Rule

by
Ira Brodsky (c) 1996

1) You know you are living under tyranny when the failure of the
legislature to churn out new laws on a daily basis is called "grid-lock."

2) The easier a law is to pass, the harder it is to rescind.

3) Any law that claims to protect rights that already exist will actually
diminish those rights.

4) All laws passed "for a good cause" are actually for bad causes.

5) Laws enacted to help any one group always harm everyone else.

6) All good things the government says happened thanks to regulation of
commerce happened for other reasons or never really happened at all.

7) Anything the government "plans" for has already happened.

8) When there is a budget shortfall to cover non-essential government
services, those services will simply be reclassified as "essential" and
taxes promptly raised.

9) Citizens who oppose new legislation are always portrayed as villains.

10) Governments do not grant freedoms; they only take them away.

# # #
> From now on, the greatest threat to liberty is "direct" or
>"participatory" democracy.

> A government is a tyranny when it gives every vocal, special-interest
>group exactly what it demands.

> A government is a tyranny when individual rights are treated as
>obstacles to social progress.

> A government is a tyranny when it tries to legislate away animosities
>between different groups.

> A government is a tyranny when it acts in a way calculated to please
>the largest number of people at any given moment.

> Pretending we all share the same goals is like attempting to herd cats.

Ira Brodsky
Datacomm Research Company
Wilmette, Illinois