(originally launched into cyberspace on 09/08/2007)Dear Subscriber,
I managed to be both unobservant and forgetful today. First, I sent
Tessa's message to the 861 list, instead of this list. So below is
the message again, for any who missed it.
Second, I almost forgot to mention that tomorrow, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Eastern time, I'll be on Peter Mac's radio show. For all the info--
on how to listen live, and on how to get the archives afterwards--
go here:
http://www.petermacshow.com(Despite the fact that I usually get it wrong, it's "Peter Mac,"
with no "K." The web site won't work if you mispell it... the way I
usually do.)
This time the topic will be political, rather than 861--at least,
that's the plan.
Sincerely,
Larken Rose
www.larkenrose.com- --------< Message from Tessa >---------
I watched Aaron Zellman’s movie, “Innocents Betrayed,” with Larken
yesterday. I recommend that everyone see it--adults, that is. It’s
too gruesome and scary for children.
Government is analogous to fire. If it’s controlled and confined
to the hearth, it is very useful, even necessary for life in some
climates.* But we all know that fire must be carefully contained
in the hearth and kept under control lest it burn down the house
and perhaps kill the whole family. We must have strict rules of
behavior in the home about where and when to use fire. Never take
candles to bed with you, never place them near the curtains, never
leave an open fire unattended, never smoke in bed, and so on.
A careful family will not likely be harmed by their fire. But the
fire in the hearth has a way of constantly reminding us that it’s
dangerous. It’s when we forget that fire can be dangerous, and
become careless with it that it’s most likely to become a raging
inferno. Take the case of smokers, who hold a tiny fire in their
fingers many times a day. It’s so small and so familiar, it’s easy
to forget that it’s fire at all. And most house fires are started
by these tiny incendiary devices.
But our society suffers from a deplorable lack of awareness of the
danger of government. The founders of this country did a fairly
good job of setting up a government-proof country, and laying down
rules that would keep this deadly force contained and controlled in
its proper place (at least for white people). Ownership of
firearms by the populace is perhaps the most important of those
rules. The problem is that the founders’ system has protected us
for so long, that people have forgotten the reasons behind the
rules. Because they personally have never been harmed by
government, they think those who take precautions against it are
simply a little wacky. A close friend of mine, who disagrees with
me about the importance of civilians keeping guns, once said, “I
don’t live in fear of the government like you do.”
First of all, I don’t think I “live in fear of the government,” do
you? And secondly, folks like her put their kids to bed in flame-
retardant jammies, and wear their seat belts in the car, and no one
accuses them of having pathological fears. Yet when you take a
simple precaution against murder, mayhem, and genocide, they think
you’re being unreasonable. It seems that for many people, sanity
consists of believing that government is a harmless and benevolent
institution despite mountains of horrific evidence to the contrary.
One hundred seventy million victims of 20th century government have
been silenced forever. I think that those of us who have been
lucky enough to survive the bloodiest century in human history have
a duty to give voices to these millions. This movie does that.
Please spread it around.
http://shop.jpfo.org/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=8Tessa Rose
[ September 18, 2007, 03:42 AM: Message edited by: 3rdEar ]
