---
It is, historically, a very dangerous thing when a government refuses to listen to it's own people...
It is not unusual for peoples around the world to resort to guerrilla tactics to fight an opponent who is much better trained, equipped and armed... Pretty much what is called terrorism now days was guerrilla warfare when I was younger, or something else.
Pretty much the first time I remember hearing about terrorism was in the 1970's with that whole Arafat thing. Blowing up airplanes and such...
As I recall most all of that 'terrorism' was politically motivated, based, mainly, on the foreign policy of the United States government... Things don't 'change' much do they? lol
It's fairly obvious, to me, that there will be 'terrorist attacks' in the United States of America. Likely soon... In my opinion. Including the suicide variety ala Hassan and Joe Stack...
I wonder, because I'm not all that smart to actually know everything like our brilliant politicians do, if maybe most insurgencies and civil wars don't start with something that could be 'called' terrorism, domestic terrorism perhaps...
By my calculations, which are not much more than an educated guess, numbers pulled out of my own a$$ lol, our government has thoroughly pissed off about 1/3 of the American populace.
With the seemingly endless bailouts and government takeovers in the private sector, the insane spending and money printing and the monetization of debt...
With seemingly endless wars around the globe, the purpose of which become ever more difficult to logically explain to a war weary nation...
So my question became, over time. What percentage of Americans might we expect, statistically speaking, to become angered and frustrated enough to turn to violence to express their dissatisfaction with the status quo?
This assuming that we are talking about a baseline of 100 million people... 1/3 of the population of the USA.
Obviously 100 million people are not going to take up arms to resist their government, or even consider such non-sense. What needs to be done can, and should, be done peacefully...
But my point is that a certain 'percentage' of angry Americans are likely more inclined toward violence than the rest...
Ok, for the sake of argument, say I'm way off in my own estimates of how many Americans are REALLY PO'ed with their government and thieving banks and corrupt corporations and utility/commodity companies. Let's say maybe it's only half that number, 15% of the populous or 50 million people...
My struggle is to figure out what percentage of that number 'might' end up resorting to violence to express their displeasure?
I, personally, don't think 50 million is that bad a number. It's 15% of the population while we have at least 18% unemployment (according to BLS). 15 to 16 million Americans have no jobs! Their families and extended families are affected in a negative way also, either directly or indirectly..
Unemployment, poverty and stress, foreclosures and homelessness abound in this country. They promise only to get worse. Many soldiers are returning home, to society, after several tours of duty in the middle east. Many with post-traumatic stress syndrome, I would assume. I think *I* would have it! Often experiencing urban warfare, where it is often difficult to tell friend from foe...
Many many Americans are stressed like they have not been since the great depression.
The banks don't care, the insurance companies don't care, the corporations don't care. The United States government doesn't seem to care. At least not about anything other than the aforementioned corporations...
Me? I'm REALLY pissed! About the unfairness of it all. About the fact that government seems to be taking over everything, against the will and loud protests of the American people. That the government/tax payer bailouts seem to be endless. That the economy and markets are being illegally manipulated. That the wishes of the American people are not only being ignored but also being demonized, if not yet criminalized...
I remember the 1980's when the main stream media constantly hammered president Ronald Reagan on the economy and certainly on what I recall being the 3 million homeless Americans at the time... What is that number now? There are different numbers all over the map as is normally the case... Here's an interesting story
Why is it that now it seems homelessness isn't that big a story to the media anymore?
Many Americans are being called potential 'terrorists' these days by many people. In both government and media...
So what percentage of 50 million, even 25 million, or even 10 million, Americans would resort to violence? This question has been bugging me, haunting me... I have no answer yet, though it seems to promise to be a significant number in any case...
I suppose, in the end, I pretty much agree with the Department of Homeland Security. That some of the most likely Americans to take matters into their own hands, to be the most likely to fight hard for freedom and liberty, for country and for God, are likely to be well trained veterans and militias.
I guess it makes sense... Here is the link to the page containing the information below...
1) The election of the first African American President is spawning domestic terrorism. “Many rightwing extremists are antagonistic toward the new presidential administration….”
2) Possible new legislation to restrict gun laws may spawn domestic terrorism.
3) Returning military veterans may resort to domestic terrorism. Right wingers may “recruit” combat veterans “to boost their violent capabilities.”
4) An recent example of rightwing extremism is the shooting deaths of the three police officers in Pittsburgh, PA on April 4, 2009.
5) “Rightwing extremist chatter on the Internet continues to focus on the economy…” “Anti-Semitic extremists attribute these losses to a deliberate conspiracy conducted by a cabal of Jewish “financial elites.”
6) Violence is expected due to “rightwing extremist groups’ frustration over a perceived lack of government action on illegal immigration….”
Government continues to scream race, Race, RACE! I see no racism here... Mainly only American citizens who are now as concerned about the direction and leadership (or lack thereof) of their beloved country as never before experienced in this generation.
It seems government will continue to push the envelope... After the passage of an unconstitutional, IMO, health care law they now promise to similarly 'cram down the throats of the American people' Cap and Trade (another HUGE tax during a recession) and amnesty for 12 to 14 million people who are in our country illegally.
I see far more patriotic concern than anything else...
Washington needs to remember that most of us cook our own meals, do our own dishes, clean our own houses, tend to our own gardens, look after our own kids, do our own shopping.
We, the people, ARE America... not the government... They work for us.. Supposedly, until now.
Greg
It's hard to say what the Gov't has up its sleeves. We can safely assume that they have contingency plans for various scenarios. But we are dealing with a whole new set of rules.
ReplyDeleteThey are using ancient tactics at a time when too many people are armed with info/ comm tech. Too many friggen variables for anybody to calculate.
Our best guess-estimate is that a systems phenomena has been unleashed and it has a life all of its own. Nobody is in control but that will not stop our insane leaders from trying to assert control. That's where it could get hairy for some.
Are they trying to foment enough violence to create pretext for martial law? My sense is that would not want to create more disorder than what is manageable. The rabid and desperate ultra-conservative elements maybe simply resorting to dramatics simply to keep people glued to their TV sets so they can continue directing the narrative.
As long as they can direct attention and control the narrative they are in control of the situation. The whole aim of TV theatrics may be too keep people glued to set, and off the internet where the transformation is really taking place.