Posted on 01/05/2024 5:36:07 PM PST by MtnClimber
A YouTube video presents the story of the El Salvadoran dictatorship that has eradicated the criminal gangs, which, for decades, tormented families in that small nation. A lawless nation has, for now, been tamed by a lawless government. Will it happen here? Must it?
In El Salvador, the problem of gangster crime had become unbearable for most of the population. The murder rate was extremely high and growing. The killers were unspeakably brutal. Tortures were often gruesome beyond description. Rapes were all too common, even in public places. Extortion was breaking the back of private enterprise. Children were sometimes killed for the amusement of remorseless snipers. The government seemed helpless to control the worsening crisis.
History has shown that when such conditions exist, the political situation is ripe for the emergence of a “strong man.” Some of the most infamous dictators have seized power in that milieu and, whether in countries large or small, have wrought misery on the population that once had clamored for them to take firm action.
The philosophy expressed during the American Revolution is that those who value peace and security more than they value freedom will soon lose both. It is true, but in El Salvador, the situation is different, in degree and character, from the American experience of 1776. As insufferable as was the British oppression of the Colonies, the “Tommies” were not barbaric. Their officers were civilized gentlemen. The Salvadoran gangsters associated with MS-13 are cruel savages. President Trump referred to them as “animals.”
Democratic, constitutional efforts in El Salvador had previously failed to relieve the citizenry of the agony wrought by the gangs. Moreover, the prevalence of unrestrained barbarism had posed the possibility of anarchy, a failed state, or some other existential threat.
The question then arises: which is the worse evil?
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Yes - the USA has a massive government, run by insider, permanent, ideologue DC apparatchiks, which already highly regulates every aspect of American’s lives, personal freedoms, and interfere in every major aspect of the economy
So the apparatus and mindset are already there. Many Americans already accept this as normal
It will just take a crisis and someone crafty enough to simply kick down the shell of a remaining few republican institutions.
Thats another reason Washington didn’t do it.
Before we become a dictatorship, the country will break apart. I actually believe blue states will be the first to break away, I mean, think what China could do with California. After that, what is left of the states will attempt to overthrow other states for their benefit, kind of like Russia is doing.
Didn’t FD Roosevelt come pretty close to being a
‘benelovent dictator’, with his New Deal?
Among other programs, that brought us Social Security, the SEC, FHA, FCC, and FDIC.
Lincoln started income tax in order to raise funds for the civil war effort. The income tax as we now know it to be was formally introduced under President Wilson.
I think America/EU is proving that liberal democratic civilizations will inevitably fail.
They are vulnerable to bad actors who can take advantage of their trust-based liberal systems whether it is hostile states (e.g., communism) or destructive philosophies (woke-isms)
Neo-Feudalism is the future.
The coup happened in 2020 and like Cyrus under the gates of Babylon, the city dwellers had no idea they were under new rule.
Read Amity Shales two book they both discuss how close.
Gee, Robert, what would you call the communist leadership that now rules us, without regard to the former Constitution
“No one alive here has the moral character of George Washington. “
In the late 1700’s upper class educated men aspired to be virtuous. They took pride in recognition by fellow citizens of being moral, well bred gentlemen of good character. Since they were mortal men, some fell short of the ideal but on the whole this zeal to be virtuous was critical to the establishment of the American Republic.
Who today in public office or leadership in the private sector aspires to lead a virtuous life. Even the clergy today seems unwilling to aim high, much less inspire parishioners to lead virtuous lives. Not only do the leaders in our society fail to demonstrate any desire to be of impeccable character, they are often rewarded by the people (the mob) for their corruption and depravity. In a society with no standards of behavior, much less virtue, how can there be anything but lawlessness and anarchy?
Amity Shales. I’ll be looking him up.
You mean like when they print out ballots to steal elections. Yeah it’s possible
You beat me to it.
We’re already there.
I am afraid that this is what’s in the cards as most people are too ignorant to wake up. How it will play out will be every ones guess. Neither would I be surprised if there will be another major war in the near future, as the way the US keeps pushing it is almost inevitable. I hope I am wrong.
“Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” — John Adams
Do we have that now? Those are what make liberty and a republic possible. I am the last person who would support a dictatorship — it’s loathsome. But do we have enough people who meet Adams’ criteria? Do our institutions reflect those criteria? Our government which, by the Constitution, is supposed to be the guarantor of liberty (not its source), but rigs elections and erodes the First Amendment, without which there is no liberty, has abandoned that responsibility. The growth of government at all levels beyond any sane limits has made the step to authoritarianism a very short one.
My great-grandfather, born in 1876, used to read the Bible constantly and liked to talk about the end times, with the comment, “Well, I won’t live to see it.” He didn’t. I hope I don’t see live to see the end of “the last best hope of earth.”
I’ll do it, but it’s going to be a wild ride. I’d be benevolent towards people following the original constitution and there would be very little interference. Those that don’t, well. Wow.
Some are already proven.
I forget who I was arguing with about my tagline, but I am unwavering in my belief that the Constitution needs to be suspended until the shitizens are corrected.
Society is a circle that goes from freedom to bondage to freedom again.
The Founding Fathers created something so special and so historical that it outlasted the length of the average democracy. Unfortunately, as much as I try, too many people think America the Republic is natural and cannot be undone.
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