Title: The Big Government Sponge: Part 4
Original CoS Document (slug): the-big-government-sponge-part-4
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Created: 2023-09-04 17:19:28
Updated: 2023-09-26 03:00:01
Published: 2023-09-19 00:00:00
Converted: 2025-04-14T21:26:53.198677560
The Big Government Sponge: Part 4
SEE Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3
We Americans love our Freedom and Liberty! Why, then are we willing to give it away to a central government that absorbs power like a sponge?
In times of crisis, we have proven to be a people who prefer security to freedom -a sad truth of human nature, but a lesson to be kept at the front of our minds, especially when crises become convenient opportunities for the sponge to absorb power. Rom Emanual’s famous tagline, “Never let a crisis go to waste,” comes to mind.
In the previous segment, we explored the exponential growth of Big Government during the Great Depression and the New Deal. We saw how the nanny state was established and how a really bad Supreme Court decision changed the role of the central government forever.
Moving to the 21st Century, we will take a critical look at how our generation has followed those before us in yielding our freedoms to a central government in a fool’s bargain for safety and security.
9/11 and the War on Terror
Where were you? Will you ever forget?
The response to that unimaginable attack on our homeland was fast and resolute. I, for one, was “all in.” We were at war, and you were either “with us” or “against us.” So far so good.
Hindsight was the order of the day. Prevention of a future attack was paramount. We fully expected a follow-up, and we might have had good reason to fear that. It was an emergency, and it was real. The Patriot Act seemed like a necessary tool to make sure that we were safe. We hardly thought twice about allowing the government to accumulate vast amounts of our electronic data in order to identify and surveil “foreign nationals” and to identify internal security threats. We even attached a sunset clause to the Patriot Act to make sure that it was only to be used during the national emergency. That sunset has been extended numerous times and over two decades later the Patriot Act is still the law of the land.
What began as Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) by banks of cash transactions over $10,000 (now $5000) has evolved into a web of intrusive banking information that is able to identify patterns and even keep certain “unpopular” merchants from using the banking system. Using cash is fast becoming synonymous with unsavory activity, and is to be avoided. Was this the intent?
Our intelligence agencies are able to retrieve every byte of electronic communication and every telephone call any citizen or non-citizen has made for the past two decades. Are we safer? Maybe. Are we freer? Come on man!
Abuse of that kind of information is too frightening to contemplate.
COVID-19
Maybe the straw that broke the camel’s back. One can hope.
PANDEMIC! We were told in December 2019 that the world, as we knew it, was about to end. We listened. We were frightened. The “models” predicted tens or hundreds of millions of people would die from a new, novel bat virus that was especially fatal to humans, and that it would spread worldwide within weeks.
We were told by every expert who was allowed to talk that it was vital to surrender control of EVERYTHING to national and global authorities who know best how to keep us safe and alive. We surrendered our freedom of movement, nearly every natural and constitutional right that we had, freedom to associate, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom to disagree with our governments (local/national/global). What a wake-up call!
Two weeks to “stop the spread – flatten the curve” became mandatory lock-downs, mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and even vaccine passports. Massive international coverups of lies and half-truths were finally laid bare by courageous truth-tellers who faced government censorship, harassment, and smear campaigns.
The virus likely originated in a research lab in China. Messenger RNA is an untested and unknown technology. Masks do little or nothing to stop transmission. But questioning the global “narrative” was labeled misinformation. How about mis-opinion? We were lied to. We are being lied to. We have learned a lot
We were so easily manipulated - we often are. I believe and pray that those days are gone. We are Americans and we are (or should be) FREE! Under no circumstances should we allow our government (our Republic) to enter a treaty with the World Health Organization for future pandemic control measures.
Lessons Learned
Learn from history or repeat the mistakes. Be ever vigilant to unintended consequences of what sounds like a good idea at the time. Know the Constitution and the intent of the Founding Fathers. Understand the amendments and the amendment process. Cherish freedom and liberty.
Wring out the sponge!
It is not too late to take back the freedoms that we have ceded to our central government. It is not too late to bring government closer to the people on a state, local, and family level.
An Article V Convention of States, or better, multiple Conventions of States as needed, is the answer. Learn about the process, study the Constitution, and most importantly – never give up!