Francis shows us the way.
If nothing else could have done so, this election has clarified the central political issue of our time: America’s federal government has far too much power, an incomprehensible percentage of which resides in the Oval Office. Therefore, merely saving Donald Trump’s second term is not enough.
It’s time for other measures.
According to James C. Scott as quoted by Tim Condon, “Irish democracy” consists of widespread passive resistance to the decrees of the Omnipotent State:
Quiet, anonymous, and often complicitous, lawbreaking and disobedience may well be the historically preferred mode of political action for peasant and subaltern classes, for whom open defiance is too dangerous….One need not have an actual conspiracy to achieve the practical effects of a conspiracy. More regimes have been brought, piecemeal, to their knees by what was once called “Irish Democracy”—the silent, dogged resistance, withdrawal, and truculence of millions of ordinary people—than by revolutionary vanguards or rioting mobs.
The premise behind “Irish Democracy” is that the State lacks the enforcement power to have its way with millions upon millions of rebels. It’s Mohandas Gandhi’s strategy, albeit without his overt confrontations with the institutions of government. “You can ignore the State and do as you please, as long as you keep your head down.”
Removing the overt confrontations makes “Irish Democracy” much safer than any other form of rebellion. The State needs conspicuous, targetable rebels. It cannot use terror of its forces without someone to turn into an “example.” No conspicuous rebels means nothing for the State to crucify for the edification of the public. As we mathematical types like to say, quod erat demonstrandum.
I could go on about this, but I don’t think there’s a need. The implications are fairly plain. If you deem the governments of these United States to have become illegitimate, you might find the notion of “Irish Democracy” attractive. Think about the observations above. Think about how you could arrange your affairs so as to dismiss the demands of the State while remaining free of its scrutiny. While it would be harder for some than for others, millions of Americans and their enterprises could contrive to ignore the demands and decrees of the governments that claim “authority” over us.
There are other approaches of varying appeal, such as “going Galt.” They amount to the same thing: rebellion without the need to load the magazines and man the barricades. Choose the course that best accords with your tastes.
Lately I’ve discussed with friends an old maxim of my own devising, to wit: Revolution is not an event; it’s a process. Although it might feel in certain times and circumstances as if a violent uprising is imminent, I don’t think its hot breath is on American necks just yet. From the long-view vantage point of the historical record, revolutions and civil wars are a long time a-brewing before coming to full boil, although we often come to perceive things differently in hindsight.
It appears that the most hot-blooded among us expect the shooting to start in earnest on January 6th, surely no later than the 21st in the wake of the Usurper Biden’s “inauguration.” Myself, I expect that they’ll be disappointed. I repeat: process, not event. And as revolutionary process goes, it’s still early days yet.
There’s no denying that sufficient provocation has been inflicted on Real Americans to ignite a real conflagration, particularly over the past year. Likewise is there no credible argument to be made that the current federal Leviathan is even remotely in accord with the principles set down in our Constitution and Declaration of Independence. It’s probably the most dead-cert truthful bumper sticker slogan there ever was: the Founders would have been shooting already.
Still, it’s more than likely that we have several intermediate stages to muddle through before upheaval is general and ordinary, peace-loving Joe Normie—however ferocious his patriotism—finds himself prepared to peer through a 4x Leupold at the shitlib next door, fully and firmly intent on doing him grievous bodily harm. Joe’s patience will always outstrip his battle-wrath, even when the danger of losing all is clear and growing. For that, we should all probably be thankful. The time will come soon enough for Joe to shed his civilized reluctance and wreak vengeance on his tormenters. If you doubt his will to stand and deliver, remember your Kipling:
It was not part of their blood,
It came to them very late
With long arrears to make good,
When the English began to hate.
They were not easily moved,
They were icy-willing to wait
Till every count should be proved,
Ere the English began to hate.
Their voices were even and low,
Their eyes were level and straight.
There was neither sign nor show,
When the English began to hate.
It was not preached to the crowd,
It was not taught by the State.
No man spoke it aloud,
When the English began to hate.
It was not suddenly bred,
It will not swiftly abate,
Through the chill years ahead,
When Time shall count from the date
That the English began to hate.
- Entries
The underground economy is a type of Irish democracy IMO. I expect it’s going to grow substantially. (Probably has been for quite a while.)
Thank you for using the original version of that poem! The backstory for it is at the same site. And further to your point, people might want to read the bone-chilling short story that originally accompanied it, in a book that paired a poem with each short story: “Mary Postgate“.
“The Beginnings”, one of my favorite Kipling poems. I think it very true to both the English and Americans.
I’m quite certain we will not have a hot civil war on Jan 21. I’m also quite certain the end of being nice is over. Those that didn’t know before, now know.
Nah.
It’ll come down the road.
The 6th, or the 20th, if the Usurper is inaugurated, will just ratchet the tension up higher. It’ll be some provocation, or some small thing that’ll blow the lid off down the line… possibly even something that no one would expect to the spark. Just one too many straws on some overloaded camelback, and he suddenly flips the switch.
Or he does it in cold blood, long after the provocation.
I do think it’ll probably happen in the next four years, though. If Biden’s inaugurated, the Dems won’t be able to resist tightening the screws down on everyone to the Right of Stalin.
Irish democracy. Hadn’t heard that one. Useful phrase . . . .