Is it all really THAT bad?

[FTF]

I haven't been a member here for very long, but it sure seems like the sky is falling all over the place. This is the beginning of a revolution, we're being overrun by illegals, our government has trod too far down the slippery slope of facism... etc, etc etc...

Don't get me wrong... I agree with a lot of it. I DO think the entire of Bill of Rights appears to slowly becoming a shell of it's original intent.

I'm only 29, but wasn't it a lot worse than this in the 60's? We were fighting a much more unpopular war, a president DID actually resign over allegations of corruption, the GCA of 1968 was introduced which is a big smack in the face of the 2a, we had an enormous counterculture that was taking to the steets in huge numbers to protest the administration, we had the weathermen, black panthers etc, that were actually waging a guerilla war on our own soil not to mention the civil rights issues and an assasination of a president some presume by our own goverment! It seems that if we were to be at the brink of social revolution, wouldn't that have been the time for it to have happened? It's like 40 years later, and yeah things still suck... but do they really suck a lot worse?

For some of the older members... was it really that much easier to get a CCW permit in a big city in 1960 as compared to now? Were the penalties a lot less if you got caught with a pistol and no license? Did everyone walk around open carrying with no fear? Was there more freedom then than there is now? Back in the 60's didn't the cops raid pretty much whomever they wanted and shoot first whenever they wanted... fred hampton and those other panthers were pretty much exectuted...

Again, I do agree things are crappy... but how crappy are they really in relation to the past 50, 60 or 70 years... maybe some of you have have been around longer can fill us in...

 

[Phetro]

You Answered Your Own Question.

...the entire of Bill of Rights appears to slowly becoming a shell of it's original intent...

And there you have it. Yes. It is that bad.

 

[Gordon Fink]

It’s not that bad. Our masters are usually kind to us, and the bars of our cages are made from gold.

~G. Fink

 

[crazed_ss]

The Panthers armed themselves in response to the violence being inflicted upon them. They werent waging any guerilla war.

 

[Chipperman]

The sky is not falling. It is cracking. It's time to get some ladders and spackle. When the sky falls, it is too late.

There have been alarmists as long as this country has existed. Some are crackpots, others bring valid points.

The goal is not to run around with your head cut off, but to do something productive. Awareness is the first step, action is the second.

 

[Otherguy Overby]

Liars

In the 60's many people finally realized our government was lying to us.

Now, in the 21st century, many people just take it as a given...

 

[Zundfolge]

In the 60's many people finally realized our government was lying to us.

Now, in the 21st century, many people just take it as a given...

Even though the guys that designed our government were warning us about it over two centuries ago

 

[Zedicus]

The sky is not falling. It is cracking. It's time to get some ladders and spackle. When the sky falls, it is too late.

+1

And Sadly it appears to be Rapidly approaching the point when it's going to take Rifles & Ammo to fix things

There have been alarmists as long as this country has existed. Some are crackpots, others bring valid points.

If you ask me, there are more than most of us think who have Valid Points, and unfortunately they tend to get labeled as "Tinfoil Hat Nuts" or "Conspiracy Theorists" by many people who refuse to even bother to try to disprove them or even look things up for themselves....:banghead:

 

[xd9fan]

In the 60's many people finally realized our government was lying to us.

Now, in the 21st century, many people just take it as a given...

yeah the 60's generation rebelled against the govt, grew up and now fully embrace the power and force of the Federal Govt to shove "social justice" and "fairness" down our collective thoats, regardless of the fiscal cost to their children and grandkids.........

 

[tyme]

I'm only 29, but wasn't it a lot worse than this in the 60's? We were fighting a much more unpopular war, a president DID actually resign over allegations of corruption

After signing McCain-Feingold, GW Bush said that he thought the law was probably unconstitutional.

To me, that's a whole lot more corrupt than some politically-motivated B&E.

I'm sure things seemed bad in the 60's, but things are much worse today, domestically at least. The Cold War had everyone paranoid about communists, and there were hidden pockets of totalitarianism in a few major cities, but today State and local governments are much more intrusive overall. All levels of government have technological surveillance capabilities they hardly dreamed of a few decades ago, and the Courts have gradually given law-enforcement increased latitude to investigate lesser crimes.

But I'm younger than you are, so what do I know.

 

[JohnBT]

"yeah the 60's generation rebelled against the govt, grew up and now fully embrace the power and force of the Federal Govt to shove "social justice" and "fairness" down our collective thoats, regardless of the fiscal cost to their children and grandkids........."

BS

John

 

[TallPine]

you still don't think we're on the eve of destruction...?

 

[baz]

FTF, I came of age in the '60's. Some things are a lot better now. Other things not. So how one sees now compared to then will depend a lot on how they see the glass -- half full or half empty? I think things are, on the whole, better, but that there are a lot of people, and cultural/political forces that would like to undo what progress has been made since the '60's. So I see the glass half full, but if we're not careful, it will go empty on us in a flash.

 

[Strings]

JohnBT: care to elaborate on that a bit?


As for the alarmists: I usually end up dealing with the SERIOUS lunatic fringe: I'm talking the type that believe the current administration is made up of snake people who want to (literally) eat us. So yeah... I've got some tolerance for what some here consider "outlandish ideas"...

 

[Zedicus]

As for the alarmists: I usually end up dealing with the SERIOUS lunatic fringe: I'm talking the type that believe the current administration is made up of snake people who want to (literally) eat us. So yeah... I've got some tolerance for what some here consider "outlandish ideas"...

Lol, you to eh?
We should swap stories sometime.

 

[Strings]

heh... one of my roomates (whom I like quite a bit) has a tendancy to be a touch paranoid. One of the people he most respects takes it WAY out to left field...

this is the guy who came up with the "snake people" thing (he calls 'em Anasazi). And it's kinda funny: he's an old hippy, thinks Clinton was a great leader, and that all the Bush Admin is made up of these Anasazi. He also claims to have been a sniper in 'Nam (using a turnbolt .50), able to magically control weather, the list goes on. Nice guy, but MAN... the stories!

And you REALLY don't want to compare moonbat stories: I'm pagan, we have perfected the moonbat!

 

[Zedicus]

met several people in the UK that must have done a bit to much drugs because they were convinced that Guns Float around & Shoot Random people all by themselves
also knew one who believed in Leprechauns (or the "little people" as they called them)

& don't even get me started on the ones with totaly skewed religious ideas

Back on Topic.

I tend to liken things to a cake, the icing gradualy getting better looking, but underneath is a rotted festering mess.

Tue, "Some" Gun rights have improved a little..
But various other things are getting worse, things like illegal Immigration, Our Economy, and numerous rights are more or less being flushed down the toilet.

 

[Justin]

BS

John

Oh. Well then. I'm glad to see that they've done away with Social Security. I look forward to being able to prudently invest the 15% of my income that, until the boomers came along, was being forcibly confiscated under the guise of a supposed "social safety net".

 

[ezypikns]

Please

Name another country where things are better. The U.K.? Australia maybe?

I'm not suggesting things are perfect here but before we condemn this country or give it up for lost, perhaps we should ask ourselves that question: Where in the world today would we have the same kind of freedom we have here?

 

[Ryder]

It feels that way when I read THIS forum. I can only stand so much. It's like watching surgery. I get light headed after a while and have to look away, focus my attention elsewhere.

 

[ctdonath]

Our opposition, given half a chance, WOULD make it "that bad" and worse ASAP.
In word and deed, they've been actively trying to for decades.
The only way to stop & reverse the trend is by being more wound up about keeping guns than they are of taking them.

 

[wingman]

For someone raised in the 40/50's I see improvement in technology, communication, medical, etc, however I see huge failure in other ways, greed, poor schools, morals, loss of freedom, loss of the middleclass, no doubt in my mind we are on the wrong path and to change it would mean more sacrifice then most would be agreeable to give so therefore conversion will come hard and at tremendous cost. Increased population much from third world countries along with the loss of manufacturing jobs is changing America, as consumers we have the means to change things but do we have the will.

 

[enichols]

Name another country where things are better. The U.K.? Australia maybe?

I'm not suggesting things are perfect here but before we condemn this country or give it up for lost, perhaps we should ask ourselves that question: Where in the world today would we have the same kind of freedom we have here?

Hello ezypikns,
I agree with you, to a point. Yes, the U.S. is currently probably the best place to be in terms of personal freedoms. However, if we allow ourselves to become complacent, and our only response to ever-intrusive laws and acts of government is simply that "well, it's still better here than x country", sooner or later those vaunted freedoms will vanish. Whether we lose those rights all at once or in increments, the end result is the same. Now, I don't believe that we're all going to take up arms tomorrow and begin some kind of revolution. But in my opinion it's a good thing that everyone is aware of what the heck is going on, and that we challenge and work against anything that threatens to take away our freedoms. I think everybody could use a reminder about who the politicians work for and are accountable to, and who this country was founded for.
Just my $0.02, worth exactly what you paid for it.
-Nic

 

[Spiphel Rike]

With regard to gunrights, yes the sky will fall if you don't hold it up there. You know the anti gunners of the US would confiscate if they had the power, stay vigilant.

 

[dfaugh]

Yes, its that bad...

As you say, the BOR is but a hollow shell, and its being eroded more every day. I grew up in the 60's and we had much more freedom, in most respects, than we do today. (For example, a few years ago, I could get a CCW here in NY, in about 3 days. Now it would take 6 months, and an act of god to get one.)

But, one of the biggest differences was that if people dissagreed with the government the DID something about. When was the last time you heard about a million people marching on Washington? Whether you agree or dissagree with their philosophy, at least they DID something about it.

Do you think we could get a million gun owners to march on Washington, today? Not likely..Too busy polishing their BMWs, and working on their $250,000 houses.