John Adams on Independence: Celebrate with "Devotion to God"; with "Pomp and Parade...Guns..."

Yup, the hackers set up a worm on Hillary's bathroom PC, but that's pretty much been eliminated, well except that SSD Billy Ho keeps in his den for the lonely nights he has a frap attack..

 

Disarming the citizenry is always the first step before shutting them up. Free speech means nothing without the power to back it up.

“The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subjugated races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subjugated races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty. So let’s not have any native militia or native police.” -Adolf Hitler

“One man with a gun can control 100 without one.” – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

“All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The communist party must command all the guns, that way, no guns can ever be used to command the party.” – Mao Tze Tung

“What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take arms.” – Thomas Jefferson

 

I'm skeptical about some of those quotes ... do you have a source? (I'd like to use those quotes, but you always need to source 'too good to be true' quotes which support your own position. There are a lot of fake ones circulating.)

But here is a definitely authentic quote: "An oppressed class which does not strive to learn to use arms, to acquire arms, only deserves to be treated like slaves."
Source.

Surely everyone who is opposed to the private ownership of firearms should lead by example and announce this to world, perhaps with a sign on their front lawn or the front door of their apartment -- NO GUNS HERE. It would be more authentic than Bezerkeley declaring itself a 'nuclear-free zone', as if the city council of that town could even begin to understand how a nuclear power plant or nuclear weapon actually works, let alone build one.

The wealthy Hollywood liberals in their gated communities could have a powerful impact on everyone if they disarmed their private security guards. (Is it really true that 40% of the population of California live in gated communities? Shouldn't they want to mix with the new arrivals and the domestic 'downtrodden' -- and not just tread down in the latter's pavement poop?)

 

But if they checked out our history they'd realize that both times we defended our nation from invasion with a militia in the revolutionary war and the war of 1812, we succeeded, and all our wars with standing armies were on foreign soil and there is no clear evidence these wars kept our nation from annihilation and may have in many cases painted a target on our backs. They might be wrong, but that may be how they would interpret our history.

They might also see China that while having a standing Army isn't trying to be all over the world militarily and can focus on their sphere of influence in East Asia and is quickly catching up to US and is now the second global superpower.

 

John Adams would have preferred no parade to one with a standing army. So he would have opposed Trump's parade, not supported it.

 

The "standing army" argument is interesting.
In the 18th Century, it was the default position of anti-monarchists, because that's how monarchs retained their power. It was the great luck of the English that they didn't need one, according to Macaulay, because they had the English Channel to protect them.

However -- who today seriously thinks the US could defend itself with only a popular militia?

Anyone can learn to load and fire a black powder musket, or even a cannon -- but modern warfare requires professionals. (How long does it take to learn to fly an F22? Or to service it?) It would be infinitely better if the whole population passed through the military and remained in the reserves -- it ought to be a condition of voting -- but you would still require a core of full-timers at every level to have a working military.

We shouldn't confuse having a professional military, with glorifying militarism, or with intervening all over the world.

Our problem is not that we have a professional military, but that we find it necessary for it to have an "Africa Command" (almost a contradiction in terms).

And whatever about WWI, WWII was unavoidable. We live in an increasingly 'global' world, and we cannot escape that fact. That does not mean we have to have our soldiers trying to bring LGBTx rights to Absurdistan.

 

Crickets

 

Well, here are some statistics, cut from the Wikipedia article on Homelessness. Take your pick. And remember that all such statistics have to be taken with a grain of salt -- researchers have their biases, and people responding to surveys can be, shall we say, a bit less than truthful.

But for what they're worth, here are some stats. Note the great variations on estimates of mental illness -- something for everyone.

 

Thanks but I was looking for molonlabe to back up his claim.

 

The only interesting question, in my opinion, is what percentage of homeless people are so, because of lack of economic opportunities?
I think it's useful to put the homeless into two categories, and then sub-divide one of those categories into two more:

(1) People who are homeless because of bad (self-indulgent) decisions they made. If you don't believe in free will, of course, the concept of someone making decisions will not be valid for you. A person who starts using drugs, uses more and more, loses his job, ... according to the no-free-will person, this unfortunate soul is just a robot, responding to biochemical signals. The alcoholic who comes in late on Mondays, is half-lit during afternoons, who is finally let go and becomes unemployed .. is not responsible for his fate.

But most people recognize the concept of free will, although of course there is a fuzzy boundary ... it's easier to make good decisions in some environments than in others.

However, there are other cases of personal decline, which most people would recognize as not the individual's fault.

(2) People who are homeless because of factors beyond their control.

------ (a) The genuinely mentally ill. People who have schizophrenia, for example. We still don't understand the causes of mental illness -- it appears to have a heriditary component, but not an obvious one. ( if one of a pair of twins is schizophrenic, there is a 50% -- but only 50%! -- probability that the other twin will be as well. So it's somehow genetic, but not strictly genetic, since they share the same genes.)

----- (b) People who have been subject to severe bad luck -- born with a modest IQ, in an environment where they were not encouraged to acquire a skill, attending a bad school, perhaps hit with a divorce and a legal settlement that impoverished them, right when there was an economic recession. This is a marginal category, and probably everyone reading this is thinking, well, I would recover from that situation ... and you probably would. But not everyone is as smart as you.

Note that 'extreme poverty' is not equal to 'homeless' -- and category 2(b) probably includes a lower proportion of homeless than the other categories.

It's this category of homeless, or more generally, person-in-poverty, where there is a necessary discussion to be had about the extent, and the details, of the most effective outside help -- private or public. Almost everyone would agree that we would want to help such a person 'get back on their feet' -- get out of debt, acquire a saleable skill, move to an environment where 'virtuous behavior' is encouraged, and bad examples are rare.

Some people will say that category 2(b) doesn't really exist -- everyone in this category is actually an example of (1). But note that if unemployment (and its consequen poverty) were JUST a matter of individual character, it wouldn't fluctuate as much as it does. The US went from 2-3% unemployment at the beginning of 1929 to 25% in 1934. That was not due to a change of character.

Capitalism is necessarily a system where economic growth fluctuates -- at least unregulated capitalism is. People who understand the huge value of capitalism -- who appreciate it as a massive engine for human progress, as Karl Marx did -- need to think about how to smooth out its jagged edges.

 

Well, he probably based his views on his experiences. Most of us do that, for most of our opinions. We're often right, but not always. But who has the time to search around the web for the appropriate set of statistics, opinion polls, etc. (For example: are your personal opinions about the homeless based on statistical analysis, or your personal experiences?)

Personal experiences are valid. Anecdotes are not the plural for data, as the saying goes, but they're actually quite useful.

The homeless people I encountered in my last visit to California did not seem to me to be the modern equivalent of the millions of Americans out of work during the Great Depression -- those men were desperate to work. They may have had to sleep in public parks, but had you offered them a job, they would have jumped at it with all four feet. That does not describe the people lying in their own excrement on the sidewalks of San Francisco.

You might ask yourself: why are there no Japanese- or Chinese-Americans among the homeless (if there are, they must be rare birds). Isn't it because of their behavior? And if that's true, surely behavior is part of the explanation for why someone ends up homeless. And the problem with 'helping the homeless' is that we don't want to encourage the sort of behavior that leads someone into homelessness.

 

The parade yesterday in D.C. didn't have any military vehicles in it. It had the same kind of stuff you would see in a hometown parade.

If you would have watch it, you would already know this.

 

Then what is this?


If he saw this, John Adams wouldn't have been so happy. Maybe he would have sent over Jack Black as Paul Revere to ring the liberty bell warning of a tyrant's takeover with a standing army.

 

France! That's what that is. LMFAO! Are all left-wingers this ignorant?

 

Here we go with the denial:

 

And another one... Trump really lost a lot of hair.

 

"I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more." --- John Adams (July 3, 1776)

Guns
In the totalitarian state of California guns aren't allowed especially black scary looking guns.

Bonfires
In California because of land mismanagement by liberal environmentalist, bonfires are forbidden because of the risk of wildfires.

Illuminations
Fireworks are Illegal in the Capitol of the Third World, Los Angeles.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger reminds residents preparing to celebrate the Fourth of July, that fireworks of any kind are illegal in Los Angeles County unincorporated communities and in many of its 88 cities.

I encourage residents to report any illegal fireworks to law enforcement.”

Possession or use of illegal fireworks can range from a fine of up to $1000, to one year in county jail. Certain products like m-80’s and m-100’s are considered explosives and are a felony to possess with penalties as high as 16 months in state prison. Parents are also liable for any damage or injuries caused by their children using fireworks. https://kathrynbarger.lacounty.gov/fireworks-are-illegal-in-los-angeles-county/

 

Wait...are there really grown adults who watched a parade on tv? For real?

 

Had we not just fought a war?

 

I'd rather see private citizens tanks in 4th parades. Ours commonly has a few deuce-and-a-halfs and a WW2 American halftrack, but no actual tanks. Yet.

I've seen Shermans and Pattons and Bulldogs and a couple Russian amphibious/paradropable armored scouts on the internet for ~$10,000. Im getting there

 

That's what cultural-marxism is all about.

Cultural Marxism is a branch of Marxist ideology formulated by the Frankfurt School, which had its origins the early part of the twentieth century. Cultural Marxism comprises much of the foundation of political correctness. It emerged as a response of European Marxist intellectuals disillusioned by the early political failures of conventional economic Marxist ideology.

The central idea of Cultural Marxism is to soften up and prepare Western Civilization for economic Marxism after a gradual, relentless, sustained attack on every institution of Western culture, including schools, literature, art, film, the Judeo-Christian worldview tradition, the family, sexual mores, national sovereignty, etc. The attacks are usually framed in Marxist terms as a class struggle between oppressors and oppressed; the members of the latter class allegedly include women, minorities, homosexuals, and adherents of non-Western ideologies such as Islam. Cultural Marxism has been described as "the cultural branch of globalism."
https://www.conservapedia.com/Cultural_Marxism

 

I guess you didn't read the John Adams quote where he says "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival."

 

Funny how people on each side thinks the other side is trying to tear the country apart. Apparently there are people on both sides who need a safe space to curl up in a fetal position and suck their thumb.

 

That was static display. It was not paraded around during the parade.

Following is the entire parade. Get back to me when you see any military vehicles in the parade...

 

Just going through our favorite news networks coverage of the parade:



First two seconds I see some of that tyrannical standing army marching through our capital, and as you said standing army vehicles are placed in front of our monuments for a display of power during the celebration.

And we had some of that standing army air force flying overhead just in case patriots didn't realize who was in charge.