CARE & FEEDING: AN ANNIVERSARY

Those on the Left possess a timeless vision of Utopia. Simply stated, this Utopia is envisioned wherein all inferiors are equal in possessions; equal in an erroneous and perverted definition of “rights;” and equal in their access to “care & feeding”- all the while squatting at the alluring hands of those claiming benevolence, as they, our politically empowered “benefactors,” determine the particulars of said care & feeding.

No matter how many times these people might be presented with real-life attempts to implement such a Utopian vision; no matter how many examples of squalor and carnage such attempts ultimately produce, they persist at never questioning their moral premises lying at the root of their imagined Utopia.

December 29th will come and pass without remark or fanfare. It will arrive on a Tuesday, following Christmas, in growing anticipation of the arrival Friday, of the New Year.

There will be nothing noteworthy or special marking the day on the news. You see, the winners always decide history, noting only those events of perceived importance and pride, disregarding those that might be contrary to their notions of such things.

December 29th will mark the 125th anniversary of the slaughter of 297 Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. These 297 people, herded onto a reservation for their care & feeding, were killed by federal agents and members of the 7th Cavalry. The government had come to confiscate their firearms - ostensibly “for their own safety, protection, and well-being.” The slaughter began after the majority, though not all, had peacefully turned in said firearms. When the final bullet had been fired, two hundred of the dead were women and children.

Around forty members of the 7th Cavalry were killed, over half of which were estimated to have been cut down by friendly fire from the Hotchkiss guns of their overzealous comrades-in-arms. Disgracefully, twenty members were deemed “national heroes” and awarded Medals of Honor!

I do not wish to simplify the complexities at work as the political values claimed to represent individual freedom crosses paths with tribalism - much of it nomadic. However, to anyone who understands human nature, the slaughter at Wounded Knee should offer two clear and concise lessons.

The first is inspiringly articulated in a scene near the conclusion of an entertaining movie starring Clint Eastwood, “The Outlaw Josey Wales.” The scene takes place between Josey, played by Clint, and the Indian Chief “Ten Bears,” played so powerfully by Will Sampson. If you have not seen it or if you have seen it but not taken particular note of the dialog, I would highly recommend that you do so. In its three minutes are spoken eloquent and timeless truths, especially relevant today.

Those truths dissect the idea that some groups of individuals, in this case the Indians, require that they be benevolently “cared for” by Government - by the rest of us. Not their rights protected as individual citizens mind you, but as a group of inferior human beings in need of the oversight that comes from seeing them as less-than-worthy or “unfit.”

At the same time seeing their perceived short-comings as a nuisance, or as in the case at Wounded Knee, a continuing potential threat to be properly dealt with (vengefully in this case – the soldiers were after all, composed of the remnants of Custer’s 7th cavalry).

Our modern seekers of Utopia should study the history of such ideas while they politically fabricate individuals into protected groups, needing special considerations and privileges, justified as necessary for their “well-being.” Wounded Knee, literally and figuratively, with its attendant hopelessness, equality of misery, and ultimate carnage, is the inevitable outcome of such visions.
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The second lesson of Wounded Knee, and it flows logically from the first, is that it was likely the first federally-backed firearm confiscation attempt in United States history.

Take a moment to reflect on the real purpose of the Second Amendment - the right of the people to possess and take up arms in defense of themselves, their families, and their property, in the face of danger – natural and man-made. The argument that the Second Amendment only applies to hunting or target shooting is asinine. Such things could only be cited with a straight face if one is either a fool, or more likely a charlatan.

When the United States Constitution was drafted, “hunting” was an everyday chore carried out by men and women to put meat on the table each night. Target shooting was an almost unheard of concept, musket balls being a precious commodity in the wilds of early America, certainly not to be wasted on “target shooting,” except perhaps by only the wealthiest among the colonists.

No, the Second Amendment was written by people who fled oppressive and tyrannical regimes in Europe, fought for their independence from such things in early America, and refers to the right of American citizens to be armed for defensive purposes should such tyranny arise in the newly-established United States.

Increasingly, the Right to keep and bear Arms is now “on the table,” and will most likely continually become threatened with revocation or legal impotence. Before any American politician advocates or supports whatever new firearms legislation is about to be passed (“so we will know what is in it!!”), they should stop and think about the endless tyrannies of history, as well as the slaughter at Wounded Knee.

The greatest human tragedies on record and the largest loss of innocent human life can be attributed to governments. Who do governments target? Enemies and scapegoats defined by groups within their own borders. Such groups, after they have been disarmed and no longer possess the means to pose a threat to the political class itself, are then dealt with in whatever manner the authorities (their “superiors”) deem appropriate.

Ask any knowledgeable Native American, and they will tell you it was inferior technology and lack of arms that contributed to their demise at the hand of the American government. Ask any Armenian why it was so easy for the Turks to exterminate millions of them. Ask any Jew what Hitler’s initial step prior to the mass murders of the Holocaust was. Recently, though not reaching the conclusion of the other examples, ask any American citizen of Japanese descent who was rounded up, disarmed, and then interred following Pearl Harbor – presided over by that great American benefactor of the Left, FDR.

Wounded Knee, though a largely forgotten episode of slaughter, remains a prime example of why Government promises of care & feeding should never be trusted; why the Second Amendment exists, and why no American with any knowledge of human nature or history should ever endorse, in exchange for alleged safety and “security,” the surrendering of their individual rights, among which is their right to defend themselves.

Once such surrender take place, the stage will again be set. A stage whereupon those who, in order to retain their power on their journey to their endlessly-imagined Utopia, will attempt to do so under the guise of "necessity."

Ultimately, the necessity of care & feeding - executed in the manner done at Wounded Knee creek; Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota; United States of America; December 29th, 1890.

Dave