I'm Back

Hey all- "all" if anyone is actually reading still, especially after my long absence.

The Hard Drive on my laptop crashed, and I wasn't about to write a blog post on my cell phone, so I've been MIA for a bit.

And now, I return with a pretty... well, pretty controversial post. (yeah, "controversial"- to put it lightly)

Because, as I'm pretty sure you all know, we are as a country rapidly approaching the FISCAL CLIFF. (dramatic music- *DUN DUN DUUUUNNNNN*)
Now, having been living in a hole called Afghanistan for 6.5 months, and then for the last year in a hospital, focusing exclusively on therapy and rehab, I usually don't find out about things until they've already happened. Like, three weeks after they happened. And then:
"Hey, did you hear about ___? Isn't that INSANE?!"
"Uh... yeah, that's old. You didn't know about that?"
For example, I didn't know that Steve Jobs had died until February.
However, even living under such a large, dense, heavy 'rock' as I currently do, I hear about big things- so long as they're important enough that it filters to me through Facebook, or through muted news programs I see in the hospital whose headlines are arresting enough that I look it up later.
Such is the case of this "Fiscal Cliff".
I honestly had no idea what this was for a while. I paid some mild attention to the frustrating (to put it mildly) world of United States politics, and I didn't hear a word about this situation. Not once did I hear a single person say, "Yeah, the Election is important, but they need to buckle down and change some stuff so we don't go over the "Cliff"!" Nope. Not once. Reporters are so quick now to point fingers and say, "Congress should have put aside politics and made changes to avoid this catastrophe!" But I can't help but remember all of these same reporters during the campaigning, doing nothing but talking to NO END about the politics of the campaigns.

And then, beyond the Cliff, there is a concern which has simply *angered* quite a few people whom I know: the UN's 2012 Firearms Treaty.
This one has a lot of my friends ranting about stockpiling, living "off the grid", rioting, etc.
Me, I don't see it happening. The United States of America exists because citizens own their own firearms. We have been guaranteed possession of our own weapons since the founding of the Nation, and it has been an assumed freedom- a right- which has been inherent to our citizenship throughout this country's history. Even ignoring the whacked-out nut-jobs who live in their self-sufficient cabins with a massive stockpile of semi-legal firearms and their cousin/wife in the basement, regular citizens of this country (of which I can't really claim to be one- I'm not very normal) simply won't stand for such a massive law.
Oh, but you hear all the anti-gun people talking every day, so it seems like there are a lot of them, right?
No. Not really. Now, if I were in politics or television, and I was low enough in my humanity to use something like the deaths of children to gain support, ratings, whatever, then I could easily go on TV and talk about how all of these crimes in the nation are clear proof that we need harsh, uncompromising gun control! And I wouldn't be lying. However, I'm not (I think) that despicable, and as such do not in any way intend to use something as tragic as a death- not even just "a normal person", but an Elementary School student's death- to build an argument.
So, all I will say is that there is a very strong argument for each side; but that our right to own, bear, and carry arms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment. And that until such a time as this country changes so drastically as to make amending the wording of the Constitution acceptable, there is no way around that.
 And that is, honestly, the end of that argument.

Anyway, I talked to a friend of mine last night, and he seems to think that this Cliff is going to be the final catalyst; that within the next decade, possibly the next two years, the country will be in anarchy. My, I don't quite see how that would be possible- see, I can't help but think that there is a HUGE difference between saying, "Oh, I'm not completely happy with ____." or "I think that ___ should ____...", and picking up a shotgun, leaving your home and all the comforts of a life within your government's protection, however unpleasant it is, to risk everything you have to bring about a violent regime change.
So, no, total government overthrow isn't going to happen. It just isn't- not any time soon.

I do think that, if this situation isn't controlled- if the United States allows itself to continue spinning out of control, burrowing a trillion dollars a year further into debt and placing military beachheads in every nation we can get away with it in- then eventually, something will happen.
It won't be all that sudden; something like this isn't a flashpoint event. It would have to stem from a long period of unrest; a  steady, strong surge of popular demand for a gross overhaul of the government. However angry people are with their leaders, it is so, so much easier to simply sit in the comfort of the home (powered, heated, and watered by the State's grid) and complain. I'm not trying to be hypocritical here- I would spend a long time going through preexisting networks and channels to bring about changes to an existing system, before I went native and fled to the jungle to spawn a guerrilla uprising- I'm just stating the fact that it will take time to come.
And if it does come, then the time leading up to it would have to be a time of serious detrimental change. The state of our nation would have to degrade to a point nigh unthinkable right now for a large enough force of citizens to march on D.C. to overthrow the government.

(I'm kind of rambling, I think, but it's been a while- bear with me)

And then, my little personal addition:
This country's core belief, since its inception- and indeed the reason for its creation- is that when those in power are either incapable, unwilling, or unable to protect and provide for those people who have given their allegiance to those leaders, the people have not only the absolute right, but the RESPONSIBILITY TO TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS.
That's why we are Americans, and not British; this has been a cornerstone of this Nation's beliefs, a pivotal tenet, since its birth.
As of now, I don't believe that this country is at a point where I would advocate for a rebellion. I do know that we have an awful lot of.... problems, but that it is better to be beneath a bumbling, but existing, government than it is to live in a tree in the jungle all alone, with no one to help you to live. I absolutely do not agree with, well, a *lot* of the things that our government deems necessary and right, but then, I'm not representative of the entire population. (I like to think that I don't represent very much of the population at all, because I can *think*. That doesn't make me feel better for the world, because then I realize that if everyone is really that stupid then we're doomed; it just makes me feel better because then I feel superior to the "sheeple" (that's a word that's been playing around in my head more and more lately...))

Anyway, I'm going to sign off for now because I think I'm rambling. Maybe I'll get back on later and write more about this, because I'm pretty pissed at the Government and at "our" populace right now (and almost ALWAYS), or if you want to clarify/argue something you can comment, or email me, or something...
Whatever. See if I care.

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