The Enemy Within :: 02/21/2012

The Enemy Within

By David Codrea , Gun Rights Examiner

Part One: Time enough for love

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined." -Patrick Henry, Speech in the Virginia Convention, June 5, 1788

We the People, by and large, have given up that force, abdicating it through ignorance, laziness and apathy. And that includes most members of that citizen militia the Founders deemed "necessary to the security of a free State."

Henry's contemporary, and in many ways, ideological opposite, would not have been surprised.

"The project of disciplining all the militia of the United States is as futile as it would be injurious," Alexander Hamilton warned in Federalist 29.

"A tolerable expertness in military movements is a business that requires time and practice... to acquire the degree of perfection which would entitle them to the character of a well-regulated militia, would be a real grievance to the people," he observed. "Little more can reasonably be aimed at, with respect to the people at large than to have them properly armed and equipped."

After all, folks had trades to ply, farms to tend, shops to keep. And fast-forward to the present, where the Heirs of Liberty look to their careers, education, kids...not to mention diversions, entertainment...

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.-Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

The thing is, most of us depend on specialization. If a pipe breaks, we call the plumber. If the car makes a funny noise, we get a mechanic to check it out. That's understandable; life and technology are complicated. We may not have the knowledge, or we may not have the tools. Besides, there are people who can do that for us, whatever "that" is, and if the price is right, it's in our interest to let them.

The trap is, we've done that with self-government, too. We have representatives. We do our part by voting (well, some of us do). After that, if you think technological specializing is complex, try wading through the law.

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