What do you mean "Let's hope it doesn't happen here."? That is what I call whistling past the cemetary!
All we have to observe is the "reaction" in Wisconsin to attempts to curtail spending, multiply THAT by a thousand fold and you have arrived at exactly WHY Congress seems absolutely incapable of doing anything remotely resembling serious attempts to balance our budget. They are running scared!
When a human's "existance" is threatened.... in this case translated to mean being required to do without a LOT of the free rides the Government, in it's effort to appear "humanitarian" (... and to "buy votes").... your average human degenerates into the civility level of a cave man, struggling with ANYONE who threatens his/her existance. (Even if that "threat" is falsely arrived at through flawed thinking!)
The above poster blithely presumes that all gun owners are going to side with the "Law and Order" side of things. The "Law and Order" being represented by the Government, which MANY of us already have a healthy contempt for as they try to placate everyone and please no one. No. I see roughly half of gun owners (legal ones, at any rate) on each side of the matter. Half going off into a great yauwp of self survival (perceived), the other half trying to preserve the basic civility, order and prosperity of the Nation.
Even at that, my personal choice would be to protect me and mine as first priority, thereby leaving the more "noble causes" of preserving the Nation to someone willing to upset the entire apple cart to "get their way".
Here's the dilemma. The Government, in it's infinate wisdom, has promised too much to too many to be able to afford the keeping of it's promises. (One of the great faults of Government social efforts. Not to mention attempting to relieve the average citizen from the responsibility of taking care of him/her self.)
Now the Government is FORCED to say; "Look, we have gotten a bit carried away with the providing of warm and fuzzies... we are going to have to take a lot of it back." To which the average, self centered, self survival oriented "citizen" will retort; "Over my dead body!"
Unfortunately, I see that as exactly the end game in this stand off.
Further unfortunate is the lack of Leadership in this Nation. The type of leadership required to promulgate a clear plan to curtail the impending financial mess/cliff we are heading for, explain it carefully and openly to the citizenry, with reasons WHY this MUST be done and do it. If the general run of the citizenry reject this.... then what will be will be. I don't see our way of life, so carefully defended and cultivated for all these years, surviving the chaos.
All it would take is extended, violent and widespread civil unrest to have someone like King Obama to declare "A National State of Emergency" to suspend our "Rights". Another course of action guaranteed to "fundamentally change the US" as he so blatently offered as one of his "goals" if elected.
A democratic form of Government can only survive if the general run of the citizenry is smart enough to realize that things are not always going to go the way they particularly want it to go. Once "mob rule" under the guise of self preservation comes into play to any great extent..... the Government literally is forced to reply in kind to quell the violence. We see this in many "third world" Nations. The mere fact of us being a prosperous "first world" Nation does NOT exempt us from degenerating into a mob ruled anarchy.
I don't see a "good ending" to the present course of Government action (inaction). I'm just ever so happy that I am closer to the end of my life rather than at the beginning. I don't think I would be interested in the "future of America" I see beginning to rear it's ugly head.... particularly having the life experience of the "good days of America" under my belt.
Just sayin'.
GG
