What's especially interesting from the "gun nut" perspective: in Britain, it's pretty much the law that you MUST NOT use force to defend yourself; you MUST rely on the police to come rescue you. However, if Dalrymple's anecdote is at all representative, the police are not at all interested in even hearing about a crime in progress, much less attempting to stop one.
Many years ago I worked the breakfast shift at Wendy's.
Wendy's doesn't have a breakfast shift, I hear you cry. Well, it did once. That's not the point.
At any rate, I used to go in at 5:30, slop out the previous day's grease, haul out the garbage, police the parking lot, and such like things and stuff. There were worse minimum-wage joe jobs around. That's not the point either.
About 8:00 one of the salad-prep people would roll in, acting as if it were the authentic end of the world to have to show up to work at Wendy's at eight in the morning, and complain to anyone who would stand still long enough that she hadn't had a raise in five years.
My thought was, "Well, you're still here, so maybe you're complaining to the wrong person."
At what point do circumstances such as those Dalrymple described stop being something imposed upon the people by a tyrant, and start being something to which the people have acquiesced?
In other words, after a certain period of time, it's yer own durn fault for putting up with it--and if it comes here, shame on us.
I wish that more people would just take a look at England (and Europe) and realize that this is where the US is heading.
Me, too. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't understand the cause and effect operating here. They don't regard England's decline as the result of leftism, but of leftism improperly implemented. It's just a matter of doing it correctly, you see. Probably some of them don't even consider what Dalrymple observes as part of a decline at all, but as necessary inconveniences on the road to social justice.
Probably some of them don't even consider what Dalrymple observes as part of a decline at all, but as necessary inconveniences on the road to social justice. - Sarah
Personally, I’m interested in keeping other people from building Utopia, because the more you believe you can create heaven on earth the more likely you are to set up guillotines in the public square to hasten the process. - James Lileks
The more you think about this the more you realize that reason is not going to prevail with such people and that, sadly, a shooting war is probably inevitable.
It is interesting (to say the least) to contrast the ongoing responses to crime in this country with those of England. Here, we have widespread changes in the laws in favor of concealed carry of arms and in favor of standing your ground while defending yourself with deadly force in any place where you have a right to be. There, they have changed the laws to disarm the law abiding public and to prohibit self-defense even in one's own home.
We used to be two peoples separated by a common language. I don't know what it is that separates us now, but it ain't just language. I can't help wondering how far England will degenerate before trying to recover.
Texas is pretty cheap. No state income tax. Lots of room. Plus, we've got the better football team (Hook 'em Horns!). ;-)
Note:
All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost;
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JS-Kit/Echo comments for article at http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2006/04/on-englands-continued-decline.html (12 comments)
Tentative mapping of comments to original article, corrections solicited.
Good post. If you haven't read it, I recommend _Blood, Class and Empire: The Enduring Anglo-American Relationship_ by Christopher Hitchens.
What's especially interesting from the "gun nut" perspective: in Britain, it's pretty much the law that you MUST NOT use force to defend yourself; you MUST rely on the police to come rescue you. However, if Dalrymple's anecdote is at all representative, the police are not at all interested in even hearing about a crime in progress, much less attempting to stop one.
It can't happen here, of course. Can it?
I wish that more people would just take a look at England (and Europe) and realize that this is where the US is heading.
Many years ago I worked the breakfast shift at Wendy's.
Wendy's doesn't have a breakfast shift, I hear you cry. Well, it did once. That's not the point.
At any rate, I used to go in at 5:30, slop out the previous day's grease, haul out the garbage, police the parking lot, and such like things and stuff. There were worse minimum-wage joe jobs around. That's not the point either.
About 8:00 one of the salad-prep people would roll in, acting as if it were the authentic end of the world to have to show up to work at Wendy's at eight in the morning, and complain to anyone who would stand still long enough that she hadn't had a raise in five years.
My thought was, "Well, you're still here, so maybe you're complaining to the wrong person."
At what point do circumstances such as those Dalrymple described stop being something imposed upon the people by a tyrant, and start being something to which the people have acquiesced?
In other words, after a certain period of time, it's yer own durn fault for putting up with it--and if it comes here, shame on us.
I wish that more people would just take a look at England (and Europe) and realize that this is where the US is heading.
Me, too. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't understand the cause and effect operating here. They don't regard England's decline as the result of leftism, but of leftism improperly implemented. It's just a matter of doing it correctly, you see. Probably some of them don't even consider what Dalrymple observes as part of a decline at all, but as necessary inconveniences on the road to social justice.
Probably some of them don't even consider what Dalrymple observes as part of a decline at all, but as necessary inconveniences on the road to social justice. - Sarah
Personally, I’m interested in keeping other people from building Utopia, because the more you believe you can create heaven on earth the more likely you are to set up guillotines in the public square to hasten the process. - James Lileks
The more you think about this the more you realize that reason is not going to prevail with such people and that, sadly, a shooting war is probably inevitable.
It is interesting (to say the least) to contrast the ongoing responses to crime in this country with those of England. Here, we have widespread changes in the laws in favor of concealed carry of arms and in favor of standing your ground while defending yourself with deadly force in any place where you have a right to be. There, they have changed the laws to disarm the law abiding public and to prohibit self-defense even in one's own home.
We used to be two peoples separated by a common language. I don't know what it is that separates us now, but it ain't just language. I can't help wondering how far England will degenerate before trying to recover.
The fear is that the UK is beyond help.
C'mon over, Mr. FM. Lots of room in Texas and Arizona for people who know what freedom's about.
Oklahoma, too, and it's cheaper to live here.
Texas is pretty cheap. No state income tax. Lots of room. Plus, we've got the better football team (Hook 'em Horns!). ;-)
Note: All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost; references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>