August 05, 2009
Citizen Informants
By Bart Willruth
In 1930's Germany, the new socialist government of Adolf Hitler (NAZI National
Socialist Workers' Party) began indoctrinating children in the quasi-military
organization, the Hitler Youth, to inform on their parents should they overhear
discussions subversive to the policies of the Leader. As the noose was
tightened, local community organizers were appointed to watch their neighbors
and were told to report subversive comments to the bureaucrats above them.
Neighbors informed on neighbors, some for reasons of patriotism or loyalty, some
from fear. A modern inquisition ensued; a terror to free thought and expression.
Increasingly harsh penalties were meted out to those who dared to dissent.
The socialist governments of the Soviet Union, Fascist Italy, N. Korea, Cuba,
Yugoslavia, and the People's Republic of China employed the same citizen
informer techniques. Citizens of those societies were reduced to either silence
or whispered discussion only among those they trusted the most. Of course none
of those things would ever occur here in the land of the free. But wait...
Now on the White House website posted by Macon Phillips comes an eerily similar
request for citizens to inform on their neighbors. It states,
"There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there,
spanning from control of personal finances to the end of life care. These rumors
often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual
conversation. Since we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House,
we're asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web
about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."
Read this again carefully. The government of the United States is openly asking
citizens to report rumors, the contents of casual conversation, and the contents
of emails. They decry the fact that they are unable to "keep track" of the
communication between citizens effectively and are asking for help from
informers. Of course forwarded emails would contain the electronic addresses of
the sender.
Does this sound like the country you know (knew)? Are these the words of people
who think of themselves as public servants, or is this something darker? Does a
constitutional government tasked with protecting the rights of its citizens ask
them to inform on each other to the White House?
Are we now like one of those totalitarian states? No. But we have become more
collectivist. Is the move toward appointing unaccountable Czars with enormous
authority, the takeover of multiple industries (corporatism), the restructuring
of the economy on a socialist-command model, and the request for citizens to
inform on their fellows a step closer to that ugly place? Unquestionably, the
answer has to be yes. We must be concerned with the direction in which we are
headed as well as the breathtaking speed.
Forty years ago, a philosopher named Leonard Peikoff wrote a book (still in
print) called The Ominous Parallels. In it he shows the parallels (then scarcely
noticeable) between the rise of Hitler's socialism and the trends in the United
States. At the time, the book could have been dismissed as the ranting of an
over-zealous, though erudite and articulate, conspiracy nut. In retrospect,
Peikoff appears to have been quite prescient. Reading it today, it appears like
a roadmap of the last half century and how we got to this point. The
implications are clear. If the direction of the nation and the philosophic
perspective of the populace isn't brought back to the founding principles, the
end point is predetermined. Unfortunately, the premises underlying the agenda
are shared by both major parties. The opposition party is neutered in that it
has accepted the premises of the socialists, a strategy doomed to failure.
My father and several uncles risked their lives in World War II to bring down
the socialist threat of the German and Italian Axis powers. They survived. Many
of their buddies were maimed or killed in that struggle. That generation
successfully destroyed the military threat, but their efforts were blunted by
the persistence of the altruist-collectivist philosophical virus which animated
those socialists and which has infected the USA. Aside from the anti-Semitism of
that time, both Western Europe and the USA are thoroughly imbued with the
language and programs of the National Socialist program including its major
platforms of National Health care, National Retirement benefits, National
business plans, National agricultural plans, social safety nets, politically
correct expression expectations, national ministers or Czars who answer only to
the Leader, and the endless "we" talk so characteristic of collectivist
societies.
Our forebears sacrificed so much to pass on the blessings of liberty. The least
that we can do in the shadow of those heroes is to exercise our right to speak,
and to do so out loud, not in whispers fearing that someone will forward our
thoughts to the Watchers. These intimidating tactics must end.
Contact Bart Willruth.
Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/08/citizen_informants.html
at August 05, 2009
to flag@whitehouse.gov
date Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 1:38 PM
subject Information on criticism of obamacare
mailed-by gmail.com
Hey, I need to inform on myself. I have been going around telling people that it
REALLY SUCKS that you are going to raise my taxes to pay for obamacare, while
I'm going to be high on the list for euthanasia because I'm old and I'm a
disabled veteran. I spent 26 years wearing a U.S. Air Force uniform in hot wars
and cold wars because I had sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution
of the United States. Two of those years I spent in the jungles of Southeast
Asia trying to protect a couple of poor little countries from being taken over
by communists. Ironically, now my own country has been taken over by communists.
Do you really believe you can keep us down?
Here's some jive talk for obama: during my productive lifetime I imagine I paid
more taxes than obama ever will. My IQ is higher than his. My wife is much
better looking than his. I smell better than he does. If obama wants to have a
beer to talk about it, he can't. I don't drink. I'd love to share a pot of
hemlock tea with him though.
If you wish to send a pair of thugs or agents to speak with me. I would
recommend that they come escorted by a local uniformed police officer in a
marked cruiser, during daylight hours and approach the front door only, for
their safety.
Enemy of the State