We lost because of the invasion and expansionist desires of our enemy...[Read]Maybe this explains why Calderon is so hot on disarming us while the soft expansionist invasion continues.
No, I'm not suggesting his government--or those who vie for control of it--would do anything overtly beyond the small skirmishes we've seen. Yet. It's the covert stuff that we need to keep our eye on--especially the stuff where they're tag-teaming with our domestic enemy politicians.
Speaking of them, I see "Give 'em Infierno Harry" is having a DREAM that sounds more like a nightmare. See, you don't need to bring foreign troops on U.S. soil if those foreign troops are American troops...
Not to paint with too broad a brush, because I know there are many foreign born who have served the cause of defending the Republic with honor and distinction, some making the ultimate sacrifice, but we can't ignore the cynical manipulators behind this latest gambit--and what they stand to gain with their own expansionist desires.
We can't be afraid to speculate on what level of understanding those raised in more authoritarian regimes have for the concept of individual sovereignty, and whether or not such a group would be more or less likely to obey certain orders without considering that.
Excellent points, David.
ReplyDeleteLike the fascist state in Heinlein's "Starship Troopers." "Service guarantees citizenship." Between Reid's DREAM and Rangel's two-year mandatory volunteerism...
The Louisiana Terrirtory and Florida were already part of the United States. Texas had already ceded themselves from Mexico ten years earlier.
ReplyDelete"Mexico lost about half its territory to the United States in the war, including much of what later became Arizona, Nevada, Utah and California."
If we really were expansionist imperialists, why would we settle for half when we could have taken the whole enchilada? After all, we did occupy Mexico City at the time.
I think it's time, once again, to teach Mexico a lesson.
ReplyDeleteDefender, I hope you'll read the book instead of rely on the movie. The movie was bad compared to it's source. Still fun to watch due to the special effects, etc, but not near as good as the book. The concept of civic virtue is something quite good. The government was not Fascist. From the wiki article -
ReplyDelete" Heinlein's Terran Federation is a limited democracy with aspects of a meritocracy based on willingness to sacrifice in the common interest. Suffrage belongs only to those willing to serve their society by two years of volunteer Federal Service — "the franchise is today limited to discharged veterans", (ch. XII), instead of anyone "...who is 18 years old and has a body temperature near 37 °C"[16] The Federation is required to find a place for anyone who desires to serve, regardless of his skill or aptitude (this also includes dangerous non-military work such as serving as experimental medical test subjects).
There is an explicitly-made contrast to the democracies of the 20th century, which according to the novel, collapsed because "people had been led to believe that they could simply vote for whatever they wanted... and get it, without toil, without sweat, without tears."
Thanks, Oakenheart. I read all his books when I was in my teens, but that was I don't want to think how long ago.
ReplyDeleteI'm still not comfortable with the idea of EARNING essential rights. Still sounds like dystopia to me, and I wonder if Heinlein was "1984"ing us.
Heinlein used his fiction to experiment with various governmental possibilities. For some time in the late 40's/early 50's he advocated turning our nuclear arsenal over to the U.N. His space patrol novels posited a world government.The novel "Starman Jones" gave us a vision of dystopia that required all sons to follow no other profession than that of an already established family member.
ReplyDeleteI can see the attraction of a nation whose citizens are willing to take bodily responsibility for their nation. Currently, without any restriction on franchise, we have legislators and their attendant voter-enablers who refuse to take responsibility for anything at all. Hell, we can't even get our "advocates" (NRA) to admit that they smell a rat (Reid).
Oh well, maybe I expect too much.