Tyranny is an important phenomenon that operates by principles by which it can be recognized in its early emerging stages, and, if the people are vigilant, prepared, and committed to liberty, countered before it becomes entrenched. The methods used to overthrow a constitutional order and establish a tyranny are well-known. However, despite this awareness, it is surprising how those who have no intention of perpetrating a tyranny can slip into these methods and bring about a tyranny despite their best intentions. Tyranny does not have to be deliberate. Tyrants can fool themselves as thoroughly as they fool everyone else. Here are the top 16 signs that you are living in a tyranny or heading that way. Many thanks to Jon Roland for submitting this list (the original of which is here).
1. Control of public information and opinion: It begins with withholding information, and leads to putting out false or misleading information. A government can develop ministries of propaganda under many guises. They typically call it “public information” or “marketing”.
2. Vote fraud used to prevent the election of reformers: It doesn’t matter which of the two major party candidates are elected if no real reformer can get nominated, and when news services start knowing the outcomes of elections before it is possible for them to know, then the votes are not being honestly counted.
3. Undue official influence on trials and juries: Nonrandom selection of jury panels, exclusion of those opposed to the law, exclusion of the jury from hearing argument on the law, exclusion of private prosecutors from access to the grand jury, and prevention of parties and their counsels from making effective arguments or challenging the government.
4. Usurpation of undelegated powers: This is usually done with popular support for solving some problem, or to redistribute wealth to the advantage of the supporters of the dominant faction, but it soon leads to the deprivation of rights of minorities and individuals.
5. Seeking a government monopoly on the capability and use of armed force: The first signs are efforts to register or restrict the possession and use of firearms, initially under the guise of “protecting” the public, which, when it actually results in increased crime, provides a basis for further disarmament efforts affecting more people and more weapons.
6. Militarization of law enforcement: Declaring a “war on crime” that becomes a war on civil liberties. Preparation of military forces for internal policing duties.
7. Infiltration and subversion of citizen groups that could be forces for reform: Internal spying and surveillance is the beginning. A sign is false prosecutions of their leaders.
8. Suppression of investigators and whistleblowers: When people who try to uncover high level wrongdoing are threatened, that is a sign the system is not only riddled with corruption, but that the corruption has passed the threshold into active tyranny.
9. Use of the law for competition suppression: It begins with the dominant faction winning support by paying off their supporters and suppressing their supporters’ competitors, but leads to public officials themselves engaging in illegal activities and using the law to suppress independent competitors. A good example of this is narcotics trafficking.
10. Subversion of internal checks and balances: This involves the appointment to key positions of persons who can be controlled by their sponsors, and who are then induced to do illegal things. The worst way in which this occurs is in the appointment of judges that will go along with unconstitutional acts by the other branches.
11. Creation of a class of officials who are above the law: This is indicated by dismissal of charges for wrongdoing against persons who are “following orders”.
12. Increasing dependency of the people on government: The classic approach to domination of the people is to first take everything they have away from them, then make them compliant with the demands of the rulers to get anything back again.
13. Increasing public ignorance of their civic duties and reluctance to perform them: When the people avoid doing things like voting and serving in militias and juries, tyranny is not far behind.
14. Use of staged events to produce popular support: Acts of terrorism, blamed on political opponents, followed immediately with well-prepared proposals for increased powers and budgets for suppressive agencies. Sometimes called a Reichstag plot.
15. Conversion of rights into privileges: Requiring licenses and permits for doing things that the government does not have the delegated power to restrict, except by due process in which the burden of proof is on the petitioner.
16. Political correctness: Many if not most people are susceptible to being recruited to engage in repressive actions against disfavored views or behaviors, and led to pave the way for the dominance of tyrannical government.
Contributor: Jon_Roland
hmm i believe #1 is referring to ‘censorship’. that’s the term used by my history profs anyway.
119. Mom424:
That bit I wrote was in reference to US’s take on the universal healthcare plan. Clinton’s was far more universal, Obama’s seems to be a hybrid of hers and the current standard. Although at the start of campaigning he did have standards similar to hers and I wonder if the subsequent alterations were to assuage those on the fence on the issue.
A mild OT tangent… In an effort to promote carpooling and decrease traffic, the state created and designated a lane as HOV – High occupancy vehicle – originally planned as HOV-4 meaning if you have four people, you may take the less populated HOV lane and breeze past the lesser passenger cars. Well all and saundry had a tiff about this new environmental proposal. Words exchanged, some logical, some irrational…the end result? HOV-2 so any car with 2 or more people can go into this single lane if they so choose while the rest of the natural world has 3 lanes to their fancy. Compromise can be good but at times like this (IMHO with healthcare) compromise can be stupid.
Thanks for the tip! If I feel the need to hash it out with competent people, I’ll definitely stop by the forum.
“So they banned guns in England, yet knife attacks are on the rise. Do they ban knives there too now?”
No they didnt. They heavily and strictly controlled them as I said above and did it in the UK (not just England). You can still own shotguns for example. And BTW England and The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are not interchangable entities.
Funnily enough removing guns from standard circulation caused gun crime to plummet, and all types of violent crime are decreasing. And it is already illegal to carry a knife – it is known as carrying an offensive weapon.
“You assume every “yahoo” who has a gun has it legally.” I don’t assume that. I don’t think anyone assumes that. But if guns are available very readily LEGALLY then it will be easier to get a gun illegally than, say, in the UK.
“Well, poor people do get treated here, even those who aren’t here legally.”
That wasnt my point. My point was that people who can PAY for top class treatment get it earlier. If two people with 6 months to live with one being able to pay for their treatment, and the other going on a waiting list because they cannot pay to jump the queue, who would you put your money on surviving?
I actually feel sorry that you have such a cynical view of the world.
Was GWB a dictator or a tyrant? Whatever his (undbouted) faults, how many other dictators or tyrants in history have ridden off into the sunset as quietly as he did? Will Obama ride off into the sunset as quietly in four or eight years’ time? My guess is is “yes”.
Scary Stuff. Some interesting parallels with current scenarios. I’m rather bemused with all the gun comments from
non-Americans. We have our gun laws and you have yours. Same with health insurance, I pay about $700 a month to cover my
wife and children. (Mine is no-cost from my employer) Having
a family was my decision. Why should I expect others to pay for my lifestyle choices? If you cannot properly protect and provide for your family, don’t have one. Yes, it really is that simple.
“Why should I expect others to pay for my lifestyle choices?”
Usually I would agree with you. However, just look around today. People losing their jobs and their homes. They cant afford to pay their premiums. It isnt their fault. Why should they be forced to take a drop in health care?
I suppose to us Brits who have grown up with our system your system is just….wierd :S
“If you cannot properly protect and provide for your family, don’t have one.”
Naive view my friend. For the same reasons.
Cymra….Yeah, maybe I am naive, but I intend to stay that
way. I sleep well at night not relying on others to
provide things that are clearly my responsibility.
Your comments are welcome, though. Different strokes
for different folks. If we all thought the same, things
would really be dire. Have a good one.
Lol. Fair enough
Peace out!
Steve from MKE :…The permanent welfare class…
****So, Stevie-boy, how would you classify *me*? I have a couple of B.A.s and a M.A., I worked from the time I was in school until my kids were grown and gone. Then I was struck by a disease so rare, and so painful, that even the government doctors agreed after only ONE visit that I would be on disability for the rest of my life. I’m on a daily routine of drugs, any one of which would kill a person whose body was not used to the assault.
Yes, I am a permanent disability check collector. I will be for the remainder of my life. Should the government deny me? Or do you put me in a different “class” than welfare?
segue,
I think there is little point in trying to reason with this guy. Engrained opinions are a chore to change.
“I would pose this question though; How come of all the developed countries in the world the only one without universal access to health-care is the United States?”
It doesn’t matter now since we have a President and a Congress under one party rule.
matt123 “If you cannot properly protect and provide for your family, don’t have one.”
what would u say to the person that didn’t choose to have a child and found herself pregnant? and that isnt an invitation to say something about responsibility and contraception in order to avoid the question.
i want to know what u would advise the parent to do. i can tell u from experience no one will hire a pregnant girl. once the baby is born, finding quality affordable childcare is near impossible, as is finding a job that is flexible towards the needs of a single parent.
132. Steve from MKE – March 8th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
“I would pose this question though; How come of all the developed countries in the world the only one without universal access to health-care is the United States?”
It doesn’t matter now since we have a President and a Congress under one party rule.
What has that got to do with it?
Well segue…don’t really know why having a “couple” of degrees makes any difference, but no, you’re not in a different class. I’m talking about able-bodied human beings who refuse to work for a living and women who pop out kids just to get the government assistance, which has now been exacerbated under Obama who, with his “stimulus” bill, basically killed welfare reform from the mid-90′s.
“as is finding a job that is flexible towards the needs of a single parent.”
ATM finding a job for ANYONE is hard enough!
“What has that got to do with it?”
Uh, everything…since democrats control the White House and have control of Congress.
I realize a constitutional republic is hard for some to grasp.
“which has now been exacerbated under Obama who, with his “stimulus” bill, basically killed welfare reform from the mid-90’s.
The man hasn’t been in office 6months and already he is to blame for all the problems in america..?
o..k…
That man must fcuk up FAST. I do have a question. What else was he supposed to do?
….O dear Steve. The question posed to you was:
“How come of all the developed countries in the world the only one without universal access to health-care is the United States?”
Your reply did not address this point.
“It doesn’t matter now since we have a President and a Congress under one party rule”
Hence my reply:
“What has that got to do with it”
I realise that standard common sense and grammar are hard for some to grasp.
Would you like to take another whack at a response that actually answers the question?
cym, well yes, much harder these days, but 2 years ago is when this all happened to me. jobs were plenty, just unavailable to me.
lucky for me now i have a work placement which has childcae available, i will get a qualificaion in a year as well as some gold DofE certificates and i’m hoping by then the job market will have eased. i hope.
steve from mke, do u differentiate between “women who pop out kids just to get government assistance” and women who just “pop out kids”? also, please define who u think is able to work? because different people have different ideas about who is able to work and who isn’t… like the mentally unstable who are able bodied.
132. Steve from MKE
1933 – President Roosevelt (D) Congress majority (D)
1971 – President Carter (D) Congress majority (D)
1993 – President Clinton (D) Congress majority (D)
2001 – President Bush (R) Congress majority (R)
That’s only the tip of the iceberg but it’s obvious it’s not the first time a one party rule has happened. And with the House of Representatives changing state seats every two years depending on voting cycle of the individual states, there’s a possibility that Obama’s one party rule will only exist for two years.
And btw, to date, Obama has been in office… 1 month, 3 weeks and 1 day. How he hasn’t fixed decades of economic trouble, years of war, and the general discontent within and without America….FOR SHAME!
“The man hasn’t been in office 6months and already he is to blame for all the problems in america..?”
Good grief…in 1996 AFDC was replaced with a new program that reversed the funding to the states that actually gave them more money with the more dependent people they had. Funding was cut to states which had lowered their caseloads. That new program had goals which had goals of reducing the number of people on welfare. Regardless of what you think of that, getting able-bodied into the workforce and being self-sufficient is a good thing.
But with the new so-called stimulus bill, that has been overturned and now the old style government welfare check hand-out has even been increased to the states. And no more work rules are in place.
For those who don’t care to know, President Obama has said he viewed our Constitution as an obstruction to “redistributive change”…as in reparations. That’s what all this is about. If you don’t live here, I’m sorry, you’ll never understand it. He doesn’t wish to help people, he just wants to control as many people as he can.
i love political lists everyones panties get all twisted
Am I missing something? (I know the UK uses a different system so I might be) but what does this have to do with the question:
“How come of all the developed countries in the world the only one without universal access to health-care is the United States?”
Why did steve bring it up in the first place?
“How come of all the developed countries in the world the only one without universal access to health-care is the United States?”
Have any of you people ever thought “Hey, all this socialism costs a lot of money”..? And I still point to all the Canadians who come down here for their healthcare. If socialized medicine is so great up there, why is there so many coming down here for their care?
You may be surprised, but lots of people actually like their healthcare and the system.
“He doesn’t wish to help people, he just wants to control as many people as he can.”
I always thought he Obama looked like the Emperor from Star Wars. It is all falling into place.
All hail Emperor Obama!
Seriously mate. Are you for real?
The UK isnt a socialist country and still has the NHS.
How much do you pay on health insurance a month?
Even in Scotland – where the cost of the NHS is higher for a number of reasons, it is about £2,313 per head…PER YEAR.
So that is…less than £120 (about $170) a month per taxpayer.
Yeah this socialism is damned expensive.
Steve from MKE – To whom are you referring? The only instances that I’m aware of, the folks could not receive the treatment in a timely manner here in Canada. Not enough machines or some such. Our health insurance paid to send them to the USA for treatment. They went to the USA because it was required that they be treated in a timely manner. Which they are guaranteed to by our Charter. How is this bad?
I have read of other instances where the surgery was deemed too experimental or dangerous; those folks paid out of their pocket. I personally have no first hand knowledge of anyone choosing to go to the United States. No one in my extended family.
“Seriously mate. Are you for real?”
Well, mate, I’ve seen enough from democrats in my life to understand they don’t care about people’s liberties or personal property.
And seriously “mate”, you should read up on the man and about his mentors like Saul Alinsky, John McKnight,Alice Palmer and Frank Marshall Davis.
well we are all (me included) whinging and moaning about the state of the world today but i dont see any one coming up with solutions or doing anything about it.
heres an idea, lets overthrow our governments, be they uk or american, and start fresh with new laws and new leaders. any takers?
i bet no one goes for it. u know why? because much as we hate the system its familiar. because we know we couldn’t do it any better. there are people out there who would make better prime minister/president but i dont know them and i dont want to have to go to the trouble of finding them. because even if this happened, it would all get corrupt again.
even if some one stepped up, i wouldnt do anything, because i just want a quiet life where i can bring up my son the best i can.
STEVE FROM MKE i notice you dont answer questions u dont like. thats a very annoying habit.
“How much do you pay on health insurance a month?”
Out of pocket, $115 per month for healthcare and $25 for dental
Awww…is stevie gettin angry at poor little me…
Well there’s your problem Steve: pure Republican party member… Staunch republican, staunch democrat…both of them are the true problems with the government. You’re not seeing the issues as is but rather siding with a political party. It’s promoting ignorance! Cym, there’s no help for him… he’s already prepared to distort everything to his liking with no consideration to the actual facts.
And for the record, I’ve been against the stimulus package from the get go as it is nothing but more pork barrelling. If I weren’t more focused on the actual legislation and rather took what you said at face value, you’d compel make me switch sides simply to spite you!
No cymrae, I don’t know you well enough to get angry.
“Well there’s your problem Steve: pure Republican party member…”
What exactly is a pure Republican party member? Doesn’t say that on my Vast Right Wing Conspiracy card.
According to a number of American news sites, the average american insurance premium in 2008 was cost $4,704 for Annual single coverage. I notice this increases if you have prescription plans.
Seeing as the highest per head in Britain is $3,271.74 it doesnt take a genius to figure out that, actually, our system is slightly cheaper. Our figure also stays constant, no matter how many pre-exisitng problems you have, or problems you develop.
It also helps that much of the tax to pay for the NHS comes from cigarettes and alcohol sales.
“Seeing as the highest per head in Britain is $3,271.74 it doesnt take a genius to figure out that, actually, our system is slightly cheaper. Our figure also stays constant, no matter how many pre-exisitng problems you have, or problems you develop.”
If you like it, fine, I like my plan too. But why overhaul a system that doesn’t need overhauling?
Shadow – “So go ahead and ban guns, and watch people become increasingly proficient at buying or making them illegally. Keep them illegal, and watch honest people learn how to become proficient with throwing knives and knife fighting in general.”
Knife fighting? Throwing knives? You’re kidding, right? I feel like I’m in the Count of Monte Cristo or something.
You can’t compare a gun and a knife. A knife has so many other legitimate purposes. A gun exists only to take life. If we’re going to refer to them as tools, we need to look at their purpose. Even if I accepted your argument (which I don’t) knife wounds are less likely to be lethal than gunshots. In addition, you have far less innocent bystanders who get injured in a knife fight…. not many 10 year old kids get killed in a drive-by knifing.
I’m not suggesting here that all gun owners own a gun purely to take life, but I’m merely making the point that more guns = more crime. If there is a society with 1,000,000 guns and a society with 1000 guns, do you really expect me to believe the latter would have more crime?
Because it does need overhauling?
Because Medical professionals believe by 2018 health care will consume as much as half of household income?
Because Americans pay up to nine times more for medications than the rest of the developed world because prices are not negotiated?
Because when profits come before healthcare, standard of care will be affected?
Because the U.S. is ranked 37th in the world for healthcare?
and that 37th is behind Oman, Colombia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Chilie
135. Steve from MKE : Well segue…don’t really know why having a “couple” of degrees makes any difference, but no, you’re not in a different class.
****
Well Mike (I like to get down on their level, it makes them feel good and safe), you haven’t really answered my question.
How are disability and welfare alike? “One of these things is not like the other thing; one of these things doesn’t belong…”
Big difference here Stevie, let’s see if you can crack the code.
Disability.
Welfare.
Check them out in the dictionary and come back with an answer. I’ll wait.
What is wrong with you people- the US is no where close to a tyranny.
It really annoys me when people say that the US is a tyranny. Really people? Really?
I could’ve sworn from the title this was gonna be a funny list.
Boy, was I wrong.
When did people start only caring for themselves and ignoring the plight of others. Yes some people take advantage of welfare but no matter what you do people will take advantage of it. But there are many people that actually need welfare to survive. This is not a society of the fittest, we already know that social darwinism is crap, get over yourself and care about other people.
every country is a tyranny to a degree
people calm down there are some countries around that are tyrannys
Enter, America.
Phew, I seem to have escaped verbal abuse at the Nazi reference. Good list by the way
I don’t think America is anything near a Tyranny people… But I guess most of you are joking anyway?
ahahahhahahahaha, the USA is such a terrible place. I hate them for having so much
Thanks for a great laugh. The comments today are a hoot.
this is SINGAPORE… without a doubt
166 duh: It really annoys me when people say that the US is a tyranny. Really people? Really?
Yes really. Here in California, citizens are being denied equal civil rights as we speak. Because of “tyranny of the majority”. Hello all you “Yes on Prop 8” bigots. Even a democracy can’t get it right sometimes.
165: What is wrong with you people- the US is no where close to a tyranny.
Try looking past your own nose.
1. I can assure you Iraq HAS WMDs. Just a matter of time before we find them.
2. No Hanky Panky in Florida 2000 nor in Ohio 2004, Trust me on this please.
3. There was no undue influence on “juries” at Guantanmo, believe me.
4. Haliburton and the Oil Companies did not gain anything from the Iraq War. In fact, they should be commended for their civic duty and patriotism.
5. We are certainly NOT Canada.
6. We only wage wars on “terror”, not crime.
7. FBI has no informants in mosques and synagogues. Just lies spread by the Soviet Union or whatever they are called today.
8. We don’t kill anyone above secretary or minister level if they disagree with our wars. Colin Powell is a living proof of that.
9. Watergate was a Chinese conspiracy.
10. Our Supreme Court members are elected by the national Bar Associations, … I believe.
11. Karl Rove did nothing wrong.
12. Not the US people, certainly.
13. Well, good thing our media gives the public a well-balanced even-handed view of world affairs – It’s on the back page of some of the bigger national newspapers.
14. We never staged anything in the 60s and blame it on Castro.
15. Got nothing here … seriously … sorry.
16. You are either with us or against us.
McSquid #161
“I’m not suggesting here that all gun owners own a gun purely to take life, but I’m merely making the point that more guns = more crime. If there is a society with 1,000,000 guns and a society with 1000 guns, do you really expect me to believe the latter would have more crime?”
Short answer, it depends on whose hands those 1000 guns are in.
Your statement that more guns = more crime is patent bull**** that your standard anti-gun groups routinely spew forth. It is well documented that in EVERY instance in which a state has adopted concealed carry laws, gun related crimes decrease. Concealed carry holders are the most law-abiding group among us, there is less than 1% of CCW carriers involved in firearm related crimes. As a group, that’s amazingly low, again it’s been well documented, except it would seem to be noticeably absent in the places you’ve been looking.
If I had to be in a town full of guns, as you suggest, I’d much rather be in a town of 1,000,000 NRA members and CCW carriers than in a town where the only guns belong to 1000 criminals. I know where I’d be safer, and the statistics bear it out. Might I suggest you actually do some research before you spout off like that, because it’s blatantly obvious the only evidence you pay attention to is the type that appeals to your personal views.
This list is like astrology: It can apply to everyone if we just squint a little bit.
Hey, eggs: Tell me this doesn’t apply to you: “because it’s blatantly obvious the only evidence you pay attention to is the type that appeals to your personal views.”
Eggs Ackley – like I said in my original post, that I’m guessing you haven’t read, I have done my research. I even wrote a paper on it. It is blatantly obvious that the evidence I pay attention to is the evidence of what is happening in my own country (Australia), since that is where I live. If Americans want to kill each other, then go for it.
In the 90s following the Port Arthur massacre, Australia implemented a massive gun buyback. There has been a huge reduction in gun numbers across the country. And guess what? Serious crime has dropped. Not just gun crime, either. Check it out at http://www.abs.gov.au. Do YOUR research before criticizing mine.
In addition, I am not questioning the fact that CCW owners ARE law-abiding. But the simple fact is that when you have so many guns in circulation, it is so much easier for a criminal to acquire one. That’s just common sense. So yes, I totally agree with your statement that CCW owners ARE more law-abiding. But the criminals aren’t usually the ones who are licensed to carry guns.
In addition, if I was a criminal, and I was breaking into a house, if I knew there was a gun in the house, I’d be far more likely to take a gun in too. If I knew I wasn’t going to be shot at, then the chance that I would go in armed with a firearm would decrease.