As a nation, and as individual states, we have a lot to learn from the current riots taking place in Minnesota after the death of George Floyd. These protests turned riots are not new in our nation’s history, nor will it be a one off. It defines who we are and what we believe in. It reveals the nature of man as one who yearns to be free. Man needs liberty as much as he needs air, and when leviathan unjustly takes liberty, man must fight back or wither and die.
The phrase “violence is never the answer” gets thrown around a lot when discussing these sorts of issues, but I’m not certain of its infallibility as a principle to live by.
What happened when the British imposed the Stamp tax on the colonies?
Revolutionaries attacked trading ships in the Boston harbor and destroyed tea and set fire to British property. They fought a war after systematic governing overreach became too much to bear. What would have happened if these people felt it was better to appease, talk it out, or wait until the next election cycle/British appointee when the new leader would definitely get it right? Showings of force are not and should not be the first solution, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a solution at all.
How should the people meet a tyrannical force in the United States today? We don’t have tea to throw into the sea, nor do we have an ocean to drive the enemy back across. What action should prompt such a response? With Minnesota as a model, we now have a clear picture: one we must enter with great care. The consequences of force will be exponentially higher because we are facing each other.
First, force must be reserved for the most serious levels of corruption and abuse of power. When choosing to fight a dragon, the prize on the other side must justify the cost of the battle. Leviathan taking man’s liberty without just cause is the first sign to look for. Abusing their power to subjugate its people for no reason other than to grow its own power is the signal. Are there other, simple ways to hold responsible those who have inflicted injustice? If it is a one off, a showing of force is an over reaction. One bad apple does not necessarily ruin the bunch, but left around the bunch for too long the disease can spread. Maybe the issue lies deeper in the roots of the establishment: a poisoned tree cannot bear good fruit. There is a point where the tree is so sick it must be cut back to allow new trees to grow in its place.
Next comes the force itself. While I appreciate the spirit of rioting protests, there reaches a point of diminishing returns to the destruction. Such showings must be restrained and targeted to impact a clear and important target. It should be a snapshot of the fight, not the senseless destruction of something simply because it exists in the way of anger. At this point, violence on other humans should be avoided. Property damage speaks volumes and can be a great wake up call to push leviathan back into his proper place. Should this fail, as it is likely to do, the people must take a moment to organize. Riots are generally unorganized and thus ineffective.
The next step is a peaceful but determined armed march on the place where leviathan has been devouring liberty. The people must march, openly armed, surround the house of the beast and demand the guilty parties are held responsible: remaining until such action is taken. The goal isn’t to have the king walk out to be beheaded in the street, but the people must have those perpetrating corruption and abuse resign their post. The cancer must be cut out from the host lest it all be lost. Should leviathan fight back against such a showing, it is the responsibility of the people to kill it.
This is not an easy decision to make, and one I take great care in writing and have spent many years laboring on. Such a course of action will lead to the death of many on both sides. But what is the cost of appeasing the beast? Hiding from such a difficult course of action is nothing but to pass down a future of domination by the ruling class. What will our children inherit: dangerous liberty or secure subjugation? I pray these events will never come to pass, but as a student of history, I am not sanguine about such prospects.
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