Friday, March 26, 2004
Matt Bracken - ENEMIES FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC is about one of the several fault lines dividing the world views that co-exist uneasily within the United States today. One side of this ideological divide believes that American gun rights are a dangerous anachronism, and that firearms ownership should be strictly regulated, and as far as possible curtailed by the government. This side of American society desires to see all firearms registered with the government, and many classes of firearms banned.
The other side considers the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights to be an unbreachable wall, guarding the freedom of all Americans from steadily encroaching government tyranny. This side believes that it has learned a bitter lesson of history, and will never follow the tragic example of other peoples who have been disarmed, and then in many cases slaughtered by their own governments.
The firearms-intolerant side in America fails to appreciate that the God-given right to keep and bear arms is a bedrock core belief for tens of millions of Americans. This anti-firearms group seeks to elect those who would enact laws that may cross the constitutional point of no return for those millions of Americans who will not be disarmed without a violent struggle. The Americans who cherish the Second Amendment will refuse to be disarmed, regardless of what unconstitutional laws are passed, just as blacks would disobey any new laws which attempted to send them back into slavery.
The main thesis of Enemies Foreign and Domestic is that cynical manipulators, who understand both world views, could easily shape events to create a violent crisis in America between the two camps. This could easily be done as depicted in the Prologue, with a large-scale massacre blamed on a suitable villain, or by other means. Therefore, Enemies is also a cautionary tale: be extremely wary of events tending to advance laws stripping Americans of their right to keep and bear arms. No matter the provocation, genuine or contrived, millions of Americans will not be disarmed without a violent struggle.
The society of gun-owning Americans is like a great lake: vast, deep and placid. Their firearms are rarely seen above the lake’s surface from day to day, but they exist in their countless millions just the same. It is the contention of the author that it would be extremely unwise to push millions of firearms owners past their boiling points, with unconstitutional laws depriving them of their right to keep and bear arms. The unintended consequences of such a mistake would be disastrous for all Americans.
Guest: Matt Bracken
Subject: Enemies Foreign And Domestic, Revolution, Gun Control, Gun Confiscation