Corporatism, fascism, guns, and mass murder.

[Eyeball_Kid]

Some of us often wonder what it looks like when fascism stares you in the face. What is it, exactly, that occurs when the inevitable conclusion is that fascism is an operating mechanism in our everyday lives. I have an illustration. And it's as plain as the likeness of Jefferson on a 20.

We should know when we, as a nation, are in real trouble. It's when business interests CONTROL the levers of government. In this world, it's the gun industry. They have control over government on the federal, state, and local level. The gun industry is telling the government what to do, and the government is doing it.

Vast majorities of US citizens want a curb on the reckless proliferation of killing weapons. We know that the gun/assault weapons abuse is beyond anyone's control. Nothing can stop it, we fear.

But the fact is that the gun industry, and not just the NRA, controls government and is telling government, don't touch this issue. So the government doesn't touch.

We can blame the extreme right. We can blame Trump. We can blame Pelosi or Schumer. We can blame the money bags. It doesn't matter. When business controls government, we can assess blame in ten thousand places. But it's the whole of government, the whole of the electorate, that doesn't grasp the issue.

Business is controlling government. Business (the gun industry) is telling government what (not) to do, and the government is obliging.

The government CAN outlaw assault rifles. But it won't because the gun industry is too powerful. And government refuses to seize control because government (OUR government) is too weak to do anything. To be fair, this is what "conservatives" have always wanted. They want strong business and weak government. They are having their way with the help of the media arm of their movement. The consequences, intended or not, include fascism. There are only so many roads that a government can follow. This is one of them.

The gun industry's control over government isn't an abstract notion. It is engraved on every stone that sits atop the grave of every victim of gun violence and mass murder. It is very real. Assault rifles are in the public domain because the gun industry wants it so. All of those deaths are the direct result of the gun industry's dominance over government. We let all of them die. We do nothing about it. And remember, WE are government. We are not demanding representation. Assault rifles in open society is due to the gun industry's representation inside government, not that of the people. The data is stark here. There is no question that the nation's people are not being represented by government.

We the people do NOT put the GOP to bed, never to awaken. We the people are still enamored with Republicanism as part of Americana. But the Republican Party has long gone away and been co-opted by those who no longer want free and fair elections. It's a simple fact that is evident everywhere. Yet GOP voters, longing for a time that never was, vote for a romantic fantasy about small government's benefits when the GOP's mission is to eliminate voting as a meaningful exercise. The coup attempt is still with us, and big money is still fueling the effort. Yet millions are willing to throw the Constitution away.

[TigressDem]

1. Militias are NOT supposed to be citizens against the government according to the CONSTITUTION

2nd Ammendment
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.


Article 1, Section 8, Clause 15 and 16 OF THE CONSTITUTION defines what a well regulated Militia MEANS



(Clause 15 – The Militia)

[The Congress shall have Power] To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

(Clause 16 – The Militia)

[The Congress shall have Power] To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

From the U.S. Senate web site:

Under these provisions, the right of the states to maintain a militia, including what is now the National Guard, is always subordinate to the power of Congress. In 1795 Congress first gave the president authority to call out the militia to suppress insurrections. Presidents employed this power to enforce federal law during desegregation disputes during the 1950s, and later during the civil disturbances in various cities during the 1960s

[Eyeball_Kid]

2. When the word "Militia" is capitalized throughout, it is indeed referring to the same concept..

..if the "Militia" is capitalized in the original text.

It looks like the Militia would be acting inside the "free State," but it would be much like an army. There is no reference to a force that acts on foreign soil. It has a far different purpose than the military, even at the time it was written. But the founders may not have envisioned its citizens involved in foreign conflicts abroad anyway. There was a lot of territory to explore to the west, away from European conflicts.

[Zeitghost]

3. The gun industry in the US

Is roughly the same size as the golf ball industry...

They aren't some all powerful behemoth. Gun rights is largely driven by activism and single issue voters. Gun control is "popular", but does not sway voters at the polls to the same degree and fades quickly as the proposed regulations get more strict.

That is to say, it's about changing minds, not getting some all powerful industry out of the equation.

[Eyeball_Kid]

4. Fear drives the market for purchases of guns.

Fear is the main driver for marketing from the gun industry, and the NRA acts as the gun industry's marketing agency. There is a quiet, yet ubiquitous marriage between the NRA and the gun manufacturers. They are all making money hand over fist, and they are basing their advertising on the notion that more guns make us more secure and more safe. The gun industry and the golf ball industry exist on two separate manufacturing and marketing planets. The "activism and single issue voters" have the foundation for their purchase of weapons on the fear and insecurity of not having enough weapons to remain safe. That rationale is completely erroneous, but it is the way of unfettered capitalism: create a "need", then sell a solution.