Copyright © 1995 Chris Walker (chris937@austin.email.net)
Originally posted to the Objectivism Study Group.
I have been researching the topics of gun rights, militias, Waco and others for the last two years. From this, I have drawn some parallels with Weimar Germany and some conclusions. I have just found a rich source of information on them from a series of excellent Soldier of Fortune articles critical of militias.
Since the beginning of the Clinton administration, trained and untrained men of all political persuasions have been joining militias in hordes. According to an ATF report that I saw on the Internet, over forty states have one. They vary in structure from highly organized such as those in Michigan to highly fractured such as exists in Texas. The people who tend to join these organizations fall into several categories: libertarian/anarchist types, religious "patriot" types, and a large number of ordinary folks who want to "do something" about the rights abuses of the federal government throughout the country.
Ideologically, they are fed by several sources. First and foremost, all hold that the entire notion of gun control and/or disarmament is intrinsically evil and prima facie proof of tyranny. To bolster this argument, they draw upon American Revolution literature, documentation of Nazi gun control laws and articles written by gun control advocates. The second source of information is a wide range of conspiratorial literature indicating that the United Nations, the New World Order, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) are about to join together and form a Nazi-style dictatorship.
Thirdly, these people draw upon documentation of actual government abuses ranging from threatened confiscations of land from ordinary citizens to such debacles as the Waco tragedy in 1993 or the Randy Weaver episode in 1992. It does not help that government authorities have actively thwarted exposing obvious coverups in these areas and that several agents involved in both events have actually been promoted.
The responses have been two-fold: above board advocacy of gun rights such as those presented by NRA's Wayne LaPierre and an underground reaction in the form of militias. Drawing upon the idea planted by the founding fathers that militias are a bulwark against tyranny, these people attend conventions, participate in training and exchange literature, facts and rumors to support their basic idea that the country is in trouble and that citizens must be "ready" to face it.
In my conversations with people peripherally associated with these movements and my knowledge of the prevailing philosophies dominant today, here are the dangers. The men and women who participate in the militias, especially their leaders, are trained experts in warfare. If for some reason one or more of these organizations chose to act, they would target command and control centers causing chaos throughout the country. Most though not all members of these militias adhere to their views ultimately not upon proof but on some sort of unreason, whether it be sense of life, whim (libertarians), or faith. In essence, they share the same philosophical premises that their perceived opponents in the federal government do. The danger is that if members of the militias should act violently to some threat (perceived or real) originating from the federal government, they may actually precipitate civil war and/or dicatorship rather than prevent it due to shared premises with the statists currently in power.
Currently, the political culture of the United States is fracturing. The philosophies of the left are bankrupt but dominant, other figures are reviving older nationalist doctrines while others push for a return to religion. If the current trends continue, civil war will occur in short order. The "Republican Revolution" recently witnessed is a last gasp (or last change) of the old two party structure of the United States. In fact, there are actually several different political parties. Upon disintegration of the Republican and Democratic parties, others will soon form and among them will be groups openly advocating violence for various reasons ranging from "saving babies" to stopping tyranny.
From today, there can only be a few roads. The militias will coalesce into a legitimate organization corresponding to the Natinalist Weimar Republic Stahlhelm, the militias will lead a disintegrated revolt which will lead to general civil war, or the country will return to freedom as is the intent of the leaders of the "Republican Revolution". In any case, we are in the most dangerous era for freedom since the Civil War or the darkest years of WW II. Fortunately, no economic disaster has set off waves of despair and hysteria leading droves of people to demand that the government "do something".
Everything isn't gloom and doom, but please don't help create a dicatorship by sanctioning armed revolt! Dr. Peikoff's advice is sound.