911 call goes unaided....no police available.....woman raped

[Citizen]

SNIP I was thinkin' about this yesterday. Somebody on here has Franklin's quote about democracy being two wolves and a lamb voting on dinner in his sig line. I saw it, and it prompted me to consider economics and consent to be governed--that is to say government without genuine consent.

For all his faults, I wonder if John C. Calhoun wasn't on to something when he wrote A Disquisition on Government. A disquistion is a treatise, a formal essay.

In Disquistion Calhoun advocates something called a concurrent majority. A concurrent majority is when even the minorty party(ies) must concur/agree before a bill becomes law. Calhoun was still short of the mark; his concurrent majority referred only to the govern-ers, not the governed. But, in the concept of a concurrent majority are the seeds of full consent by everybody governed. How can the consent of the minority representatives create validity unless the minority itself genuinely consents?

Hah! I wonder if that wasn't a contributing factor in the North's war against the South? "Gotta supress all them people who know about Disquistion and concurrent majority. Can't have them getting closer to exposing our lie that this federal government does not rule by consent."

 

[Citizen]

SNIP Sorry Dr. Franklin, they broke her.

Oh, Franklin knew it wouldn't work. He didn't suspect that it might not work, but hoped it would. Nope. He knew it wouldn't work. He said so in the closing address of the constitutional convention.

He was too ill to deliver the address himself. Someone else had to read it for him. But below is the relevant comment. You gotta wonder when the pre-eminent man of the era tells you it ain't gonna work. A man who is both the most famous man of the time--literally--and whose fame was chiefly for sagacity/wisdom.

...In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other...(emphasis added by Citizen)

 

[Thundar]

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Except that according to one report, the woman was a "prohibited person" and by law was prevented from having the means to protect herself.
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Which kinda brings me back to 'lesson learned.'

Crossbow, black powder revolver, musket, machete, sword, pike, pitchfork. Not as effective as modern firearms but still a means of defense.

 

[Citizen]

SNIP Our politicians dance merrily around the fire as the country burns.

I suspect they are just trying to squeeze out as much as they can for themselves before it crashes. Really, that's all they've been doing anyway all along. No reason to expect them to do something different. The only change is the urgency to get as much for themselves as possible.

Ancient Rome, the Republic--before the emperors--supplies an example. The whole thing was teetering on the brink for years. Politicians used this and that self-serving tactics to sway people to support the polician's interest at their own expense. Faction bickered with faction. For example, after campaigns in the east, around say 50 BC, there were a lot of soldiers needing to be mustered out of the army. So, some politicians--Julius Caesar among them if I recall--resorted to stealing farm land to redistribute it to soldiers. But, I think the government paid for the land. Meaning, the taxpayers paid for it. And, the farmers lost it. (If you're a farmer, you can grow food year after year after year. But, money sooner or later runs out.) Meanwhile, the politicians enhanced their careers. I can't believe the Caesarian faction didn't see things headed toward a dictatorship and didn't feel glad for their own pockets.

 

[shastadude17]

The lesson to be learned is that, while having properly functioning LE can help deter and punish crime, it does not keep you safe. Your safety is...

wait for it...

YOUR responsibility.

When you make others responsible for you, you enslave yourself to them.

I literally lol'd. Well said.

 

[g21sfpistol]

it would be nice if we know who she was and could donate some money for her to take some classes and purchase a gun. its easy for some of us to say "get a gun" but not everyone can afford a gun and classes and ammo. maybe she is someone who is on the fence about the gun control debate? in the Marines we have something called a "b billiot" to help you get promoted so you can be a recruiter or drill instructor for a few years. it would be nice if they had a billiot like that to teach something like a basic pistol class to LAC for free. well i guess its not really free cause we pay taxes but you get the idea.