Maybe they don't WANT it, but are they acting to ensure it won't happen? A=A.

tale as old as time. most americans did not want the revolution

only a few will ever really notice. truth

I was trying to make a funny. Wielding a pen AND a sword simultaneously will surely leave me off handed and awkward.
BUT...what happens if the philosophy dies and only a few notice?

which came first....Common Sense or the American Revolution?
Locke or the Declaration. The philosophy must exist first for a free society to thrive. the swords are there to uphold the philosophy in an instant-but the sword cannot protect the philosophy over a lifetime without using the pen

What comes first... the pen or the sword? Simultaneously might be tricky.

I was just thinking about the beginning of our new country and how very soon into it, Congress and the President started doing things which were unconstitutional. I think the cycle is a decade. Both sword and pen are used simultaneously. It can never be one over the other. they each have their purpose and without the other there will still be a fail. Guns are not outlawed. How many freedoms have you seen leave in your lifetime while you still retained your firearms? Throwing out tyrants does not make you free necessarily. None of these decisions will be made by the vast majority of asleep at the wheel americans. These decisions will be made by smaller groups who have great influence.

"But he completely ignored education and intellectual persuasion."

His video covers the intellectual persuasion in itself, but you are right about the educational.

My guess is that he would agree with me, that the educational system has gone to the dark side, and cannot be used for any real reform. They are the 'tools' of the statists.

" At 1:11:00 in, the premise of the entire video is undermined by the statement that most people were not harassed by their tyrannical govt." I have to disagree here kh. Do you recall that the Occupy movement was not harassed by any local, state, or federal police? Why? Because they were helping the Dems usher in BOs dictatorship. Likewise most Germans reveled in the benefits of obedience to Hitler. They were unmolested as long as they obeyed he dictator.

What were the headers on all the brick walls that got knocked down in the process of getting to the only thing that will stop them is the people using force? (And...what about the lack of interest level, or the permanent comatose state, or the lazy, complacent and intentionally ignorant? That's a large component we need to contend with.. And the NON American facet also.... Intellectual arguments just might be lost on all of them.) I thought I had a bunch of "thinking" targets to engage...... and they even failed. Not trying to be a downer....we need something that will grip them. Like a slap across of the face!

I don't think so. In this context, I just noticed its absence. After all, isn't Lark engaging in the very thing I'm saying he didn't acknowledge as key to winning?

I think we'll eventually end up back at the pen/sword debate.

potential future tyrants and people

Are we having an intellectual battle with the tyrants or the people?

does he always go to the same brain dead beach? lol

You are quite right about that, and Mitch's recent Dice posting showing American's signing up for "more police state, please" shows what we're up against.

without winning an intellectual battle, you will trade one tyrant for another. Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba, Afghanistan, Egypt, etc from today's headlines.
so, by the time the people decide they must rebel, those who lead the rebelling might say we need to establish order, etc...
I just thought it was a glaring omission in an otherwise carefully thought out presentation.

I think the message was that nothing stops tyrants other than force...if you don't have weapons you don't have force, or resistance either... this is why our Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms, and that that right shall not be infringed, to begin with.... Have other tyrants been stopped with intellectual persuasion or education? I'm all for that method...if....... A power luster wants power.. not a compelling argument based on logic and principles. Just sayin'. (The education and intellectual persuasion needs to happen with the people, who don't yet realize what tyrants are capable of....).

well, he did talk at some length about civil disobedience. He also had a very interesting section about firearms (for a libertarian argument) and then pointed out that just voting and protesting were not enough to take on the ruling class. I found that quite interesting. But he completely ignored education and intellectual persuasion. I thought that was a mistake.

oops. dyslexia strikes again :-)

I just finished it, and my first impression is that it was produced by a Libertarian, since the only modern era American politician that was free from ridicule was Ron Paul.

I missed your reference to "the entire video is undermined by the statement that most people were not harassed by their tyrannical govt." The closest that I could find was his contention that the majority of those citizens were either indifferent to their loss of personal freedoms, due to the relative insignificance of their individual loss in relation to their daily existence, or they were simply ignorant of the true depth of their increased servitude, also due to their individual circumstances.

He maps the loss of our freedoms quite well, and probably could have benefited by waiting for the Boston marathon to add to his list. He definitely got the SCOTUS role in this, and highlighted the ruling against the farmer that simply wanted to grow, and use, his own wheat...Mark Levine's favorite most egregious ruling!

The solutions he offers in the end, are not very attractive. Nor does he offer any real hope...since he says (rightly so) that the majority of Americans are willing to live under tyranny, and the powerful are willing to use all of their might to keep it this way.

I want to watch it again, and see if there is any feasible solution offered, that I might have missed....

I'll let my grandson know....so he can tell his grandkids to not comply.

LOL !

looking forward to your comments

did you mean 2014 perchance?