EDUC What Happens When the Wise Ones are Gone?

Snipe Hunter

Veteran Member
Amerika will be toast........


What Happens When the Wise Ones are Gone?


http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/09.13/wiseones.html



What Happens When the Wise Ones are Gone?
Keith Weiner


"Sorrow is knowledge, those that know the most must mourn the deepest, the tree of knowledge is not the tree of life." —Lord Byron

After decades of government handouts and the brainwashing and indoctrination of our children in the public school system, the younger generation does not possess the same point of reference on the principles of liberty as do those of us in our 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80's. There are only a few tens of thousands who remember the trials of the Great Depression and many of us were young children or infants during the Second World War. Still, the nanny state had not yet intruded into our daily lives, as it has recently.


Every single human being develops beliefs and opinions based on their accumulated experiences and knowledge and other influences from a variety of sources, gleaned over the years of their current lifetime. Sometimes those beliefs and opinions evolve into new beliefs as they accumulate new information. Sometimes they become firm and fixed no matter what new information comes their way. As a general rule, our political beliefs are heavily influenced by what our parents believe and the actions they took or are now taking, in furtherance of those beliefs.


As the population ages and a certain generation begins to die off, the general beliefs and opinions of that generation die off with them and those general beliefs and opinions of that generation are replaced by the emerging generation. That is why President Reagan said: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction."


Because of the different experiences and influences that affect each generation, the beliefs and opinions can be vastly different as well. Those experiencing hard times, such as during the Great Depression or the Second World War, would have beliefs and opinions significantly shaped by those times.

However, a generation that was steeped in prosperity would be shaped in entirely different ways and their beliefs and opinions would reflect that prosperity. In other words, their point of reference, which is the basis for most beliefs and opinions, would be directly influenced by the times in which they lived.


For those of us in our 60’s, 70’s and 80's, our point of reference is much more connected to the founding principles of our Republic because we were taught those principles and we believe in them.

For the next and future generations the influence of the foundation of liberty is much more obscure, especially since the federal government got in the business of setting the curriculum for the public school system, a curriculum that is directly related to the wish lists of national and international special interest groups.

This new curriculum is laced with socialism, collectivism, save-the-planet rabid environmentalism and the one world order. How easy it is to change the belief system in a single generation than by teaching the children of that generation what some group “thinks” they should be taught, to reach a desired outcome and to “shape” the new generation towards those beliefs. Hitler knew this technique well.

Take for example the fraud that is man-caused global warming, one of the worst planet-wide con games ever perpetrated on an entire population for the evil design of total control, no matter where they lived.

Several years ago I was a volunteer, teaching science lessons to 10-year olds. One of those 10-year olds was my grandson. On this particular day, my subject was the weather. As a private pilot I know quite a bit about the weather. When I asked the students what four things affect the weather, thinking I would get answers like the Sun, ocean currents, humidity, jet streams and the like, I was taken back when the first suggestion by one of the kids was man-caused global warming and the second was man-made pollutants. The term brainwashed instantly came to mind.

The hard fact is, if we let them, a government can breed and pre-program an entire culture of little followers without the parents ever knowing what is going on before their very eyes, because they refuse to take responsibility for what their children are learning. And it’s not just the government-sponsored curriculum that is the culprit, the teachers and professors are also brainwashed from our liberal teaching colleges and believe the “stuff” they teach. With the introduction of Common Core State Standards, the indoctrination and brainwashing are only increasing.


Therefore, we have a significant worry about the preservation of freedom in America, if the next generation has been brainwashed to produce non-thinking, brain-dead collectivists who act like robots when the government issues an edict, or emits a steady stream of propaganda, hype, distortions and lies to “direct” the little robots in a certain way.

Take the IRS for example. We are forced to pay our taxes through a complex, complicated and contradictory set of instructions and forms that even the most highly trained tax attorneys and CPA's can't agree on its provisions. IRS employees are also no help as they don't understand the tax code any better than the so-called experts. How then are the American people supposed to comply with such a cumbersome process of instructions and forms that no one fully understands?

Traps that lead a taxpayer into fines, penalties and even jail time lurk there in the tax code for the unwary who fall afoul of the IRS because they can't understand the constantly changing tax code and will never understand it in their lifetime.


Since 1913 with the passage of the 16th Amendment that gave us the Federal Reserve and the Income Tax as administered by the IRS, the tax system has gotten more complex every single year, as the Congress passes new laws that require the IRS to collect and police. (i.e. Obama Care) But like the frog in the slowly warming pot, the people (especially the younger set) continue to roll over and take it, mostly out of fear of high fines, penalties, or jail time.

The older, wiser people may try to fight, but they are overwhelmed by the dictatorial power of the IRS. As we have stated before in previous articles, this is not freedom, it is abject slavery and we have been conditioned to accept it.

The lion's share of the people that respond to our articles are well over 50. Some are in their 80's. They know what has happened to their country because they have had a longer time to see the trends of where we are headed and where we are headed does not bode well for freedom and liberty.

In a response to our last week's article, a reader wrote:

"The current conditions of our nation surely require direct action from We the People. Our system of checks and balances have been corrupted and/or co-opted. Is an armed rebellion likely to succeed? Is a mass movement on Washington a better strategy? Is there ANYTHING left for We the People to do to preserve our way of life? There ARE some of us in study and others in preparations. When will an anti-government movement begin or has it already?"

His questions don't have immediate answers but surely something is brewing in America. The biggest question of all is, ".... will the American people rise up in opposition to their government, peacefully, or in revolution?"

The second question is, ".... who will be the soldiers in this opposition, the young, or the old." Right now it is the older ones with wisdom that "see" the realities. The young aren't there yet and may never get there at the current rate of government indoctrination, brainwashing and propaganda.

So ladies and gentlemen, we are forced to ask, "what happens to America when the wise ones are gone?"
 

Countrybumpkin

Veteran Member
True-not many wise ones left-the ones who fought through the great depression, WW2...so many things they could teach us. But the NWO had to wait until they were on their way out to hatch their global domination plan, thus the wise ones try and foil it. I'm guessing the wait was worth it, because the wise ones no longer have a say, and the world is in shambles.
 

jed turtle

a brother in the Lord
the ones that went through the depression and wwII are dead or dying. my dad went in at 18, served in the Pacific, and is in a facility at 89. nope that generation is done.

the vietnam vet generation is retiring and is pretty much washed up too. already in heart attack territory and certainly munching down all kinds of meds to stay "normal".

all the generations following them are pretty much couch potato citizens/ metro-sexuals/ reality show groupies.

prime examples of massive public education/ hollywood culture gone bad.
 

SquonkHunter

Geezer (ret.)
Being a natural born history buff, I made an effort from a young age onward to learn all I could from my grandparents about their experiences from the WWI, Great Depression and WWII years and the stories they grew up hearing from their parents and grandparents about the old country. They were always more than willing to tell their stories. While I carry around all this knowledge from them, there is no one in the younger generations really interested in such things. Maybe the occasional story good for a laugh and that's it. Most of the old ones are long gone now. After I'm gone, that will be the end of it in my family line. Damn shame, it is. :shk:
 

OldArcher

Has No Life - Lives on TB
"What Happens When the Wise Ones are Gone? Amerika will be toast..." opined Snipe Hunter.

1 Corinthians 2:6-16 (ASV)

6 We speak wisdom, however, among them that are fullgrown: yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nought:
7 but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory:
8 which none of the rulers of this world hath known: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory:
9 but as it is written, Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, And which entered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him.
10 But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God.
12 But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words.
14 Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

If we rely upon God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, we have the wisdom and "we have the mind of Christ."

John 14:1 (AMP)

1 DO NOT let your hearts be troubled (distressed, agitated). You believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely on God; believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely also on Me.

There is the answer to your wondering... The Lord, Himself, has given it to you... Rejoice in Him, and let your heart be glad...

Maranatha

OldArcher
 

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
_______________
Therefore, we have a significant worry about the preservation of freedom in America, if the next generation has been brainwashed to produce non-thinking, brain-dead collectivists who act like robots when the government issues an edict, or emits a steady stream of propaganda, hype, distortions and lies to “direct” the little robots in a certain way.


Re-read this a few times. Internalize it. The end of the Republic is coming....
 

Publius

TB Fanatic
I'm in my 50s and doing my part to pass on what I know and learned to the younger generation, some listen with intent most don't and it's the ones that do that will carry on with it. So keep teaching and try not to embellish to much on a good story. :D
 

FREEBIRD

Has No Life - Lives on TB
"John 14:1 (AMP)

1 DO NOT let your hearts be troubled (distressed, agitated). You believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely on God; believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely also on Me."

Amen.


"We ain't dead YET."

Amen, again.
 

Garryowen

Deceased
Hannity had a bunch of college students in his studio audience the other night. After listening to their comments, I could only say "We're toast." I don't think there were a half dozen functioning brains in the bunch, and they think they are so sophisticated. Now, it seems that college is a greater waste of resources than welfare.
 

Satanta

Stone Cold Crazy
_______________
They'll just have to learn the hard way. From experience.

This.

The only thing that sperates a 'Wise' person from a idiot is experience.

I have see some truly wise people my age ad younger and have see some older idiots.

I have also see some younger idiots come to grips with reality when it stomps their face inside-out.

The old saying "What does not kill you..."
 

rhughe13

Heart of Dixie
At what point down the road, does someone that has never experienced any type of freedom, lust and decided to die for it?

Maybe it will be something as simple as sitting alone in the woods by yourself. Something that will certainly be illegal.
 

Seeker

3 Bombs for Hawkins
Journal/diary for them. They may not be interested now, but future needs may have them turning your pages with anticipation? (I would pay good $$$ for Summerthyme's journal and notes right now- ditto for Old As Dirt)!:)
 

Scotto

Set Apart
Most of the people who are between 20 and 30 years of age don't look up from texting long enough to care. They are more concerned with Facebook, reality TV shows, what Miley Cyrus is doing, or supporting LGBT friends. They aren't in church, their parents let them "make their own choices" and God will hold them accountable. They are half illiterate sheep who stand where the MSM tells them to stand and think what they are supposed to think. They don't give a flip about patriotism, all they want is abortions and their chicken nuggets. This generation was spoiled and given "participation trophies" so it wouldn't hurt their self esteem when their little fat asses couldn't catch the baseball from sitting on them all day playing Nintendo.

The REAL fear will be when these kids have kids of their own, and THEY are between 20 and 30 years of age.

Anger, frustration, sheep? You ain't seen nothin' yet.
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
I dunno... I haven't seen a whole lot of "wisdom" in the folks who are still around who lived through the Depression, WWII, etc.

They all seem to be liberals who don't see any problem with Social Security, Medicare, etc. Most of them have NO clue what it's like to struggle to survive these days...

But yes, the 20 somethings are worse yet. However, it seems that the "wise ones" in terms of knowing what we've lost are a tiny, tiny minority in EVERY age group.

Summerthyme
 

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
_______________
The current oldsters were brought up in a time when people trusted their government. The 20-something's have been indoctrinated to allow the government to do anything it wants. Only those of us in the middle, raised during the Cold War, seem to understand what's going on...
 

Namsgrls

Veteran Member
Hannity had a bunch of college students in his studio audience the other night. After listening to their comments, I could only say "We're toast." I don't think there were a half dozen functioning brains in the bunch, and they think they are so sophisticated. Now, it seems that college is a greater waste of resources than welfare.

I am not totally giving up hope yet, My youngest granddaughter is 19, and she works and goes to college too. She "gets it", as do most of her friends. She is aware of what's going on, and I hope every day that she and her friends, and others like them all over this country will make a difference in the end.

She and I have always been extremely close, so she has listened to me all her life. LOL Sometimes it only takes one person to be able to "get through" to someone. She knows what's going on with the .gov....as in Syria...and has definite opinions on it. She is determined that when the time comes for her to have children that she will home school them. She's also a pretty darn good shooter too. Been target practicing with us since she was little...always considered her a little Annie Oakley. LOL

Anyway....I guess what I'm trying to say is don't ever give up. If kids have a positive influence, they will do the right thing. For all the brain dead ones, there are some that are vital and alive, and have their heads screwed on straight. That's why I feel somewhat optimistic.
 

ainitfunny

Saved, to glorify God.
A worrying part of the iron hold that the powers that be have on the younger generation is THEY ARE RAPIDLY LOSING THE ABILITY TO READ AND UNDERSTAND WHATEVER WE WRITE AS ADVICE TO THEM.

The "educational system" IS CHANGING THE MEANINGS OF COMMON WORDS, and NOT teaching how to read or write CURSIVE (longhand) writing so as to make what was written by their fathers and forefathers confusing or "offensive" to the new "values" they have been brainwashed to believe by the new school system. They have found a way to "throw the baby out with the bathwater" by declaring ANY wisdom imparted by those that came before WORTHLESS if it contains something that the media servants of "the powers that be" have subsequently made "POLITICALLY INCORRECT". The libraries are regularly purged of such books.
 

Scotto

Set Apart
A worrying part of the iron hold that the powers that be have on the younger generation is THEY ARE RAPIDLY LOSING THE ABILITY TO READ AND UNDERSTAND WHATEVER WE WRITE AS ADVICE TO THEM.

The "educational system" IS CHANGING THE MEANINGS OF COMMON WORDS, and NOT teaching how to read or write CURSIVE (longhand) writing so as to make what was written by their fathers and forefathers confusing or "offensive" to the new "values" they have been brainwashed to believe by the new school system. They have found a way to "throw the baby out with the bathwater" by declaring ANY wisdom imparted by those that came before WORTHLESS if it contains something that the media servants of "the powers that be" have subsequently made "POLITICALLY INCORRECT". The libraries are regularly purged of such books.


^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^
 

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
_______________
From my archives:

Sundown at Coffin Rock

by Raymond K. Paden​

The old man walked slowly through the dry, fallen leaves of autumn, his practiced eye automatically choosing the bare and stony places in the trail for his feet. There was scarcely a sound as he passed, though his left knee was stiff with scar tissue. He grunted occasionally as the tight sinews pulled. Damn chainsaw, he thought.

Behind him, the boy shuffled along, trying to imitate his grandfather, but unable to mimic the silent motion that the old man had learned during countless winter days upon this wooded mountain in pursuit of game. He's fifteen years old, the old man thought. Plenty old enough to be learning. But that was another time, another America. His mind drifted, and he saw himself, a fifteen-year-old boy following in the footsteps of his own grandfather, clutching a twelve gauge in his trembling hands as they tracked a wounded whitetail.

The leg was hurting worse now, and he slowed his pace a bit. Plenty of time. It should have been my own son here with me now, the old man thought sadly. But Jason had no interest, no understanding. He cared for nothing but pounding on the keys of that damned computer terminal. He knew nothing about the woods, or where food came from...or freedom. And that's my fault, isn't it?

The old man stopped and held up his hand, motioning for the boy to look. In the small clearing ahead, the deer stood motionless, watching them. It was a scraggly buck, underfed and sickly, but the boy's eyes lit up with excitement. It had been many years since they had seen even a single whitetail here on the mountain. After the hunting had stopped, the population had exploded. The deer had eaten the mountain almost bare until erosion had become a serious problem in some places. That following winter, three starving does had wandered into the old man's yard, trying to eat the bark off of his pecan trees, and he had wished the "animal rights" fanatics could have been there then. It was against the law, but old man knew a higher law, and he took an axe into the yard and killed the starving beasts. They did not have the strength to run.

The buck finally turned and loped away, and they continued down the trail to the river. When they came to the "Big Oak," the old man turned and pushed through the heavy brush beside the trail and the boy followed, wordlessly. The old man knew that Thomas was curious about their leaving the trail, but the boy had learned to move silently (well, almost) and that meant no talking. When they came to "Coffin Rock," the old man sat down upon it and motioned for the boy to join him.

"You see this rock, shaped like a casket?" the old man asked. "Yes sir." The old man smiled. The boy was respectful and polite. He loved the outdoors, too. Everything a man could ask in a grandson ....or a son.

"I want you to remember this place, and what I'm about to tell you. A lot of it isn't going to make any sense to you, but it's important and one day you'll understand it well enough. The old man paused. Now that he was here, he didn't really know where to start.

"Before you were born," he began at last, "this country was different. I've told you about hunting, about how everybody who obeyed the law could own guns. A man could speak out, anywhere, without worrying about whether he'd get back home or not. School was different, too. A man could send his kids to a church school, or a private school, or even teach them at home. But even in the public schools, they didn't spend all their time trying to brainwash you like they do at yours now." The old man paused, and was silent for many minutes. The boy was still, watching a chipmunk scavenging beside a fallen tree below them.

"Things don't ever happen all at once, boy. They just sort of sneak up on you. Sure, we knew guns were important; we just didn't think it would ever happen in America. But we had to do something about crime, they said. It was a crisis. Everything was a crisis! It was a drug crisis, or a terrorism crisis, or street crime, or gang crime. Even a 'health care' crisis was an excuse to take away a little more of our rights." The old man turned to look at his grandson.

"They ever let you read a thing called the Constitution down there at your school?" The boy solemnly shook his head. "Well, the Fourth Amendment's still in there. It says there won't be any unreasonable searches and seizures. It says you're safe in your own home." The old man shrugged. "That had to go. It was a crisis! They could kick your door open any time, day or night, and come in with guns blazing if they thought you had drugs ...or later, guns. Oh, at first it was just registration -- to keep the guns out of the hands of criminals! But that didn't work, of course, and then later when they wanted to take 'em they knew where to look. They banned 'assault rifles', and then 'sniper rifles', and 'Saturday night specials.' Everything you saw on the TV or in the movies was against us. God knows the news people were! And the schools were teaching our kids that nobody needed guns anymore. We tried to take a stand, but we felt like the whole face of our country had changed and we were left outside."

"Me and a friend of mine, when we saw what was happening, we came and built a secret place up here on the mountain. A place where we could put our guns until we needed them. We figured some day Americans would remember what it was like to be free, and what kind of price we had to pay for that freedom. So we hid our guns instead of losing them."

"One fellow I knew disagreed. He said we ought to use our guns now and stand up to the government. Said that the colonists had fought for their freedom when the British tried to disarm them at Lexington and Concord. Well, he and a lot of others died in what your history books call the 'Tax Revolt of 2008,' but son, it wasn't the revolt that caused the repeal of the Second Amendment like your history book says. The Second Amendment was already gone long before they ever repealed it. The rest of us thought we were doing the right thing by waiting. I hope to God we were right."

"You see, Thomas. It isn't government that makes a man free. In the end, governments always do just the opposite. They gobble up freedom like hungry pigs. You have to have laws to keep the worst in men under control, but at the same time the people have to have guns, too, in order to keep the government itself under control. In our country, the people were supposed to be the final authority of the law, but that was a long time ago. Once the guns were gone, there was no reason for those who run the government to give a damn about laws and constitutional rights and such. They just did what they pleased and anyone who spoke out...well, I'm getting ahead of myself."

"It took a long time to collect up all the millions of firearms that were in private hands. The government created a whole new agency to see to it. There were rewards for turning your friends in, too. Drug dealers and murderers were set free after two or three years in prison, but possession of a gun would get you mandatory life behind bars with no parole.

"I don't know how they found out about me, probably knew I'd been a hunter all those years, or maybe somebody turned me in. They picked me up on suspicion and took me down to the federal building."

"Son, those guys did everything they could think of to me. Kept me locked up in this little room for hours, no food, no water. They kept coming in, asking me where the guns were. 'What guns?' I said. Whenever I'd doze off, they'd come crashing in, yelling and hollering. I got to where I didn't know which end was up. I'd say I wanted my lawyer and they'd laugh. 'Lawyers are for criminals', they said. 'You'll get a lawyer after we get the guns.' What's so funny is, I know they thought they were doing the right thing. They were fighting crime!"

"When I got home I found Ruth sitting in the middle of the living room floor, crying her eyes out. The house was a shambles. While I was down there, they'd come out and took our house apart. Didn't need a search warrant, they said. National emergency! Gun crisis! Your grandma tried to call our preacher and they ripped the phone off the wall. Told her that they'd go easy on me if she just told them where I kept my guns." The old man laughed. "She told them to go to hell." He stared into the distance for a moment as his laughter faded.

"They wouldn't tell her about me, where I was or anything, that whole time. She said that she'd thought I was dead. She never got over that day, and she died the next December."

"They've been watching me ever since, off and on. I guess there's not much for them to do anymore, now that all the guns are gone. Plenty of time to watch one foolish old man." He paused. Beside him, the boy stared at the stone beneath his feet.

"Anyway, I figure that, one day, America will come to her senses. Our men will need those guns and they'll be ready. We cleaned them and sealed them up good; they'll last for years. Maybe it won't be in your lifetime, Thomas. Maybe one day you'll be sitting here with your son or grandson. Tell him about me, boy. Tell him about the way I said America used to be." The old man stood, his bad leg shaking unsteadily beneath him.

"You see the way this stone points? You follow that line one hundred feet down the hill and you'll find a big round rock. It looks like it's buried solid, but one man with a good prybar can lift it, and there's a concrete tunnel right under there that goes back into the hill."

The old man stood, watching as the sun eased toward the ridge, coloring the sky and the world red. Below them, the river still splashed among the stones, as it had for a million years. It's still going, the old man thought. There'll be someone left to carry on for me when I'm gone. It was harder to walk back. He felt old and purposeless now, and it would be easier, he knew, to give in to that aching heaviness in his left lung that had begun to trouble him more and more. Damn cigarettes, he thought. His leg hurt, and the boy silently came up beside him and supported him as they started down the last mile toward the house. How quiet he walks, the old man thought. He's learned well.

It was almost dark when the boy walked in. His father looked up from his paper. "Did you and your granddad have a nice walk?"

"Yes," the boy answered, opening the refrigerator. "You can call Agent Goodwin tomorrow. Gramps finally showed me where it is."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Part II


Thomas sat alone upon the cold stone, shivering slightly in the chilly pre-dawn air of this April morning. The flashlight was turned off, resting beside him on the bare granite of Coffin Rock, and involuntarily he strained his eyes in the gray non-light of the false dawn, trying to make out the shapes of the trees, and the mountains across the river. Below, he could hear the chuckling of the water as it crossed the polished stones. How many times had he fished there, his grandfather beside him.

He tried to shrug away the memories, but why else had he come here except to remember? Perhaps to escape the inevitable confrontation with his mother. She would have to be told sooner or later, but Thomas infinitely preferred later.

"Mom, I've been expelled from the university,” he said aloud in a conversational tone. Some small night animal, startled by the sudden sound, scurried away to the right. "I know this means you won't get that upgrade to C-3, and they'll probably turn you down for that surgery now. Gee, Mom, I'm sorry." It sounded so stupid. "Why?" she would ask. "How?"

How could he explain that? The endless arguments. The whispered warnings. The subtle threats. Dennis had told him to expect this. Dennis had lost his parents back in the First Purge back in 2004, and his bitter hatred of the State's iron rule had failed to ruin him only because of his unique and accomplished abilities as an actor. Only with Thomas did he open up. Only with Thomas did he relate the things he had earned while in the Youth Reeducation Camp near Charleston. Thomas shuddered.

It was his own fault, he knew. He should have kept his mouth shut like Dennis told him. All of his friends had come and shook his hand and pounded him on the back. "That's telling them, Adams!" they said. But their voices were hushed and they glanced over their shoulders as they congratulated him. And later, when the "volunteers" of the Green Ribbon Squad kicked his ass all over the shower room, they had stood by in nervous silence, their faces turned away, their eyes averted, and their tremulous voices silent.

He sighed. Could he blame them? He'd been afraid too, when the squad walked up and surrounded him, and if he could have taken back those proud words he would have. Anyone is afraid when they can't fight back, he'd discovered. So they taught him a lesson, and he had expected it to end there. But then yesterday had come the call to Dr. Morton's office, and the brief hearing that had ended his career at the university. "Thomas," Morton had intoned, "You owe everything to the State." Thomas snorted.

The light was growing now. He could see the pale, rain-washed granite in the grayness as if it glowed. Coffin Rock was now a knob, a raised promontory that jutted up from a wide, unbroken arm of the mountain's stony roots, its cover of soil pushed away. There were deep gouges scraped across the surface of the rock where the backhoe had tried, vainly, to force the mountain to reveal its secrets. He was too old to cry now, but Thomas Adams closed his eyes tightly as he relived those moments that had forever changed his life.

The shouts and angry accusations as the agents found no secret arms cache still seemed to ring in his ears. They had threatened him with arrest, and once he had thought the government agent named Goodwin would actually strike him. At last, though, they had accepted defeat and turned down the mountain, following the gashed trail of the back-hoe as it rumbled ahead through the woods.

At home, he had found his mother and father standing, ashen faced, in the doorway.

"They took your grandpa," his father said in disbelief. "Just after you left, they put him in a van and took him. "

"But they said they wouldn't!" Thomas had shouted. He ran across the yard to the old man's cottage. The door was standing open and he wandered from room to room calling for the grandfather he would never see alive again.

It was his heart, they said. Two days after they had taken him, someone called and tersely announced that the old man had died at the indigent clinic a few hours after his arrest "Sorry," the faceless voice had muttered. Thomas had wept at the funeral, but it was only in later years that he had come to understand the greatest tragedy of that day - that the old man had died alone, knowing that his own grandson had betrayed him.

That grandson was Thomas Adams, and he was now too old to cry. But in the growing light of the cold mountain dawn, he did anyway.

Thomas was certain that his father's de-certification six months later was due to the debacle in the forest. As much as anyone did these days, they had "owned" their home, but the Certification Board would still have evicted them except for the intervention of Cousin Lou, who worked for the State Supervisor. As it was, they lost all privileges and, when his father came down with pneumonia the next autumn, medical treatment was denied. He had died three days after the first anniversary of Grandpa's death.

Thomas had been sure that he would be turned down at the University, but once again his cousin had intervened and a slot had "opened" for him. But now that's finished he reflected He would be unable to obtain any certification other than manual laborer. "Why didn't I keep my mouth shut" he asked the morning stillness. In a tree behind him, a mockingbird began to sing its ageless song, and as if in answer, the forest below began to twitter and chirp with the voices of other birds, greeting the new day.

No, what he had said had been the truth and nothing could change that. The State was wrong. It was evil. It was unnatural for men to be slaves of their government, always skulking, always holding their tongues lest they anger The State. But there is no "State," Thomas considered. There are only evil men, holding power over other men. And anyone who speaks out, who dares to challenge that power, is crushed.

If only there were a way to fight back!

Thomas shifted on the stone, hanging his feet off the downhill side. His feet had almost touched the grass that day, but now, although his legs were certainly longer, it was at least ten inches to the scarred rock surface below. As he kicked his heels back and forth, he could almost hear his grandfather speaking to him from long ago...

"One day, America will come to her senses. Our men will need those guns and they'll be ready. We cleaned them and sealed them up good; they'll last for years. Maybe it won't be in your lifetime, Thomas. Maybe one day you'll be sitting here with your son or grandson. Tell him about me, boy. Tell him about the way I said America used to be.

"You see the way this stone points." the old man was saying. "You follow that line one hundred feet..." Thomas' heels were suddenly still. For many minutes he did not move, playing those words over and over in his mind. "...Follow that line..."

What hidden place in his brain had concealed those words all of these years? How could the threats have failed to dislodge it? He stood upon shaky legs and climbed down from Coffin Rock. In his mind's eye, he could see the old man pointing and he walked down the hill and through a clinging briar patch, counting off the paces. The round stone did seem solidly buried, but he scratched around near the base and found that the rock ended just an inch or so beneath the surface. "One man with a good bar can lift it," Grandfather had said. Thomas forced his fingers beneath the stone, and with all the strength in his 21-year-old body, he lifted. The stone came up, and he slid it off to one side. Cool air drifted up from the dark opening in the mountain. Thomas looked to the right where the scars of the State's frustration ended, only 15 or 20 feet away. They had been that close.

He squatted and stared into the darkness and then remembered his flashlight. In a moment, he was back with it, probing into the darkness with the yellow beam. There was a small patch of moisture just inside, but then the tunnel climbed upwards toward the ridge. On hands and knees, he entered.

It was uncomfortably close for the first 20 feet or so, then the cavern opened up around him. The men who had built this place, he saw, had taken a natural crevice in the granite rock, sealed it with masses of poured concrete, and then covered it with earth. The main chamber was bigger than the living room of a house, and they had left an opening up near the peak of the vaulted roof where fresh air and a faint, filtered light entered.

Wooden boxes and crates were stacked everywhere on concrete blocks, up off of the floor, stenciled with legends like, RIFLE, CAL. 30 M1, 9MM PARA, M193 BALL, 7.62 x 39MM, and 5.56MM. He pushed between them and crawled to the wall where he found cardboard boxes wrapped with plastic sheeting. They were imprinted with strange names like CCI, OLIN, WW748, BULLSEYE, and RL 550B.

He did not know what the crates and boxes contained, and was afraid to break the seals, but near the center of the room he found a plastic-wrapped carton labeled, OPEN THIS FIRST. With his penknife, he slit the heavy plastic wrapping.

It contained books, he saw with some disappointment. But he studied the titles and found that they were manuals on weapons and how to repair them, how to clean them, how to fire them, and ammunition... how to store it, and how to reload it. And here was something unusual, ‘A History of the United States.’ He lifted it from the carton and crawled back to the open air. Leaning against a stone, he tore open the heavy vinyl bag that enclosed the book and began to read at random, flipping the pages every few moments. On each page, something new met his eye, contradicting everything he had ever been taught.

Freedom is not won, he learned, by proud words and declarations.

He remembered a quotation taught at the University - "Blood alone moves the wheels of history." An Italian dictator named Mussolini had said that, but now he read of a man named Patrick Henry who said, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Mao was required reading at the University, too, and he now recalled that this man called a "hero" by The State - had once said, "Political power comes out of the barrel of a gun."

Freedom is never granted; it is won. Won by men who are willing to die, willing to lose everything so that others may have the greatest possession of all: liberty.

Mentally, he began to list those he could trust. Men who had been arrested for speaking out. Women whose husbands had been arrested and never returned. Friends who had been denied certification because of their fathers' military records. The countryside seethed with anger and frustration. These were people who longed to be free, but who had no means to resist... until now.

Thomas laid the book aside and then worked the stone back into position, carefully placing leaves and moss around the base to hide any evidence that it had been disturbed. He tucked the book under his arm and started for home with the rays of the rising sun warming his back. He imagined his grandfather's touch in the heat. A forgiving touch.

A long, hard struggle was coming, and he knew with a certainty that defied explanation that he would not live to see the day America would once again be free. His blood and that of many patriots and tyrants would be spilled, but perhaps America's tree of Liberty would live and flourish again.

(end)

There is a long line stretching through the history of this world a line of those who valued freedom more than their lives. Thomas Adams now took his place at the end of that column as he determined that he would have liberty, or death. He would be in good company.

Sundown at Coffin Rock is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual events is up to us. Do you vote? Do you belong to the NRA? You should.
 

Tennessee gal

Veteran Member
We are even seeing this on the church level. I'm in my 60s and attend meetings on issues we are facing locally ( like Muslim teachings in our schools, Common Core , lose of freedoms, etc.) . Most of those attending these type of meetings are people in the 50 age group and above. Even though our pastor keeps us informed on many issues it doesn't seem to effect the younger families. Life for them goes on as usual with not much concerns of the country their children will live in.
 
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The Mountain

Here since the beginning
_______________
This is likely a large part of the reason that history "rhymes". There's always enough information around from the last time a generation made a huge mistake that that particular mistake won't be exactly repeated, but once there are only a few left who remember all the consequences of that mistake (and remember, history is written by the winners, so a lot of the negatives get left out), someone will decide that the path to that mistake doesn't look so bad after all.

As an example of this on a shorter timescale, back during the early days of the cold war, the DoD designed a nuclear-powered cruise missile. It had a pass-through fission reactor to provide thrust. Air was drawn in, passed through the reactor pile where it was superheated (and kept the pile barely cool enough to run) and the hot air was ejected out the tail to provide the thrust. It would run for a long time. The idea was that it would cruise at high speed to its target, cluster-bomb cities for days, and then spend the rest of its active life flying over the countryside, poisoning everything it passed over with its radioactive exhaust.

Every ten years or so, some bushy-tailed young DoD officer will discover the plans for the thing in the archives and drag them out, to be summarily shut down by more senior officers who actually know the thing's history. You can read about it by googling "flying crowbar" (the missile had no moving parts in the engine).

On a longer timescale, this is the sort of thing society goes through, only the dumb ideas have better chances of being put into practice before anyone discovers how dumb those ideas really are. With world society so reliant on tech and JIT these days, we've probably got a good chance of straying into "Canticle for Liebowitz" territory this time.
 

Betty_Rose

Veteran Member
The current oldsters were brought up in a time when people trusted their government. The 20-something's have been indoctrinated to allow the government to do anything it wants. Only those of us in the middle, raised during the Cold War, seem to understand what's going on...

Isn't that the truth? I know a bunch of seniors that voted for The Muslim because of Social Security. For "wise old folks," they sure got their head turned easily.

And don't get me started on "children." My kids were great until they got a higher education. The PhD kid is a political moron who thinks that Obama is the great Savior that will finally take care of really important and pressing issues, like full rights for homosexuals.

Sheesh.

And they don't earn enough money yet to "feel the burn."

These kids think socialism is THE answer. And profiling is wrong. And government should take care of every little thing. And crime only happens to people who are full of negativity and "bad thoughts." And religion is for the weak. And Jon Stewart is a genius.

This is the type of thing that makes me feel HOPELESS about America's future.

And that's real bad.
 

Trivium Pursuit

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Therefore, we have a significant worry about the preservation of freedom in America, if the next generation has been brainwashed to produce non-thinking, brain-dead collectivists who act like robots when the government issues an edict, or emits a steady stream of propaganda, hype, distortions and lies to “direct” the little robots in a certain way.


Re-read this a few times. Internalize it. The end of the Republic is coming....

On a macro scale this view could be justified. To me, the great unaddressed question of our time, the unknown variable, is the 2 million kids who have been home schooled. Many of whose parents decided to show them actual history, what Western Civilization is and why it is of value, Austrian economics, etc. Add to this the 150 Classical Education schools in the country that also cover the above. How they will impact the culture is the thing I'm brewing my popcorn for.
 

Betty_Rose

Veteran Member
And there are good things happening in Christian schools as well.

But even now, when "our" numbers are in the tens of millions, we're watching it crumble.

If we don't save this country now, it may be because we're beyond the point of saving.
 

Firebird

Has No Life - Lives on TB
A worrying part of the iron hold that the powers that be have on the younger generation is THEY ARE RAPIDLY LOSING THE ABILITY TO READ AND UNDERSTAND WHATEVER WE WRITE AS ADVICE TO THEM.

The "educational system" IS CHANGING THE MEANINGS OF COMMON WORDS, and NOT teaching how to read or write CURSIVE (longhand) writing so as to make what was written by their fathers and forefathers confusing or "offensive" to the new "values" they have been brainwashed to believe by the new school system. They have found a way to "throw the baby out with the bathwater" by declaring ANY wisdom imparted by those that came before WORTHLESS if it contains something that the media servants of "the powers that be" have subsequently made "POLITICALLY INCORRECT". The libraries are regularly purged of such books.

Right from the playbook of "1984"
 

DustyOpal

Contributing Member
I dunno... I haven't seen a whole lot of "wisdom" in the folks who are still around who lived through the Depression, WWII, etc.

They all seem to be liberals who don't see any problem with Social Security, Medicare, etc. Most of them have NO clue what it's like to struggle to survive these days...

But yes, the 20 somethings are worse yet. However, it seems that the "wise ones" in terms of knowing what we've lost are a tiny, tiny minority in EVERY age group.

Summerthyme

I tend to agree with you. I took notice in that video someone posted on the guy standing up to McCain, a lot of the people booing were older.
 

Countrybumpkin

Veteran Member
On a longer timescale, this is the sort of thing society goes through, only the dumb ideas have better chances of being put into practice before anyone discovers how dumb those ideas really are. With world society so reliant on tech and JIT these days, we've probably got a good chance of straying into "Canticle for Liebowitz" territory this time.

Mountain-I love that book! Had to read it back in high school, and still re-read it occasionally! Should still be required reading for seniors, IMHO.
 
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