The immoral and reckless indifference of so much of the American public to statists obliterating freedom in one area after another brings to mind the quote attributed to Protestant minister Martin Neimoller, who reflected upon Germany's fall to the Nazis:"In Germany...
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up."
If you are like most Americans, you didn't bother to notice that when statists came for the owners of "public buildings," violating the property rights of these owners, that, in principle, your rights were undermined, undermining what you may do in your own home. You didn't speak out because you are not an owner of one of these "public buildings."
When statists came for the owners of tobacco companies, infringing on their right of ownership and restricting their freedom of speech, you didn't speak out because you are not one of the owners of a tobacco company or you are not a smoker or you consider smoking to be an evil which must be wiped out at all costs, even at the cost of your freedom, your freedom to follow your own judgment. When they persecuted and imprisoned innocent individuals for "abuse," you didn't speak out because you were not the one being persecuted. When they imprisoned those individuals for disturbing the "wetlands," you said nothing because you thought it would never affect you, oblivious to the fact that your backyard is a "wetland." When they searched, without warrant, the private property of business owners, you said nothing because these were only business owners and you are not a business owner. When they seized property without due process, you said nothing because it wasn't your property being seized, even though it could be and will be tomorrow. When they imposed arbitrary fines, you said nothing because you were not the one victimized. When they kicked in the door of the home of someone suspected of drug possession and killed the innocent owner, you said nothing because your loved one was not the one killed and because you believe anything goes when it comes to fighting drug use. When they drove an innocent man to suicide in their attempt to collect taxes never owed them, you said nothing because the victim was not someone you knew and valued. When they bullied television network executives into accepting a ratings system, you said nothing because you are not an owner of a television station. When they, in the name of children, came for the producers of children's television programs, making it criminal to express certain ideas, you did not speak out because you believe anything can be sacrificed in the name of children, even though these children will not be free when they become adults. When they suspended the right to trial by jury for accused "deadbeat dads," you said nothing because you are not a deadbeat dad. Even though you oppose socialized medicine, when they passed legislation further regulating doctors, you said nothing, dismissing it as only a "small step," perhaps hoping it would not affect you in your lifetime, hoping that "somehow" it would not result in socialized medicine. When they got you to accept the idea that your money is not yours, that they may forcibly take "your" money and dictate to you how much you may keep for your own needs, you said nothing because you consider taxation to be a necessary evil. When they came for the online news organizations, you said nothing because you are not a user of online services. And when they and their evil finally come for you—and they will, if America continues down this road to hell—will there be enough left who will care about your plight, will there be anyone left to speak out for you, to defend you? You already know the answer: there won't be, if this country continues to sink into the cesspool of statism, if most Americans continue to maintain an indifferent silence about freedom's decline. And if you are one of those who have said nothing, then your silence and the logic of your bad premises will finally avenge themselves on you in practice…when they finally come for you."
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