“We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end.”
Have you ever had one of those days when you swear that you are actually being secretly taped for some sort of bad internet prank show? One of the best examples for me was when James Comey, then-director of the FBI, laid out the most impressive case against Hillary Clinton for illegal handling of classified information but then basically told the world, April Fools! I actually looked around my room to see if I was being filmed. I occasionally have the same experience when I read stories about liberalism and how they support the Constitution through totalitarian values. I found myself in that same situation this morning after reading about the new procedures for the police in Seattle, Washington.
It all started when three outstanding young community members attempted to rob a 7-Eleven in downtown Seattle—a 17-year-old woman and two 19-year-old men. A police officer who was nearby immediately engaged with one of the men in a ground fight. During this fight, he was hit over the head with a bottle by the 17-year-old.
One of the 19-year olds then ran into a building, where he engaged in a firefight with the police. During this exchange, one of the officers was shot in the face and ribs. Another officer was shot in the chest, but luckily she was wearing a protective vest. Yet another officer had his hand grazed by a bullet. The young community member who was shooting at the police was eventually killed in the gunfight, and the other two community members were apprehended without further injury.
So, what about this is so surreal? While horrific and sad, nothing in this story thus far challenges our current view of the world. That is unfortunate in its truth, but what bothers me more is how the police are now being required to report upon these incidents. Instead of stating the truth—that these individuals are suspects in a crime (until they are tried in court and judged to be guilty, they are still innocent, no matter how obvious or horrendous the crime)—the police are now being told they are to refer to them as community members.
I wrote recently about this very phenomenon. If the left cannot ignore the horrific nature of crime, they will simply relabel it so as not to offend those who are affected by the consequences. Well, that is not entirely true. There are those whom the left will not concern itself with. The victim of the crime will clearly be affected by this event. I am certain that they will carry with them a new sense of fear for the rest of their lives. The officers who were shot will also be affected forever as well, both mentally and physically. Being shot at is a significant event; I can only imagine that being shot magnifies this factor exponentially. Not only will the officers shot have their lives changed, but think of their families and especially their children. Every day they will wonder if that is the last time they will see their mother or father. Yet the left does not view any of them worthy of their guardianship.
As always, liberals will attempt to take responsibility away from the perpetrators of crime and throw that accountability onto society itself (often by blaming the victim). Since the crime itself cannot be questioned, they will instead change the verbiage so as to misconstrue the true depth. These scums aren’t suspects at all, they are simply community members. No different from you or me in any way that matters or is worthy of note.
This is the essence of Newspeak, which George Orwell wrote of in his book 1984. If you want to control the minds of the people, simply choose the words that they can use. Once you lack the words to describe something, then that event or emotion cannot exist. Here we can see that very occurrence in real life. Forget about the victims or the police. Forget about those affected by causality. They are simply the collateral damage caused by society failing. There is no personal responsibility—only responsibility of society. Therefore, there is no individual control. This is why the left is so vehemently opposed to any sort of label that makes an individual take responsibility for themselves. To do so leaves them powerless and voids their control.
In the book 1984, the hero makes a very astute statement: “Confession is not betrayal. What you say or do doesn’t matter; only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving you—that would be the real betrayal.” This fact is not lost by liberals. Simply forcing someone to conform is not enough. Making someone say what you want does not change their beliefs or values. Instead, manipulate their ability to formulate thoughts through limitation of the language.
I will close with this quote from the same book, which I feel sums up my view of progressives completely.
The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power…We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others…never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me.
