Are we, the average citizens that make up the 50 States in America suffering from the Stockholm Syndrome? Is that the reason we seem to be fearful of entertaining “outside the box” thinking when it comes to solving the mess created by Washington DC? Have we possibly become morbidly sympathetic to our “captors” in the halls of Congress and bureaucracies throughout DC and the remainder of the country? I think so!
The Stockholm Syndrome, was coined after the robbery of Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg in Stockholm, in which the bank robbers held bank employees hostage from August 23 to August 28, 1973. In this case, the victims became emotionally attached to their captors, and even defended them after they were freed from their six-day ordeal. Sounds eerily similar to what We the People have been exposed to from Washington DC; we’ve been held hostage by an extra-constitutional group of lawmakers and robbed of our hard-earned money, property and ultimately our freedom for decades.
Take for instance the current energy crisis Washington DC has led us into the last 40 years or so. Why doesn’t some governor in an oil rich state just issue permits to drill or build nuclear power plants in their state even though it’s in direct contravention of federal policy? Why don’t they? Because we’ve been trained by our captors in DC to believe that unless the States receive permission from Washington DC, they can’t. So, to break the Stockholm hold we’ve been entranced by, why doesn’t some governor just throw down and drill or build a nuclear plant as a way to protect its own citizens. What would Washington DC really do? Slap an extra-constitutional injunction on them which could then be nullified by the State because the federal government has no authority in the Constitution over energy policy? Pass legislation condemning the State for protecting We the People of that State? Send in the US Marshalls to padlock the gates to the oil rig or plant construction site? Ultimately send in the military in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 to attack the rigs and sites? Perhaps they would; my suspicion is they would not. Would they really want to fight that PR battle? Would We the People really stand by and allow the tyrants of DC to run roughshod over the inalienable and God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?
If so, then the Stockholm Syndrome may be more entrenched than we even think it is. But could there be a state with the courage to throw caution to the wind and actually defend its own people? Texas? Arizona? Wisconsin? Ohio? Idaho? Utah? Who’s it gonna be?
- Separation of Church and State - July 4, 2013
- How Power Is Delegated and Reassumed - May 31, 2013
- The Mary Jane Mess (Part 2) - March 21, 2013