If you were asked the question “What does tyranny look like” what would your response be? Is it armed soldiers parading down every street in order to keep the public suppressed? How about an aggressive government that evokes fear through stiff regulations to guide its citizenry like sheep? What countries do you consider tyrannical? Are Russia, China, or Iran tyrannical nations? How about France or Mexico? What exactly is tyranny anyway?
Tyranny is easier to understand when you consider its polar opposite – liberty. Liberty is defined by Webster (paraphrased) as the quality or state of being free from physical restraint and control; the power of choice. Therefore with tyranny being the opposite of liberty it must mean the absence of freedom and without the power of choice. It is a condition in which injustice and corruption is used by the few to limit and control the many. It is something that most people in the world, past and present, are intimately familiar with. But how does it take root?
Edmund Burke once said, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” That quote a great place to start when it comes to tyranny because governments do not typically start off with a campaign to pillage, starve, and slaughter the masses to a point to where their condition is so weak that it must submit for survival. Tyrants oftentimes use violent tactics to seize power, but they can only conquer people that are too weak to defend themselves against such a threat.
The path towards tyranny is well paved by government increasing its control by limiting freedom. Such is the path our Founding Fathers were on before the decided that enough was enough. The same with France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, Rome, Greece, and the list goes on and on. The reactions of the people in each of those countries during trying times may have been different, but they were all a result of tyranny that manifested over time from many small regulations and laws, considered little tyrannies, to the great evil that inevitably follows.
Earlier I asked you to consider the question, “What does tyranny look like.” Few people would disagree that countries like Russia, China, and Iran are tyrannical given their blatant violations against liberty on full display. The number of countries that fit the typical description of a tyrannical government are too numerous to list, but remember that tyranny does not start out in the extreme form. It evolves! In some countries tyranny evolved faster than in others, but it never brought on by an accepting, educated citizenry. With that in mind can you list other countries where tyranny is taking root? What about the United States?
Part 1 of 2
