The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Resistance Movements Chirps

09/27/23 Resistance Movements in American History

Resistance to authority in the form of despotism, totalitarianism, tyranny, monarchy, dictatorship, and other oppressions of self-rule and self-determination have been common throughout human history. The yearning for and understanding of Natural Rights has grown throughout human history, and with it, the desire for Liberty and Freedom has increased.

America itself was born out of resistance to the authoritarianism of the British government that attempted to suppress self-rule and self-determination and the Natural Rights of the colonists as expressed in the particulars of the Declaration of Independence. In doing so, they formulated a new expression of the purpose of government and basic Natural Rights in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.”

In this paragraph, they also established the legitimacy of resistance if it were for the purposes of self-rule and self-determination and the desire for governmental protection of Liberties and Freedoms that flow from the Natural Rights of the people.

After winning its freedom from England, Americans attempted to enshrine the principles of this new formulation of government in the Constitution of the United States, as expressed in the preamble to the Constitution:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Yet, they were not perfect in these principles, as they violated them by allowing the stain and evil of slavery to exist in America. This led to the second great resistance in America and eventually to the Civil War that ended this stain and evil.

Prior to America’s entrance into World Wars I and II, there was significant resistance in America to our entrance into these wars. Only when these wars were framed in the context of Liberty and Freedom did the resistance to these wars dissipate.

The next great resistance movement in American history was in the form of the Civil Rights movement. This (mostly) non-violent movement, placed in the context of Liberty and Freedom, gained the support of the American people and ended systemic bigotry and discrimination in America.

The next resistance occurred in the protests against the Vietnam War. While initially, many of the resistors were non-violent, as the war dragged on, much resistance turned violent. This violence divided Americans, and these divisions lingered on for many decades.

Thus, American resistance movements were for the purposes of self-rule and self-determination, the reaffirmation of Natural Rights, and the expansion of Liberty and Freedoms for the people. As such, they were legitimate and praiseworthy resistance movements.

09/28/23 Resistance Movements in World War II

In the warmongering, before and during World War II, it was often downplayed or forgotten that many of the peoples of NAZI Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan resisted against their governments. The British and American authorities did not provide any support for these resisters and often engaged in words and deeds that were counterproductive to their efforts. The book The New Dealers' War: FDR and the War Within World War II by Thomas Fleming details many of the words and deeds that were counterproductive to the resistance and how the Allies could have provided assistance to the resisters.

The German resistance to Nazism was composed of many individuals and groups in Germany that were opposed to the Nazi regime and engaged in resistance, including assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler or by overthrowing his regime. It has been estimated that during the course of World War II 800,000 Germans were arrested by the Gestapo for resistance activities. It has also been estimated that between 15,000 and 77,000 of the Germans were executed by the Nazis. Resistance members were usually tried, mostly in show trials, by Sondergerichte (Special Courts), courts-martial, People's Courts, and the civil justice system. Many of the German resistance had served in government in military or civil positions, which enabled them to engage in subversion and conspiracy.

The Italian resistance movement, Resistenza, is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy from 1943 to 1945. As a diverse anti-fascist movement and organization, the Resistenza opposed Nazi Germany, as well as Nazi Germany's Italian puppet state regime, the Italian Social Republic, which the Germans created following the Nazi German invasion and military occupation of Italy by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS from 8 September 1943 until 25 April 1945.

Political dissidence in the Empire of Japan consisted of individual Japanese dissidents against the policies of the Empire of Japan, but there were no formal resistance groups or movements.

What is important for the purposes of this Chirp is that it is crucial to support any resistance group that opposes evil and the violations of Natural Rights. If we had done so in NAZI Germany and Fascist Italy before and during World War II, the history of this war may have been quite different. Therefore, it is important that we remember these resistance movements and learn the lessons of history if we do not support them. Thus, this Chirp is a remembrance of those people and groups in NAZI Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan that opposed the forces of evil in their countries. It is also a plea for support for resistance movements of those people who are standing up for self-rule and self-determination and the Liberties and Freedoms of the people of their country in our modern world.

09/29/23 Resistance Movements in Modern World History

Post World War II, there were many resistance movements to oppose established authorities in the hopes of establishing Natural Rights amongst all the people of the world. These resistance movements were primarily against Communism and British and French Colonialism. In the case of British and French Colonialism, the resistance movements were successful in ending colonialism, sometimes peaceably and sometimes not. These colonialist resistance movements were for the purposes of self-rule and self-determination of the people of a country. Thus, they were legitimate and praiseworthy resistance movements. Unfortunately, violence often erupted during this resistance, and Natural Rights were often violated during the resistance. In some cases, the end of colonialism did not bring about self-rule and self-determination but tyranny that violated the Natural Rights of the people.

The yearning for Liberty and Freedom in post-World War II Communist countries led to many resistance movements in these countries. Some resistance movements were organized, and some were spontaneous. All were in an effort to establish self-rule, self-determination, and Natural Rights in these countries, and all were opposed by the communist governments. The Gulag in the Soviet Union, the State Police in Eastern Block European Iron Curtain countries, the Cultural Revolution in Red China, and other Crimes against Humanity under Communist Regimes occurred as a result of resistance to Communist authorities. Eventually, Communism collapsed due to economic forces and the mass support for the resistance movements. The few remaining Communist countries adopted economic reforms to forestall economic ruination, but they continued to impose political oppressions and violations of the Natural Rights of their people.

In Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East, resistance movements were often targeted against tyrannies and dictatorships. They were often violent and not often successful, and where they were successful, they often replaced one form of tyranny and dictatorship with another form of tyranny and dictatorship. Thus, the peoples of those countries did not achieve self-rule and self-determination, the Natural Rights of their peoples were ignored or suppressed, and the economic condition of the people was not improved and sometimes deteriorated.

Consequently, when evaluating resistance movements, it is necessary to determine if the resistors are attempting to institute self-rule and self-determination and establish the Natural Rights of their people. Too often, a resistance movement has espoused laudatory purposes, but the ends are not commendable, or they become corrupted. Thus, it is even more important to determine if their intended goals are just words rather than deeds. A determination that is often difficult to ascertain and requires constant surveillance of the words and deeds of a resistance movement. For, as one of our Founding Fathers has said:

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
  - Thomas Jefferson

Any resistance movement that is for the purposes of self-rule and self-determination and the Liberties and Freedoms of its people is legitimate and should be supported by all liberty and freedom-loving persons of the world. Conversely, any resistance movements that are not for these purposes should be opposed by all liberty and freedom-loving persons of the world.

09/30/23 Resistance Movements in Modern America

When Donald Trump won the Presidential election in 2016, the cries of “Resistance” rang through Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders. But this resistance was not based upon self-rule and self-determination, nor the preservation of Liberties and Freedoms, but of resistance to preserve their Progressive ideology and ideas. As such, it was not a legitimate and praiseworthy resistance. In this resistance, no strategy or tactic was to be excluded, and nothing was off-limits to their resistance. False accusations, Congressional Hearings with no veracity, corruption of the FBI and the Intelligence community, IRS shenanigans, indictments and lawsuits of his supporters, physical and psychological intimidation, violence on the streets, and a steady drumbeat in the Mainstream Media against Trump and his supporters were all in play. The 2020 Presidential elections were all about covering up the infirmities, lies, and corruption of Joe Biden and his family, while the negative drumbeat against President Trump in the "Mainstream Media", "Mainstream Cultural Media", "Social Media", "Big Tech",  "Modern Big Business", "Modern Education" was incessant. They even resorted to the suppression of Free Speech, Free Assembly, and the Freedom of the Press to further this resistance. Thus, this was not resistance but repression.

In an article by Victor Davis Hanson, “What the Left Did to Our Country”, he lays out a litany of actions that the Left has taken in the last two decades to “fundamentally transform” America. A transformation not based on our "American Ideals and Ideas" but on the imposition of Progressive ideology and ideas upon America. As such, it is time for resistance to arise in America to reclaim our American Ideals and Ideas. A resistance to reaffirming the ideals of The Declaration of Independence and the ideas of the Constitution of the United States. In such resistance, it should be remembered by the resistors that:

"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."
  - Abraham Lincoln

Without this active resistance and the success thereof, it is quite possible that America will slide into despotism. Let us hope that we can counter this slide with the soap box, the ballot box, and the jury box rather than having to resort to the ammo box, as I have written in my Article, “The Four Boxes of Liberty”. But if we cannot successfully resist through the soap box, the ballot box, and the jury box, the ammo box may be necessary to preserve the last best hope of Liberty and Freedom from perishing from the Earth.