Science Fiction’s Not Always Fiction

Science Fiction’s Not Always Fiction.

By Craig M. Szwed
  

I watched a couple of old TV shows, the other night. They originally aired nineteen years ago (January 1995: Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Season 3: Episodes 11 & 12: Past Tense: Part 1 & 2). Those shows depicted the futuristic Star Trek crew accidentally being transported hundreds of years back in time, to the year 2024 when the United States Government was “protecting” citizens from themselves, and protecting its cronies, the power-hungry, and affluent society from the average citizen. 

In the story, the U.S. Government incarcerated unemployed and marginally beneficial citizens, questionable and undesirable citizens, and the sick, in “sanctuaries”. They were all escorted at official gun-point to a new life behind guarded walls and gates. Incarcerated citizens were given meager hand-outs, promises of possible jobs, even the hope of relocation. The government told prisoners that they were guests, and the detainment was for their own protection.
The government made all sorts of promises to get citizens into the “sanctuaries”, yet, the "guests" always arrived at gun-point.

The government promises were vain. No jobs materialized. The food and medical care turned out to be a sham. Housing was inadequate. But, Government was positive and kept making promises to all newcomers. As the incarcerated citizens fought among themselves over the meager supplies and housing, the “sanctuaries” became free-for-all zones, which only strengthened the government’s opinion that such incarcerations were justified. 

Only the police and guards had firearms, but the ghetto resident cliques were constantly at one another’s throats as they tried to survive the prison conditions. Despite the lack of firearms ownership among the incarcerated citizens, there were many violent fatal acts among the prison-ghetto residents. Does it really surprise any of us, today, that, even in the story, all inmate violence was perpetrated with weapons other than firearms? The only time the inmates had firearms was when they finally seized arms from guards, when the jailed souls made their only bid for freedom, by taking hostages. 

Unlike the clear intents of our Founders and our Founding Documents, and whether the Star Trek screen writers ever intended it that way or not, yet, even in those Star Trek stories the characters recognized that government has no respect for citizens from whom it can take the citizens’ means of self-defense. The story further illustrated that the ‘sheepishness’ of people’s unwillingness to defend themselves from government is what allows government to suppress and subjugate those of us who would otherwise elect to remain a free people. In other words, those who do not resist the evils of government are contributing to those evils, because they do not resist the evil.

These two Star Trek episodes could well have been written to predict the development and establishment of the U.S. reservation system that our government put together to ‘handle’ the “Indian question” in this country. Those TV shows could also have been written to prophetically address the uprooting and incarceration of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II. The story speaks to the social, racial, political, and religious ghettos in Poland, Germany, Russia, Cambodia, and a hundred or thousand other places on Earth, over eons. Human nature is to disarm, slaughter, marginalize, or incarcerate those whom we distrust or dislike.

That Star Trek story had a troubled, but heroic, ending because a few of the characters cared enough to speak and act in truth to expose the lies about what was going on in 2024 U.S. society. Those who cared acted in faith that their deeds meant something good then and there, and meant something good for posterity. In the story, those who cared to act in Truth and Principle did so for more than their own lives, just as our Founders cared more about Truth and Liberty than about their own safety or earthly wealth. 

At the very end of Part 2, a puzzled and somewhat anxious Dr. Bashir emphatically asked, “How did it get so bad?” (Referring to the egregious abuses by government and powerful people, and the blind compliance by citizens who had been herded into prison facilities, and then left to rot.) To Bashir’s question, Commander Sisko earnestly and perplexedly answered, “I don’t know.” The perplexity of their remarks, and the looks on their faces gave the impression that they were wondering if such violations of Liberty might happen again in human history. The two futuristic heroes did not seem to understand that people continually and almost always allow themselves to be herded, until the pain and horrors of their existence become too much to bear any longer. 

Those Star Trek episodes were make-believe, 19 years ago, and yet, here we are, living in the writers’ future, 2014, only 10 years away from the Star Trek prediction of huge walled prison camps adjacent to our large cities. Daily, the internet rumor sites and chat rooms spread verifiable stories, as well as unsubstantiated rumors, of increased militarization of our local and state police forces, of secret interrogation and prison camps around our nation, of United Nations “pacification” training on U.S. soil, and of massive construction projects that are allegedly for the containment of dissident civilians, all of it is reported, or rumored, to be in place to protect U.S. citizens from ourselves. Obviously, Government thinks that it is a separate responsible entity now, no longer accountable to anyone but itself, and that United States citizens are no longer capable of responsible thought or action. It should be clear to all U.S. citizens that the present unconstitutional government is increasingly afraid that ‘the natives’ are getting restless, and that many U.S. citizens are working to try to return our government to the way our Constitution and Bill of Rights state that government should be conducted. The powers of evil are afraid, and are willing to do anything they can in order to contain or stop citizens who choose to do Right in this world.

If that seems far-fetched to the reader, then please consider the following thoughts that one can verify from internet searches of speeches and comments in the public record. Our current President hates our Constitution, and only uses it when he wants something from it. Otherwise, he neglects or goes around any part of it that annoys him. He thinks that he and his opinion are better than the wisdom of our Founders who wrote our Founding Documents. Though he did not start the process, decades ago, the current President is defiantly continuing to undermine our Constitution and our Bill of Rights. This President claims to have “taught constitutional law”, yet, he has no clue what the Constitution and Bill of Rights mean to “the People” for whom it was written and preserved to this day. He has no respect for constitutional Rule of Law, but continually buddies up with those who work to deprive law-abiding citizens of our “inalienable” Rights. The sitting President has even signed a United Nations treaty the end object of which is to try to disarm our own citizens. That unconstitutional treaty infringes directly on our Constitution's Second Amendment and would ultimately allow United Nations "Peacekeepers" to come onto our soil to help the government disarm our citizens. Is our U.S. Senate going to allow such an open attack against our Bill of Rights and our Sovereignty over our own affairs? Treaties like that helped fuel World War II.

While some of these internet facts and rumors may seem distant or ludicrous to many citizens, yet we cannot, rationally, deny the influence of power-hungry persons, organizations, and officials, inside and outside of government, as they persistently work to downplay, undermine, and destroy our Constitution and Bill of Rights. We cannot, rationally, ignore or deny the many anti-firearms laws that have severely infringed upon our Rights to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”, for our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights acknowledge our Natural Rights, not the least of which is the ability and Right to defend ourselves and each other. But, this is not just about pointing fingers at abusive government, for that is far too easy a solution. What of Rights, Responsibilities, and “We, the People” mentioned in our Founding Documents?

Our Founders’ ideas and Ideals about Natural Rights of the Responsible Citizen, of the Individual having Rights and being Responsible for her or his own actions and freedoms, is HUGE! Biblical in origin, our Founders Ideals and Founding Documents were earth-shattering concepts at the time of their inscription on paper! Their Writings meant that humanity no longer had to be victims and puppets. Their Concepts meant that "We, the People" must be Self-determining, NOT outward directed, that we MUST live by Law and Conscience together, by Spirit and mutual respect, that we must be as active in our exercise of our Responsibilities as we are in our pursuit of Freedom. 

Today, immigrants to our Nation are appalled at the apathy they see among U.S. citizens. Newcomers read our Founding Documents, and believe what they read, for it was written for all Mankind, as was the Bible. Our Founding Documents (based on biblical principles) confirm the instinct that we all have about our Natural Rights. Without Responsible Individuals there is no Responsible Mutuality between Individuals (as the story of Cain and Abel attests). Without Responsible Mutuality there is no Responsible State. Without Responsible States there is no Responsible Federalism. Therefore, Responsible Federal Government is made from, and MUST SERVE both the Responsible States and the Responsible Individuals who make up the States. Responsible State Governments must serve Responsible Individual citizens, for all rests upon the Character of the Responsible Individuals who created what were supposed to be Responsible States, and the mutuality of those States created the Federal. We MUST ALL remember what our Founders designed and built, and why they did so. To forget those essentials is to play into the hands of elitists and power-hungry entities that would twist our government to their own ends continually, as it stands today, with weak Individuals across our Nation, and top-heavy, out-of-control government at the State and Federal levels, all of which have little regard, trust, or respect for one another any longer, but the decay of which is leading us toward totalitarianism that will eventually lead to revolution or anarchy. 

Our ONLY hope, besides the coming of Jesus Christ, is that we recognize our need to participate as Responsible Individuals who are willing to work to preserve and protect us, our families, our towns, our states, and our nation. That leaves it all up to you and I who need to do this, IF we are willing to choose to be counted as Responsible Individuals. It is the Responsible Individual who lives to honor and respect our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. It is the Responsible Individual who sacrificially lays down her or his life for family, friends, this State or Nation. It is the Responsible Individual who chooses to exercise her or his Rights. It is, ultimately, ONLY that Responsible Individual who can and must stand up for her or his own freedom on the basis of natural God-given Rights, as they are stated in our Founding Documents.

Just as in the Star Trek story, rationally, we cannot deny the fact that all the anti-firearms laws of the past 80 years, or more, have only infringed on law-abiding citizens and have done nothing to stop criminals or the insane from committing violent acts. Evil acts of all sorts continue because human nature has never changed, and never will, even when Jesus Christ rules all the nations on Earth with a "rod of iron". Evil minded people will always look for ways to exercise their evil intents. Government, that errantly, willfully, and foolishly pushes the Word of God away from itself, has opened itself to ignorant legislative and administrative pursuits that attempt to control and manipulate human behavior and attitudes, when those governmental actions have no grounding in fact nor science nor morality. It is, therefore, not suprising that incursions against our Rights continue to insidiously infiltrate one area of our lives after another. We cannot, rationally, ignore or deny the growing number of states that have “ag-gag” laws that forbid workers and citizens from exercising their Rights of responsible freedom of speech to report unlawful, harmful, or risky activities by which employers put their workers or the public in jeopardy. With special interests and government collaborating to deny First Amendment Rights, even before our firearms are taken away, what will such attackers seek to do with us once they have stripped us completely of our Second Amendment Rights?! The United States prison-ghettos of the Star Trek story do not seem so far off, do they?

Responsible Citizens and our State and Federal governments should be seeking how to best implement the Ideals and Principles stated in our Constitution and Bill of Rights, but many U.S. citizens have ceased, in many cases, from their duty to work to make our Nation a constitutional work-in-progress. Many have given up on our Nation, content to complain that our States and Nation are becoming more socialistic and dictatorial. Yes, our Federal Government, especially, has become the biggest self-interested industry in our Nation, and an industry bent on self-preservation and growth of its power base, at the expense of the Individuals and States to which that Federal Government is supposed to be servant, and not a master. Though they have sworn to uphold and defend our Constitution, many officials of the Federal government and many State governments have attacked our Constitution and Bill of Rights repeatedly, in a quest to please special interest groups and to subjugate law-abiding citizens. It is the government that is supposed to be subject to the citizens. But, to keep government in check, citizens MUST actively exercise their responsibilities. We all need to become Responsible Individuals! We must STOP waiting for someone else to do the dirty work for us. Life is political and a battle. We MUST look out for ourselves and for one another, that we stop the destruction of our own character, our States, and our Nation.

How many times must historians, poets, and story writers foretell the awful prophecy of “absolute power corrupts absolutely”? And, I would add to that, freedom without responsibility is often nothing but undisciplined anarchy. How long will we U.S. citizens continue to give our responsibilities and powers over to the government, instead of exercising our citizen responsibilities along with our desire for liberty?

We can answer the remarks of Star Trek’s Bashir and Sisko, constructively, and in the affirmative, by not giving up, by not being apathetic or complacent, by not being ignorantly compliant, by asserting that freedom and responsibility are inseparable partners, by taking an active role in our town, state, and national government. Anything and everything constructive that we do is important, even if we simply speak up, that we honestly tell our officials, our neighbors, and our families those things that we know to be just, good, and righteous according to God’s Bible, our Constitution, and our Bill of Rights. 

When we each stand up to be counted in this battle for humanity, then, oppression, marginalization, prison camps, ghettos, and bad laws CAN BE OVERCOME because Responsible Individuals decide to take charge of their own lives, determining that no matter what the cost to Self, that they must resist the evil that seeks to herd us all into sin and social dysfunction. We MUST RESIST evil! We MUST NOT give apathetic consent that would allow evil to do as it pleases. Look at what our Founders accomplished! Look at what M. L. King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela accomplished! Look at what Jesus Christ accomplished!

Don’t quit! Just do what’s right, right now, because it is always now! God will handle the results.