Like rats in a cage, THESE are the days of our lives...

Used to was, back in the days when the Constitution was written, and we were a fledgling nation with room to grow, and hard work assured sustenance, we were a free nation.
If you didn't like conditions where you were, you left. Went to the horizon, and kept on going.
I remember reading some book or other, where a particular sentence has stayed with me even though I have long forgotten the rest. "Daddy always said it was getting too crowded when he could hear a neighbor's axe, and we'd pick up and move someplace else." That's not a direct quote, I don't think, but you get the gist of it. Land was plentiful, and if you wished to be left alone, you went where folks weren't.

We no longer have that option. Nor do we as a nation have that spirit within us that our forefathers had, that led them to take their families and head out to parts unknown. Now we have no 'parts unknown' to head to. If the land isn't 'owned' by a particular person, then the government claims it. Even if you could somehow find some corner unknown to all, and never trod by the foot of man, (Hah!), you couldn't just build you a cabin, plant some crops, and raise your own food and/or family.
Not because there isn't still land out there unoccupied and fallow, but because you must pay the gods of government their tithe. And unlike your religion, it isn't a suggested 10% or so, or whatever you have to put in the plate, its what they tell you it is.
How much of your paycheck goes to the government? Can you say; Hmmm, I've got my property taxes coming up, and since that's going to the Uncle Sambo anyway, I guess I'll just drop five bucks in the revenooers pocket this paycheck. Gotta feed the kids...?

We no longer barter with out neighbors when times are lean. Hell, we don't even know our neighbors names more often than not, too afraid as we cower behind our triple locked doors, only trudging abroad as we go to low-paying, part time jobs in order to support our masters.

I recently read a post over at Farm Wars that struck a chord with me. I suggest (politely, of course) that you read the full article, but this particular part resonated within me. It's the first three paragraphs of the post:

Home of the brave, land of the free. That is what we are supposed to believe. What we are conditioned to believe. Consider this: A rat born in captivity doesn’t know anything else. We could label that captivity “freedom” and the rat would know no difference.

We who were born in America have been told time and time again that we are free and that other countries hate us for our freedom and that we must spread that freedom throughout the world. We are taught to believe that our troops are sent to kill and die to protect us from those that hate us, and that if they didn’t, we would live in captivity, slavery, and authoritarian rule.

But what if it’s all a lie? What if the freedom that we cherish is actually a carefully constructed mask designed to fool those within and without the nation, disguising the true nature of the beast system that we live under? A system created by those who would be king? A system of slavery so complete that we, like the rat, cannot tell the difference because the cage is all we know? What if the freedom that we imagine ourselves to have is all an illusion? Poof! Gone like the wind. Out the door like yesterday’s trash.

 

I especially like the analogy of we poor suffering fools to rats. I like rats. I have had pet rats for years. They are friendly, social, considerate animals. They easily learn, and eagerly look forward to play time. They can be toilet trained to poop in designated areas, and are generally quite clean overall.

They do pee wherever they go, but that is a nature design, and not exactly their fault. They tend to dribble...

And if you keep the cage clean, with good air circulation, there is no smell build up. Period.

 

But what if you don't separate the males and the females. Well, what usually happens, I guess. They procreate. And will continue to do so as their progeny become able to do so at three months. Eventually, there isn't enough room for all the procreating populace, and they start fighting. For space to birth the young'uns, for whatever scraps their master throws them. They stop eating only the pieces they like, and will grab whatever they can from the bowl to rush away with. They resort to cannibalism. Mothers will continue to procreate, then eat the babies rather than let them mature to fight against her for the scraps.

 

It's ugly.

 

I've never had this problem with mine, but I have gotten 'feeder' rats from 'breeders' back in my snake keeping days where I have seen these conditions time and again. That's why I started raising my own rats, keeping the sexes separated unless I wanted them to 'procreate', and found I liked the rats better than snakes anyway. (But that could be a whole post by itself).

 

To 'thin the herd', these feeder breeders would sell excess 'stock', priced according to animal size to herpetologists (lizard and snake owners), and would be more than willing to euthanize and freeze them if asked. Now I admit to occasionally having too many rats My small animal husbandry skills, especially at the start, weren't always what I desired them to be. And I would put up an ad offering them extremely cheap to herp owners. But even though I would feed them to my own critters after quick euthanasia, I only sold them live. (A real man shoots his own dog when needed. (reference Old Yeller)). And I occasionally would take some to a wild animal rescue facility in Florida. They didn't pay, but I could always use it as a tax break. Never did, but coulda.

 

But what are we poor huddling masses to do? Their is no larger cage to place a portion of our populace in. The meager amount of food produced isn't enough to feed our ever increasing population. We can no longer stake claim to an area, and as our forefathers did, raise a family without interference. We cannot even own land in reality. "Free" land, given by the government in the land rush to populate Oklahoma with settlers is now taxed by the same government that 'gave' it to them in the first place. As are so many homesteads dating back to those brave and demanding days, in so many states, settled for generations and bent to man's will, and now controlled by government regulation and taxation and often taken from the very people whose ancestor's work made it a part of this great country. We are rats in a cage of our own making, allowing greater and greater encroachment on our rights as we give more and more power to those we rashly assumed would protect us.

 

Class questions to be answered by the students:

 

1. How do we remove the cage walls?

2. Where do the excess rats go?

3. How do we reclaim our birthright as FREE Americans?

 

Please answer in essay form, and be prepared for a quiz on Revolution and Anarchy as we continue into the next chapters in the months ahead.