Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Casus Belli: The meaning of "Not one more inch."



"They can jail us. They can shoot us. They can even conscript us. They can use us as cannon fodder in the Somme. But. . . But we have a weapon more powerful than any in the whole arsenal of their British Empire – and that weapon is our refusal. Our refusal to bow to any order but our own, any institution but our own." -- Liam Neeson as Michael Collins.


Folks,

A new reader has commented thusly to the earlier post, "Well, well, lookie here, boys and girls! Eric Holder must be a secret fan."

I don't think they will ever give a clear point at which you can decide to fight back. It will be extreme incrementalism--- taxes on ammunition, more sales regulations for firearms, needing ID to buy ammo which will be recorded, tracking credit cards used in gun, ammo and accessories sales, etc.

I think they're going to try and make it practically impossible to own firearms while never giving an excuse to respond.

Where is the one in the sand then?

Apologies if you've answered already, I'm a new reader.


I get this a lot. From some, like the Prags, it is calculated defeatism. They deny that anyone will resist because that is the one thing that frightens them to death. For if enough firearms owners refuse to obey the next infringement, they KNOW they will be dragged into the fight. If we do not play nice anymore, their toys will be forfeit too. They deny this in public, but they get the angriest at me when I point it out, so I assume that they indeed DO most fear it in that little inner place they refuse to look, but know is there.

From most others it is a genuine concern. This is how things have happened for at least seventy-five years, and they expect it to continue. For Three Percenters, however, incrementalism is exactly the reason we have taken our stand.

This is why we declare "not one more inch." One guy at a gun show once told me that I should have made it "not one more millimeter." I told him he was being too European. I suppose that someone on the other side, reading "not one more inch" might conclude he can get away with a half-inch or a quarter inch.

That would be a fatal mistake.

For a whole lot of people.

When Three Percenters declare that they are done with being shoved back, that includes nudges too.

What we are saying is "get the hell up out of our faces before something very bad happens."

Personal space is the region surrounding a person that effects them psychologically in terms of it being their domain or territory, or about which they feel uncomfortable if entered by another. -- Wikipedia.


Ever watch a dog crowd a cat, leading with its very vulnerable nose? The cat defines its personal space quite definitely, suddenly and in a targeted manner and the dog retreats with a bloody nose, having learned a very valuable lesson.

Here's the thing. These people have not only crowded our personal space, they've shoved us around, pushed us into a corner and picked our pockets in the bargain, making us pay for the privilege of being oppressed. They have long ago earned the right to a bloody nose. Yet they keep coming because no one HAS punched them in the nose.

Unfortunately governments, unlike dogs, do not have the good sense to back off. They just keep coming, stupidly, blindly, because governments aren't as smart as dogs. This is especially true of collectivist governments.


There is a Roman phrase, Casus belli, which is a Latin expression meaning "case of war." I am proud to say that the term was reintroduced in the modern world by a Dutchman, Hugo Grotius, in 1625, in the context of trying to explain what constituted a "just war."

Now "casus belli" is sometimes misspelled and mispronounced as "causus belli" since this resembles the English "cause." Cause, however, springs from a different Latin word, causa, meaning, well, cause.

Casus belli, as understood by the Romans, described, in the legal sense, a case of war. In other words, it was understood to be the sum total of events by an aggressor which constituted the onset of war.

This is what the Founders were getting at when they put these words in the Declaration of Independence.

"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."


"A long train of abuses and usurpations." This was their case for war against the empire of King George the Third. Collectivist gradualism in their 75-year war against our liberties also "evinces a design" to reduce US under absolute Despotism.

The gradualism is, indeed, the casus belli. They have been at war with us for a long time. We have just never before elected to accept that fact, and to take steps to secure our liberty and property, our "personal space."

So, what does "not one more inch" mean?

It means, if they pass taxes on ammunition we will refuse to cooperate. We will smuggle. We will manufacture ourselves and we will dare them to enforce their will upon us. This is, in one sense, what the state firearms manufacturing freedom acts are about. And when they do, we will shoot back.

It means that if they insist on us showing ID to buy ammo, one guy will show up once a month and buy several million rounds of ammunition, and then distribute it to the rest of his anonymous "ammo co-op." And when they attack him, we will shoot back.

It means that if they ban gun shows, by fiat or stealth, we will hold our own illegal gun shows in defiance of them. And when they try to enforce their will, we shoot back.

"Not one more inch" means shooting back.

Our refusal to cooperate in our own further enslavement will not be tolerated by our "betters." They will hire somebody to enforce their will (for they never risk their own hides). When they do, we will first defend ourselves, and then we will seek out the people who sent the killers and we will wreak justice upon the war makers, not just the war fighters.

That is what "not one more inch" means.

This is called, in the over-technical parlance of the day, "fourth-generation warfare." I call it justice.

If it starts, I don't expect to live to see the end of it, but it will be justice nonetheless.

Now I would a whole lot rather not go down this road. That is why, like the rattlesnake on the flag, I'm trying to get across the point to the collectivists who think that it is business as usual that they'd better not take another step lest they be bitten.

However there is also the very likely prospect, given the existence of a stupid, steroidal, out-of-control agency like the ATF, that conflict could start simply on the basis of some federal idiot's miscalculation.

But whether the ball opens because somebody thinks wrongly that they can have another free Waco, or because somebody thinks they can nudge us back some more without what they think of as an "overt act," we will REFUSE TO COOPERATE in our own further oppression.

"Not one more inch" is a statement of that refusal.

It may lead to civil war by design on their part, or by miscalculation, but the line is drawn, not in the sand, but etched in granite -- in the determined heart of every Three Percenter.

NOT. ONE. MORE. INCH.

Gradualism will not suffice them this time.

From here on out, they must decide if their tyrannical appetites are worth dying for.

Not one more inch.

Mike
III

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

agreed, not one more inch

Rooster

MikeH. said...

Not one... period!!!

Mike H.
III

idahobob said...

"Not one more inch".......

Hear, hear.

Bob
III

Texas Shooter said...

Excellent post!

Regarding "justice for the war makers", I received an email earlier in the week that clarified things for me.

There are only 545 human beings out of 300 million Americans that are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

They are: 100 Senators, 435 Congressmen, 1 President, and 9 Supreme Court justices.

545.

That's not a whole lot of folks....

Anonymous said...

Well done Mike as usual. May I add that Threepers travel many different roads. For my family, that nudge may be mandatory immunizations of any kind, not allowing us to home school our grand babies, taxing our income and the necessary commodities until I can not care for my family. Yep, there are a lot of 'trip wires' they need to be aware of.

Renegade
III

MamaLiberty said...

Indeed - not one more infringement.

My sons moan that I could get myself killed.

I just ask them what they are doing to arrange an alternative.

Anonymous said...

good stuff. Like my father said, they are leaving there own trip wires. Tread carefully, I say.

Son of a Renegade

III

Anonymous said...

And now they propose to "fine" me $3800 if I don't buy Health Insurance. Jeez, thanks for making sure I spend MY money the way you think I should.

One more line drawn...

sv, III

Anonymous said...

How will we know who to shoot?

Happy D said...

sv said
And now they propose to "fine" me $3800 if I don't buy Health Insurance. Jeez, thanks for making sure I spend MY money the way you think I should.

In Muslim countries they cut the hands off thieves, just a thought for our tax raising fiends ah I mean friends.
And a warning to Government supremacists everywhere.

Anonymous said...

First off, thank you for answering my question. I understand now that you had answered it before, and that I hadn't quite gotten it. But now I do understand.

I think I used to be a three percenter in the past, before this site existed. I parted ways with the gun culture a couple years ago. The reason I did this was that I could not stand being around people who claimed to support the second amendment, but believed in full enforcement of all current gun laws.

You know, I don't think I became an adult until the day that I realized where my personal line in the sand was. Until you know you are ready to risk your life for something you believe in, do you really believe in anything?

Men have only two ways to interact with each other. They are via consent, or via force. I believe that government cannot exist without forcing itself upon people. But life is not perfect. If government limited itself to the moral use of force it would be acceptable.

Our society, however, believes that government force is always moral, and thus is not "violence". Thus, they will see a response to the next "inch" worth of government force as a reaction that is "unreasonable", and "violent".

I believe it will be important for there to be a strong, active and always present PR presence if the line is crossed. Either a public face to be interviewed, or well produced HD video posted to the internet. Otherwise I think you'll be perceived as "racist militia nuts."

I'm walking a different path than you. But I am a supporter.

Thanks again for the answer.

straightarrow said...

I hate to steal anyone's thunder, but I made that vow more than fifteen years ago. I got up from my flower bed, where I was planting impatiens and told my wife she might want to get a divorce, because I wasn't backing up another step. No more seeing their side of it, no more benefit of the doubt, no more tolerance. I would fight and I would fight viciously.

Knowing what kind of character assassination I would suffer upon my death (outnumbered really badly) and the spillover that would fall upon my family I urged her to leave me. She didn't. She said, "Do what you have to do."

I haven't backed up another step yet, and I will not. I have gotten older, weaker, slower and less able to survive, but I now contemplate advance instead of refusal to back up.

I am not stupid enough to believe I can survive the coming storm, but I can occupy a space a younger, stronger, more able to survive and prevail man can use as a stepping stone to the restoration of the republic.

straightarrow said...

MamaL, I would hope your sons have no intention of letting your getting killed pass unaddressed. Of course, I hope the same for my children. Regardless, I must do what I must.

I just hate the fact that what I must do must wait to see what my enemies do. I hope they decide to cease encroachment on my liberty, but if they do not.......Oh, well.

If they were not my enemies, but just other Americans with a different viewpoint, this would not even be an issue, but I will not back up another step.

Anonymous said...

Not one more inch... Not only do you make the statement but you explain the very meaning of it. We shoot back! I let my NRA membership expire because until they start doing more than paying lip service to the whole "from my cold dead hands" line, I prefer to let my trigger finger do my 2nd amendment defense. The NRA is only there to pacify people like us and make us feel more secure while the abuses pile sky high. I'm not falling for it. Mike and all the others here are true defenders of liberty and the 2nd amendment. I recently started reading this site on a regular basis, and I am here to stay for sure.

Mike H said...

Like my Mom said, 'They have flubbed their dub'.

Mike H (without the period andWhat McAuliffe Said blogger -s-)

Anonymous said...

One more inch backwards and we may fall into the trench!

I don’t see any choice “Not one more Inch”

It looks like the Elite may push an Iran war to hide the October economic collapse.

Has of June 30 they are 1882 banks have been given an “F” rating up 16% from March 30, 2009 and another 1800 banks are right behind them.

Qi Ji Guang said...

I couldn't be any happier when I am reading the posts on this thread. With every person who posts here, there are probably more who have seen the light and reading the wisdom every day.

I discovered Sipsey Street less than a year ago, and for the first time in my life, I completely and wholeheartedly agreed with 100 percent, and I mean, 100 PERCENT of the views expressed on a form of literature. Before I discovered this site, I never even knew what a 3 Percenter was, or that many others share the same views as me. On popular gun forums that I always go to such as The Firing Line and THR, there indeed are many people who state that they will take drastic measures to defend the Constitution if all else fails, but usually these posts are made in very non-serious fashion.

For me, my lines are drawn in most fields where constitutional freedoms are present, such as gun rights, right to choose my own healthcare, etc...
Marxist and collectivist terror have killed over 170 million people over the last century, and you can be damn sure I will fight against collectivism, and fight it in the most ferocious fashion, if it comes to that point.

Anonymous said...

"There are only 545 human beings out of 300 million Americans that are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country."

What?? Where's the voters' responsibility? 90% of Germans vote to make Hitler dictator, but only Hitler is to blame?

http://www.voluntaryist.com/articles/085b.php

"one guy will show up once a month and buy several million rounds of ammunition, and then distribute it to the rest of his anonymous "ammo co-op.""

Please seriously consider moving this discussion platform, and all the readers who will follow, to something on top of Linux and TOR with better anonymity. You will get the most buck for your bang (heh!) by letting the computer help you expand the free-er market.

Matt said...

"I don't think they will ever give a clear point at which you can decide to fight back. It will be extreme incrementalism"

Milton Mayer wrote about the incrementalism of Nazi Germany:

"You see," my colleague went on, "one doesn't see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don't want to act, or even talk, alone; you don't want to 'go out of your way to make trouble.' Why not? - Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty.

"Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows. Outside, in the streets, in the general community, 'everyone' is happy. One hears no protest, and certainly sees none. You know, in France or Italy there would be slogans against the government painted on walls and fences; in Germany, outside the great cities, perhaps, there is not even this. In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to your colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, 'It's not so bad' or 'You're seeing things' or 'You're an alarmist.'

"And you *are* an alarmist. You are saying that *this* must lead to *this*, and you can't prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don't know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. You are left with your close friends, who are, naturally, people who have always thought as you have.

...

"But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. *That's* the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and
smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked - if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in '43 had come immediately after the 'German Firm' stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in '33. But of course this isn't the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.

...

The world you live in - your nation, your people - is not the world you were born in at all. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves; when everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. Now you live in a system which rules without responsibility even to God. The system itself could not have intended this in the beginning, but in order to sustain itself it was compelled to go all the way.

-- Milton Mayer, "They Thought They Were Free" pages 169-72


"Not one more inch" means nothing without an identifiable threshold.

When? When is the time to start killing those who cross that threshold?

Crustyrusty said...

"Please seriously consider moving this discussion platform, and all the readers who will follow, to something on top of Linux and TOR with better anonymity."

I think folks are pissed off enough to not care anymore.

I'm too damn old and achy to worry about if they know me anymore.

If they get me, they get me, but I know where I'm going afterward and I WILL take some with me.