The Surveillance State
Page 5
“Excellent answer, Mr. Nielson,” President Verduzco said. “Now can anyone tell me why the people didn’t revolt when they learned about the surveillance?”
Abby and I were skipped over again this time.
A young man in the front stood up and began, “Edmund Burke said, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ That’s why.”
He sat down very full of himself.
“That’s definitely part of it, but this is a complicated matter. Does anyone want to further his thought?”
Again we were skipped, and in all fairness we had rarely seen her address any student more than once in a class as she seemed to enjoy spreading out to and engaging each student in the room. This time it was a girl standing in the back.
The girl stepped out of the darkness and said, “Some of the people were duped, some were accomplices, and some were rebels. I could go on. The point is, on the eve of the biggest election in world history the two parties produced candidates who were closely tied to the banks and to the military industrial complex. Call them corporatists, fascists, elite, plutocrats, whatever the meme, and you’ll still find that the differences between the two parties were negligible to the men in charge as long as they all agreed to policing the world so banks and corporations could exploit it. At least some of the fault should be placed on the party system that was employed at that time.”
The President added, “Yes, this is why we added the banning of political parties section to the anti-corruption amendment which has also been called the ‘Money out of politics’ amendment. Section 2 of the 29th amendment states, ‘The history of political parties have shown us that they have no obligation to anything more than political ideology and therefore often act in the interest of the party over the interest of the people and are no longer a viable part of our democracy.’ Good, we have apathy, corrupt political parties, and what else?
I was skipped over for the person right next to me, which stung a little because for a moment I thought it was me, before the young man spoke.
“A populous of disengaged materialists who only cared about themselves, justified their actions in all kinds of ways, but it would be disingenuous to suggest that they weren’t somehow complicit in not only the genocide of nearly every culture in the world, but they nearly destroyed the planet,” he said.
“Apathy, corruption, selfishness, what else?” asked the president.
This time she called on Abby, who smiled at me, then turned her gaze toward the President and said, “Lack of civic virtue. In fact in the late twentieth century, one of the party’s whole political platform was built on dismantling the government. Phillip E Johnson wrote 'a constitutional democracy is in serious trouble if its citizenry does not have a certain degree of education and civic virtue.’ And John Adams wrote ‘When public virtue is gone, when the national spirit is fled… the republic is lost in essence. Though it may still exist in form.’ It’s pretty clear that they failed to cultivate an educated citizenry that was capable of understanding civic virtue.”
“Well put,” The president said. “Apathy, corruption, selfishness, lack of civic virtue and education, and I’ll add greed, were the main excuses and problems of the time. The people didn’t revolt because they were comfortable and it was easier not to. Each had a reason to stay silent. Despite the founders calling for revolt if the government ever went beyond the will of the people, they sat back and allowed it to happen. In the case of the surveillance state, they voted for it and defended it to the death.
“We added three sections to the new amendments of constitution based on this book. We discussed the banning of political parties in section 2 of 29 already. We also discussed the privacy issues in Section 2 and 3 of the 30thamendment after we read The Weed War. Section 2 prohibits the government from spying on its citizens and Section 3 prohibits corporations and individuals from spying on other people.”
She looked up, and said, “Looks like we’re out of time. Please read The Gun Games for the next session and be prepared for a lively debate as I can tell you the 2nd amendment was the only original amendment that got all the attention. We spent nearly a month debating its validity. The next class will clear up some of the misconceptions on my stance as well.”
We stayed after class to discuss the arrangements of the dinner I was supposed to cook for her, but Abby informed me that she had cooked me dinner already and didn’t care about the bet. I was so relieved not to have to cook that I gave her a huge hug. We packed up quickly and headed to her house where she said she had a crockpot of chile waiting.
Freedom Files
Dax and Abby 2091
I honestly can’t remember what the food tasted like or any detail in the room. I was consumed with desire, and my focus burned deep into Abby. She was the sun and I was but a small planet orbiting her every move. Her words carried a weight I had not known, with deep emotion in each utterance. I was bathed in the rush of endorphins as I rode the waves of all the human emotions. That was bliss. On that night, from the moment we left the auditorium we had experienced what I now know is love. There was nothing else just us, talking, laughing, carrying on as if we were the only two people on the planet. In those hours before we kissed I knew then that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with that woman. She was my everything.
We touched the center of the universe together, lost, and yet not lost, afraid, and yet not afraid. Our breathing in synch, eyes fixed on each others’, we tumbled down the worm hole and back again. Then we kissed.
***
The next few days flew by and I almost forgot about the assignment, one I wasn’t particularly fond of. I didn’t agree with the 2nd constitutional congress decision to keep the 2nd amendment as it was at the founding. In my head I justified going through the book and formulating a good set of questions because I could pose them to the woman who ultimately was the amendment’s biggest supporter. That Friday night I began reading The Gun Games.
Read more of The Freedom Files in the next book Gun Games
***********************************************
Sneak Peak of Gun Games
Chapter 1
The Gun Games
Kona High School, 2022
“In the years since the assassination of Rene de Garcia and Matthew Mattox…” The tall thin teacher stopped and turned toward the class.
“Miss Sanchez,” She said, taking two steps forward and dropping her chin just enough to peer over her glasses, “could you please explain in your own words what the article was about?
“Um…” she rolled her huge hazel eyes back, took a deep breath, and said, “In the years since the assassination of Rene de Garcia and Matthew Mattox, this article, describes the wars in the states that have not complied with the new federal mandate outlawing firearms.”
Mrs. Athena smiled and asked can I see a hands raised of those who think guns should be outlawed.” All but two kids shot their hands into the air.
Mrs. Athena took a step forward, placed her hands on the corner of her desk, and gently sat against it, scissoring her long slender legs.
She sighed and asked, “Do you think living here in Hawaii where the guns have already been confiscated will shield us from what some are calling the second civil war?”
Sara, one of the smarter students raised her hand and Mrs. Athena nodded at her.
Sara said, “Well, I think as soon as those other states give up their guns we can get back to how it used to be.”
“Yeah,” a boy in the back yelled.
“You have something to add, Andrew?”
“No, well, yes I just don’t understand why they won’t comply.”
Reed Dougherty had heard enough. The future air force pilot was the Brigadier Sgt for the civil air patrol. He Blurted out, “They are standing up for the second amendment and the constitution of this country.”
Mrs. Athena smiled, swirled around, and
hurried over to the board. She wrote down, ‘2nd amendment.’
“Can anyone tell me what the second amendment says?” she asked.
Reed didn’t have to wait. He knew it well. “The 2nd amendment states, ‘A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ ”
“Thank you, Reed, so what does this all mean?” She asked, opening the discussion to the class.
Tristan, a blonde surfer, raised his hand and she acknowledged him with, “Your thoughts, Tristan?”
“Well, Miss, that constitution was written a long time ago by people who didn’t know how dangerous the world would become.”
Chapter 2
Denver Colorado, 2022
Bang! Bang!…. Two shotgun blasts rang out. Ricky Cisneros flew off his feet and landed on the hood of his Porsche Spyder. As he Clutched his chest, his limp body slid down onto the ground. Hundreds of fully equipped SWAT team members rushed past him. He could see feet running by and he could hear gunshots, but he couldn’t move and was struggling for breath.
Suddenly someone grabbed him. “This one’s alive,” a voice yelled.
“Bag him,” another yelled, as a black bag came over his head.
***
The ATF agents were posing in front of the huge cache of weapons they just stumbled onto in a hidden room behind the walk in closet. There was a large variety of weapons ranging from small 38’s to a grenade launcher and hundreds of assault rifles.
“Hey Bob, what kind of guns are these?” a small, thin, young man asked.
Bob a long time veteran, rolled his eyes, and said, “Look here rookie,” he said, pointing at the writing on the side of the gun. “This is Russian so I would venture to say they are foreign guns.”
Chaz, an eager young rookie just out of his only stint in the Army, joined the ATF because it was the only agency that offered him a job.
A sniper by training, he had a great deal of knowledge about firearms, specifically rifles. But these guns looked different than any he had ever seen. Yes, they were a standard design but they were made by a manufacturer he had never seen. He shook his head, but didn’t have time to find answers so continued bagging and tagging each of the weapons. He ran his fingers over the cold steel. He knew the writing was Russian, but he didn’t accept the old man’s assumption. He thought to himself, “these morons don’t even recognize something as important as new guns made to look like Russian guns, but they aren’t.”
He picked up a long magazine and looked at it.
Bob slapped him on his back, saying, “you thought they stopped making these?”
Chaz looked up at him, “Yes, Sir, I did sir!”
Bob chuckled, “Only in America.”
Chaz shook his head in disapproval, saying, “Who is this guy?”
Bob laughed, and said, “Ricky Cisneros, AKA Rick Dog, one of the biggest drug dealers in the world.”
This novella is an original creation by a Native American artist. Duke Kell is a member of Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Tribal ID number 89RD101025.
Published by:
Two Ton Productions
Kona, Hawai’i, USA
www.twotonproductions.com
About the Author:
Duke Kell, Author, Poet, Philosopher, resides in Kona on the big island of Hawaii. He and his wife Nancy, own and operate Two Ton Productions. Disillusioned by the corporate dumbing down of popular entertainment, their company is dedicated to publishing works of substance.
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Freedom Files Books
The Cancer Culture
The Weed War
The Surveillance State
Gun Games
Corporate Control
Other full length novels:
The Point of Origin, by Duke and Nancy Kell.(2010)
Hawaiian Heart. The Soul Warrior's Journey, by Duke and Nancy Kell(2013)