tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772182113499451603.post4941363067721845196..comments2024-03-27T10:50:53.692-05:00Comments on Real Psychiatry: The run on guns and ammunition - is this mass psychogenic illness?George Dawson, MD, DFAPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03474899831557543486noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772182113499451603.post-10272235857841318092014-02-04T22:59:34.146-06:002014-02-04T22:59:34.146-06:00"Protect yourself against the government. Th..."Protect yourself against the government. This is an interesting argument because it basically is the same thing as treason."<br /><br />It's hard to argue that a populace arming themselves is automatically "Treason" when the founders themselves pointed to an armed populace as a necessary check against usurpation and made it a point to codify it in the first amendments to the constitution itself. <br /><br />If you're talking about a government abiding within its constitution and using it's powers to suppress crime or insurrection and other legitimate applications of force then you are absolutely right. If you are talking about people using force just to change things in a way they'd like them to go you are absolutely right. Those circumstances are clearly treason.<br /><br />On the other hand, the 20th alone century shows more than one example of governments that turned predatory, and the consequences for the people were often steep and horrifying. The worst of these tended to occur amongst disarmed populations. From a certain point of view, a well armed populace serves as a credible deterrent against those kind of events. In a worst case scenario, the nation's very founding demonstrated the utility of an armed populace in preserving their existing system of laws and governance in the face of violent threat to overturn their system (unless you're of the camp that call's the nation's founding "treason" rather than defense against "usurpation"). Defense against predatory governance is never a desirable state to reach, but it does befall populations around the world over time. <br /><br />The real question is, how well founded is concern or fear that motivates an increase in the defense posture of the people at large, and is the aim really to cause insurrection or is it to maintain domestic peace through credible deterrence against usurpation? To what extent are historic precursors observable that would substantiate or refute the reality of concerns for usurpation, or motivations for insurrection?<br /><br />Food for thought.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772182113499451603.post-38551164263233718712013-02-20T11:11:51.243-06:002013-02-20T11:11:51.243-06:00I think a lot of people are buying these guns as a...I think a lot of people are buying these guns as an investment, hoping to turn around and sell them for more, later, and this is contributing to the increase in gun sales. I believe this sort of thing happened with llamas, pot bellied pigs and beanie babies at one time. Many people bought these because they wanted to make money with them. Guns are their own category, but I think a lot of this is beanie baby type investment frenzy, and also some false justifications thrown out there by purchasers (just as a person remodeling their kitchen will often justify the expense by saying it will increase resale value, when they have no plans to sell their house and the kitchen will be dated by the time they do sell. They can't admit to themselves that they just want that commercial quality $4000 range). In the same way, I think a lot of people just want these assault type rifles, because it makes them feel tough To justify an expensive rifle, other false reasons are given, like home defense. I wish I had enough money lying around that I could afford a bunch of assault rifles, and I'd remodel my kitchen or get a new boat. Beanie Babies were only 5 bucks. I got a few kitties because they were cute and I liked them. I have some prepper/patriot relatives and I'm very familiar with the mindset. Many are stocking up to make a profit, taking advantage of peoples' psychological reaction to a perceived potential shortage, which doesn't revolve solely around guns. CatLovernoreply@blogger.com