American Tories 

By James Hall
web posted October 29, 2001

"I voluntarily take this OATH to bear Faith and true Allegiance
to His MAJESTY KING George the Third; - and defend to the
utmost of my Power, His sacred Person, Crown and
Government, against all Persons whatsoever."

Words like these may seem strange to inhabitants of the twenty
first century, but to citizenry of the revolutionary period, this was
the making of serious discourse. Just hollow rhetoric, or was this
sentiment of the day, a fair reflection by a significant portion of
the population?

James Chalmers wrote a pamphlet under the pen name of
Candidus, called Plain Truth (http:
//users.erols.com/candidus/plain-t.htm), as a response to Thomas
Paine's "Common Sense." His view represented the consensus of
the colonies for scores of years prior to the rebellion.

Candidus replies to Paine's warning of abuse by the Sovereign,
by invoking Montesquieu's description of the British government
as being: "This beautiful system our constitution is a compound of
Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy." And follows with the
view of Hume towards the King: "we are in part indebted for our
supreme felicity; since without such control in the Crown, our
Constitution would immediately degenerate into Democracy."

It is not surprising that those in positions of comfort and authority
wish to maintain that condition. A natural aspect of human
endeavors is to seek security and rely upon the familiar
institutions and structures to organize their communities.
Concepts of liberty vary among those in society based upon their
respected place in the hierarchy of status. Let no one be misled,
all societies are composed of unequal rank among their
populace. The notion of equality under the rule of law is a result
of a recognition that each individual is endowed with natural
rights that no state can legitimately abridge. But to extrapolate
that their standing should be equal is pure nonsense.

The struggle that ensues from this intrinsic reality defines the
interaction that all cultures have between their citizens and the
state. The structure of government that the inhabitants choose to
form or are compelled to live under, is based upon what
particular faction dominates the intellectual apology for rule or
commands the power to impose their will upon others. This is an
axiom of all history. Only those who practice the rationale of
denial will dispute this assertion.

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, we
have been exposed to a diatribe of patriotic fidelity that
approaches psychopathic proportions, when examined within the
context of the tragic record of how ALL governments act,
towards their own citizens, when granted excessive powers to
police their own people. Liberty is never a result of a bill
proposed by a legislature or granted in a proclamation of a
sovereign. It is always the embodiment of individual behavior.
No one or no body can bequest rights upon you, since you are
already endowed with fundamental principles of willful consent.
Legitimacy of the state is founded upon the agreement that
citizens have with the society that forms a government.

Today we have the 'Tory Complex' sweeping the nation. The
standard for the masses is to demonstrate their loyalty to the
country, by allowing the government to institute anti-liberty
measures that are justified because we are at war. The confusion
to mix proper demands and proportioned steps to ensure justice
for criminal actions, with the forfeiture of inalienable rights; is
demented. But that is exactly what the so-called American
Loyalists are demanding. Their impulsive bellicose clamor, based
upon the willful surrender of individual protections, is a result of a
false allegiance. The nature of America, is embodied in her
principles of individual primacy. All authority stems from the
citizen and is lent out to the state as a trusted steward.

The biggest abusers of this misguided nationalism are the very
people who share many of the same conservative values that are
consistently argued and defended in these essays. The neo-
conservative has mutated into the Tory champion. Imputing
voices of guarded prudence with routine condemnation of their
message and accusing them of being disloyal to America, follows
the pattern of Candidus. He sums up the current temperament of
today quite nicely: "This writer, and all others of his stamp,
should remember that the colonies are now in a state of revolt
and rebellion against their rightful sovereign. The British
legislature is unalterably determined to bring them back to their
allegiance."

When governments secedes your rights, they are passing the new
Stamp Act. When your state abdicates the Bill of Rights, they
have become the Crown. And when your furor mandates the
abolition of our legal protections against the power of the federal
bureaucracy, you are paying homage at the throne of a new King
George. And you demand all this in the name of Patriotism?

President Bush, to his credit has remained balanced, in the face
of a commitment to a mistaken Foreign Policy. It is the public
who's fancy for a 'good fight' jumble the difference between
proper accountability for Terrorists, with a call for a defense of
the empire. They are the 'neo-TORIES', demanding the
implementation of Chalmers' last remarks: "In short, I affirm that
it would be most excellent policy in those who wish for TRUE
LIBERTY to submit by an advantageous reconciliation to the
authority of Great Britain; to accomplish in the long run, what
they cannot do by hypocrisy, fraud and force in the short one."

A real conservative is a revolutionary in the pursuit of individual
rights and an advocate of constitutional protections and limited
government. So why are you adopting the hypocrisy, fraud and
force towards you own revolution, while paying allegiance to the
dominion that the U.S. Crown has become? The federal
government is NOT America. The American revolution was not
fought to allow the emergence of a different tyrant. Because it is
home grown, does not make it any better. Judging from the
public outcry, the 'Right' are all wearing red coats, as the style
for this fall season. What matters after the explosions cease, and
smoke dissipates, is what kind of America remains as a nation. If
we allow the state to usher in a new age of restricted rights and
coerced compliance, we will lose much more than, a war. The
true war is always with your own government, any state, that
seeks to destroy the rights of their own citizens.

What we have today is a population that would refuse to stand
with our Founding Fathers. They knee to a king, and his name is
not our Republic . . . and desire to serve under General
Cornallis. Your Yorktown confronts you and you are unwilling to
face why? Rethink your position, correct your errors, and return
to fight alongside George Washington.

James Hall, AKA Satre, is the driving force behind Breaking all
the Rules (http://pages.zdnet.com/sartre/RULES/index.html) a
collection of his essays.

Enter Stage Right - http://www.enterstageright.com