By Foster Gamble

With the holidays and all the travel of I have been doing with THRIVE, I find myself missing being more in touch with this amazing network. I will be starting to share some reflections and my interpretation of the news on a few of the prominent issues of these times.

First I want to address the truly sad tragedy of the Sandy Hook massacre of children and teachers… Tears had barely begun to flow before the panderers started trying to use it to obscure critical thinking and take away more rights. With the utmost compassion for all the victims and their families, I invite us to – in their honor – look more deeply into underlying mental health, security and human rights issues.

The stakes are obviously high given the unprecedented government response to undermine the right to bear arms as highlighted in the Second Amendment. There are two key areas where facts and understanding are vital.

First, Adam Lanza was reportedly on an anti-psychotic medication called Fanapt.

Here is a completely mind-boggling, but still only partial list of recent incidents correlating the use of mind altering SSRI, “anti-depressant” type drugs with mass violence.

Here are two videos conveying the same message:

I have seen the behavior of people I know go totally bizarre on these drugs and get even worse when they try to break the addiction to them. The film The Marketing of Madness goes into great depth explaining and documenting this dangerous phenomenon.

I know one renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Rima Laibow, who has effectively treated mental illness in young people without using these pharmaceuticals. In this video, she mimics the viral YouTube clip “I am Adam Lanza’s Mother” to speak generically about the challenge of mental health care by truly listening to and interacting with disturbed young people.

Second, regarding so-called “gun-control”… I personally underwent a dramatic transformation in my understanding over a decade ago. For much of my life, I assumed that if we just get rid of guns, there will be much less violence and people will be safer. I finally encountered facts that made me think deeper.

Here are some hard facts that need to be integrated into any truly comprehensive critical thinking about the issue.

A Little Gun History In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated. Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.

You won’t see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.

During World War II the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

One of the hardest realizations to face is that the most dangerous murderers have been tyrants waging war against those within their own borders who disagree with them and might undermine their power and control. Most Americans think it can’t happen here, but it is already. In my travels, I have talked with people from Italy, Russia, Germany, Spain, Argentina, China and other countries who consistently share that the early stages of the destructive tyrannies in their countries were just like what is happening now in the US — as well as in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe etc.

Watch What Happens When Guns are Banned in Australia:

Are we really supposed to believe that all of the following Draconian measures — occurring in the US in just the past decade since 9/11 — is mere coincidence?

Patriot Act

NDAA, FEMA camps

Military Commissions Act

Cyber-Security Act

National Defense Resources Preparedness

NSA 1.2 Billion hollow-point Bullets

Drones over US territory

Checkpoints in Malibu

Blackhawk Helicopter drills in Minneapolis

Tanks being moved around the country

Total Surveillance

TSA groping

RFID Chips

… and much, much more …

And that it just so happens that now the US government is going after civilian’s ability to protect themselves FROM THE GOVERNMENT!? A new leak seems to indicate that Obama’s new litmus test for military commanders is whether or not they are willing to fire on US citizens.

So the notion that the “authorities should be the only ones with powerful guns” has got to be unpacked to the next levels. Switzerland has one of the highest rates of armed and trained citizens and one of the lowest rates of gun violence.

The 2nd Amendment was not just about hunting or home invasion. Its primary purpose was to empower people to protect themselves from corrupt, authoritarian government. So if the tyrants have powerful assault weapons, what will sane people who demand freedom use to protect themselves?

But where do guns fit in with the Principle of Non-violation? The key is the “non-initiation of force.” Aligning with non-aggression does not preclude people from protecting themselves, other innocents and their property in self-defense. Mahatma Gandhi himself was an advocate of the right to bear arms and recommended “training in arms.”

Martin Luther King had armed guards (deacons) for marches in 1964:

Here’s Thomas Jefferson on the right to bear arms:

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms… disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes… Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”

And of course it is critical for us to keep inspecting the actual facts themselves when a story fits the gun grab agenda in such a timely and perfect way. Look at the contradictions, inconsistencies and suspicious omissions in the Sandy Hook story — starting at 6:25 of this video:

and more in Jon Rappaport’s blogs here and here.

Obama is trying to impose as much of his agenda as possible by dictatorial mandate — what we now call Executive Order.

And how do the drug and gun issues come together? The mainstream press would rather keep the drug risks buried for now until the guns are taken. They also want to protect their top paying commercial sponsors — Big Pharma.

Here is an article that explains how “Psychiatrists Will Become Policemen”.

So what is the answer to all of this tragedy, posturing and authoritarian theft? I believe a thoughtful and careful transition to an entirely new paradigm of social organizing, where instead of political posturing about which right will be taken and who gets to grab what from whom, we move beyond coercive consolidation of power and force to the equal empowerment of all, where our morality and accountability can’t be hidden behind legislative authoritarian rule.

This requires a new way of relating to ourselves and to each other. So does living in a police state. I honestly believe that is the choice we are making…whether we work for true freedom or fall prey to the distraction of the ever-increasing “totalitarian tiptoe” that gun control surveillance, kidnapping, torture, assassination and all the rest represent. What true liberty means, how it works and how we can get there will be my major focus in the next two years — and probably the rest of my life.