For many years now, I've been puzzled that so many Americans can simply bury themselves in their personal lives and ignore what is happening to us as a nation. Perhaps it's more obvious to me because I have so many friends who do not ignore what is happening.

Libertarians, as a group, are people who have already decided that they must pay attention and take some action to oppose the disintegration of our nation. As I talk to non-libertarians, I find more agreement than disagreement on the issues of the day, but I find so many who are unwilling to even consider doing anything at all to change what they view as wrong... except talk.

As I've said before... being of German heritage, I've often pondered how it is possible that a nation of my kin allowed their government, the National Socialist Party (NAZI) to become the vicious body that forced the world into war and slaughtered millions of people. How it was accomplished is well known, but why the people refused to see and neglected to respond still astonishes me.

For many years, I believed that the German people had some valid excuses; they were poor and depressed, due to punitive measures against them in retaliation for their role in World War I. One can understand that Hitler's grandiose plans had emotional appeal, but a glaring fact remains: the people closed their eyes to what was really happening. Most of them saw, and understood, and chose to do nothing to stop it.

It's shocking and depressing to see the same thing happening in the United States. We now have a President whose actions, in some ways, parallel those of Hitler. He has engaged us in war that could last decades, against "enemies", some of whom are yet to be named... a global "holy democracy" war that is increasingly being referred to as a World War. Overwhelming military force, followed by occupation, complete with torture and abuse of prisoners and civilians. Domestically, we're being drained of resources but being "taken care of" by ever-increasing social programs.

The response of the American people to such parallel activities? Re-elect the same President to a 2nd term. Re-elect the same Congress that allowed and aided such programs. Democrats... don't dare protest that you helped by voting against Bush... Kerry wasn't a nickels-worth of difference, and your party isn't any better than the Republicans. As I've also pointed out before, it was the Democrats who sucked the power into the federal government... your hero FDR who, using wartime "need", ballooned government into the massive and overbearing behemoth we're facing now. We've been forced to choose between two equally corrupt political parties that might as well be named "rock" and "hard place".

How can a people once known for their love of individual freedom and respect for the rights of others allow all this to happen in their name? Every year, the classic quote by Edmund Burke (1729-1797) seems more relevant:

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil
                      is for good men to do nothing."

That's part of our problem... doing nothing except talking. Too few of us are willing to spend time or money doing anything to stop the decline.

The other part of the problem is that we have become so very "tamed". We have become the milquetoast citizenry of the globe, bamboozled and content to put up with anything that doesn't interfere with our latte, sports, and wheels. Television is becoming our "reality". We are the spoiled children of earth.

There is a wonderful story... a parable, really... told by Lawrence W. Reed, President of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, that answers the problem posed by the title of this article: How to enslave a free people.

There once was a band of wild hogs which lived along a river in a secluded area of Georgia. These hogs were a stubborn, ornery, independent bunch. They had survived floods, fires, freezes, droughts, hunters, dogs, and everything else. No one thought they could ever be captured.

One day a stranger came into town not far from where the hogs lived and went into the general store. He asked the storekeeper, "Where can I find the hogs? I want to capture them." The storekeeper laughed at such a claim but pointed in the general direction. The stranger left with his one-horse wagon, an ax, and a few sacks of corn.

Two months later he returned, went back to the store and asked for help to bring the hogs out. He said he had them all penned up in the woods. People were amazed and came from miles around to hear him tell the story of how he did it.

"The first thing I did," the stranger said, "was to clear a small area of the woods with my ax. Then I put some corn in the center of the clearing. At first, none of the hogs would take the corn. Then after a few days, some of the young ones would come out, snatch some corn, and then scamper back into the underbrush. Then the older ones began taking the corn, probably figuring that if they didn't get it, some of the other ones would. Soon they were all eating the corn. They stopped grubbing for acorns and roots on their own."

"About that time, I started building a fence around the clearing, a little higher each day. At the right moment, I built a trap door and sprung it. Naturally, they squealed and hollered when they knew I had them, but I can pen any animal on the face of the earth if I can first get him to depend on me for a free handout."

We ARE the band of formerly wild hogs.