February 29, 2016 | Gunner Steele

Ignorance is not Bliss, it is Death

To be ignorant does not mean that one is stupid or dumb. It simply means that they are uninformed. The dictionary says that ignorance is, "lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about something."

Of course, in practice, ignorance often appears as stupidity, since people who are unaware of certain things wouldn't act or react in the manner that they do if they were simply informed.

And with this in mind, let me make something abundantly clear—it is the objective of every statist, every control freak, every liberal wacko, and every tyrant, to keep their subjects ignorant. Their own power absolutely depends on the ignorance of the masses. Like in America today where 10% of college graduates think Judge Judy is on the Supreme Court and 1/3 of Americans had no idea who Justice Scalia was when he passed away.

And think about it—it is impossible for ignorance to exist in a truly free society, therefore they create institutions like government education, government social security, government medical care, and nearly every other government "big brother" program and institution imaginable.

These institutions all exist to keep people under control. To ensure that people do not think rationally for themselves. To force people to either absorb and repeat their statist agenda, or to keep them so dependent on the government, that they fear the consequences of resistance and therefore mentally acquiesce—and simply accept the government's dogmas.

In either case—free thinking does not prevail. On the contrary, ignorance and fear prevail. And ignorance and fear kill free-thinking and free people.

This timeless truth is so definitive, that God Himself once declared that his own people were "destroyed for lack of knowledge." In other words, God said that ignorance kills his people.

So what about you, are you ignorant?

Before you answer YES or NO, remember that a fish doesn't know that it's wet.

Fortunately, every now and again, a test case comes around to help you answer these questions. Currently, the case with Apple against the FBI/Federal Government is a perfect case. If you actually think that Apple should bow down at the feet of the government to "unlock the terrorist's iPhone" to protect the American people, then you, my dear friend, are a fish, and you don't know that you're wet.

You're unfortunately ignorant, and the consequences of this ignorance are deadly.

But I am confident that you are smart. You wouldn't be reading this now if you weren't. So, I want to help you become informed on this issue and on the history of the United States' (and all governments) promises regarding "one time use" and "limited scope." In short, when any government says that they will only do something "once" or only use a necessary power "one time" and that they will keep their powers within a "limited scope"—they are lying. Pure and simple.

A million anecdotes could fill this email, but I want to zero in on one simple example. Let's talk about your Freedom to Use Your Own Money however you want...

1. In Virginia, Victor Ramos Guzman, who served as the secretary for his church, and his brother were pulled over by a Virgina state trooper. The two brothers had $28,000 cash on hand. The money was collected from church members as part of a property fund drive and it was going to be used to buy church property. The police offer seized the cash and reported the case to Customs and Immigrations, because obviously, any brown skinned men carrying cash must be drug runners. The Guzman brothers, of course, were legal residents serving their church. Legally, the Virginia state police could keep 80% of the cash under federal law.

Why? Because having more than $10,000 on your person at any time is illegal. Why? Because anybody with that much cash must be part of the drug trade! Or so says the War on Drugs!

But don't worry—if you're not doing anything wrong, the government will not use these laws against you. You only have to worry if you're involved in drugs. Just ask the Guzman brothers!


2. Another elderly woman in the Midwest had withdrawn her life savings (just under $100,000) and was going to buy a new manufactured home where she would live out her sunset years. While she was on her way to purchase her new home, with the cash in hand (sure, its a bad idea to carry that much cash—but it was her money), she was unfortunately pulled over by the police.

After finding the money, the police officer confiscated the money because she was in violation of federal law. It ended up costing her over $60k in legal fees and a few years in court to get her money back.

But don't worry, the laws regarding the War on Drugs, only exist to stop the bad guys from laundering money. If you're not one of those bad guys—you have nothing to worry about. Just ask this poor old woman.


3. In 2006, fundamentalist Baptist preacher and evangelist, Kent Hovind, best known for teaching about Science, Dinosaurs, and Biblical Creation, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for "structuring" withdrawals from his bank account. This means that he made withdrawals of HIS OWN money from HIS OWN bank just under $10,000.

That's right, for withdrawing his own money that he earned, he went to prison for 10 years and has faced a nonstop assault on his character which he could not properly defend while incarcerated. Many have claimed that he went to jail for tax evasion, but that is untrue and a simple look at the charges against him in court will show that he was imprisoned because he was found guilty of "structuring."

So what is "structuring?" Well, it is a provision of the War on Drugs which states that any deposit or withdrawal of cash in the amount of $10,000 or more must be reported on a special form to the Federal Government, because anybody carrying that much cash is obviously suspect and must be involved in drugs somehow.

So, if you "structure" your deposits and withdrawals so that they are just below this $10,000 threshold—that is illegal.

But don't worry, my friend, the government will only use this against you if they have reason to believe you are involved in the drug trade! You know—like fundamentalist Baptist preacher Kent Hovind. (Who, actually was just released after 10 long years in prison.) That's right, dangerous and violent criminals are released early every day, but fundamentalist baptist preacher, Kent Hovind, served all 10 years of his sentence for "structuring" bank withdrawals of his own money.

These are just a few examples, but you can Google "civil asset forfeitures" or "false imprisonment and the war on drugs." Or anything of the sort. The results may shock you, but should disgust you.

Apple's Case is Not About Terrorism, It's About Precedence and Control

You see, if you actually believe the nonsense that the government only wants Apple to break into this "one iPhone" and that they will only use this technique this "one time" and that it won't affect anybody who is not a "terrorist," then you are not just ignorant—you are stupid!

This is a power grab, my friend. Pure and simple. Once the government wins this PR battle, they will have set the precedence to force any technology company to comply with any court order to do anything to anybody at anytime for any reason. Even innocent people like you.

So don't be ignorant. Don't trust your government. Resist tyranny. Be American. Americans resist tyranny—they don't accept it! And Americans live informed lives. Be American! Be informed! And remember, ignorance kills!

Until Monday, I'm yours in Freedom,
Gunner Steele
The Freedom Man