Good point. I agree with it. It's one of the many, many things that have changed since 1776.

How are you going to get your hundred million gun owners to forget their innate selfishness, work together in a united fashion for the public good, and fight for human rights? It seems far more likely to me that a good 3/4 of them would rather go and shoot whoever the government tells them to, specially if the government pays them to do it. Historical precedent indicates that that is the case. They will be particularly willing to do it if the people they are shooting have dark skins, facial hair, and speak a foreign language.

Nowadays you can give people freedom of speech, but still render them basically helpless by simply ensuring that not too many others get to hear what they say...because it doesn't get reported on NBC, CBS, ABC, or CNN. Simple. That's the power of corporate money. They can come on the Internet like you and I do and talk all they want, but who will give them credence? Most people who are aware of what they say will ignore it or ridicule it, because most people believe whatever is the standard line that is pushed by the media mainstream, and the media mainstream is controlled by the corporate bosses who run the system...and their main concern is selling product and making more money.

Your government is just as bad as the British were in 1776, in my opinion, but its tools of mind control are far more effective.