Debate March 14The Chief Peril of the West is Not Terrorism; it is Decay

(Please note the guest lecture preceding the debate by Dale Ahlquist, President of the American Chesterton Society, on How to Lose Two Wars at Once, beginning at six p.m.)

The John Adams Society

Roger L. Belfay, Chairman
John J. Pope, Secretary
Larry Colson, Chief Whip
Marianne Stebbins, Chancellor


March 2007

THE ENEMY MAY BE A FOOL, and it may be you. But, rather than look in the mirror, perhaps you’d prefer to discover some vile state sponsored Manhattan Project of Propaganda for getting Americans to reject Common Sense. Say, one from which agent provocateurs of both cunning and unwitting persuasions emanate to sow frivolity among the young whilst beating a drum of paranoia to energize fools. They’re the ones who employ lawyers in order to make the U.S. Constitution appear to invalidate itself. Undoubtedly, they instigate suspicion about that pillar of American strength, rugged individualism and its family buttress, and they endeavor to unlink the ethic of work from the idea of private property, promulgating instead carelessness and habits of incremental self-destruction. Without family, property and country, there is nothing to fight for but that which the sword dictates. So, not your buildings but your identity need be destroyed, and when you don’t know who you are, you only understand that you couldn’t have lost that to which you are unable to be entitled. One by one your political leaders sip of this poison that blinds them to the sanctity of American sovereignty, or in protecting strategic assets for that matter. This program has long been underway… you think, or are there just too many fools? What’s the difference?

Al Qaeda sends its thanks. Billions of Dollars for Iraq’s reconstruction detoured its way into unknown hands. Billions in aid to Pakistan since 9/11 have effectively augmented development of its nuclear missile program as terrorists bide their time close by. And here are some more trashy tabloids for your children to see at the supermarket checkout and some extra repugnant TV for you. You see, smart terrorists need not terrorize. Why bother to bomb someone who you think will burn out anyway? Events of terror would only awaken and focus Americans against an identifiable enemy. Better to let them stay preoccupied with sitcom derelicts in the Devil’s lair with gluttony and a glass forever half empty. One’s strength to defend against terrorism is only equal to one’s willingness to defend the mind against decay.


ON THE OTHER HAND, the next attack could mean a serious disruption to your regularly scheduled programming. Would this not be a truly felt threat? Further, a big attack could trip us into a military state which at this stage of the game will strain the economy. How then might our military be aptly financed? With foreign economies growing increasingly competitive in recent years, an ominous gauge of our relative economic strength is seen in the flagging number of new listings on U.S. exchanges as compared to those outside the U.S., namely those of London and Hong Kong. This may also have to do with a lingering weariness since 9/11 concerning the future of New York as a financial center, as well as the hysteria over the crashes of Enron and WorldCom and the like that led in 2002 to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act – much too fat a referee for the cracked ice of the late season. Given a terror attack at this juncture, millions of low-wage illegal aliens may need to be conscripted into military service to fill gaps left by an increasingly aged and entitlement receiving population, and so the borders must be left somewhat porous. Of course, we do not have to fight. We can be pushovers and continue putting freedoms on the chopping block, like those of expression and religion, but it will never be enough for dogged terrorists and fools.


The Chairman, fortified in purpose to fight all machinations of freedom’s enemies, has called for a debate:


RESOLVED: THE CHIEF PERIL OF THE WEST IS NOT TERRORISM, IT IS DECAY


The Debate will be held on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 at the University Club, 420 Summit Avenue, in Saint Paul. The debate will begin at half past seven, following a lecture at six o'clock p.m by Dale Ahlquist of the Chesterton Society. While there is no dress code for attendance, gentlemen who wish to speak must wear a tie; ladies should adhere to a similar sartorial standard. For those gentlemen who arrive tieless yet wish to speak, fret not: the Purveyor of Ties will keep on hand at least one of his quite remarkable ties for just such an eventuality. Questions about debate caucus procedures or about the John Adams Society itself may be directed to the Chairman at 651-222-2782 or the Secretary at 952-486-8059.

www.johnadamssociety.org