What does the endgame of tyranny feel like?

Liberty or Debt-Slavery?

But it’s a big world and some other countries aren’t as stamped-on-money free as we are in America. So we might do well to truly contemplate Mr. Bly’s contention (from Iron John: A Book About Men, quoted above) that stories contain useful evolutionary adaptations that we can apply to our modern circumstances.

One example of this is Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Pit and the Pendulum.” It takes place during an era of history called “The Reign of Terror.” No, it has nothing to do with al-Qaeda. In fact, al-Qaeda didn’t even exist back then, believe it or not. The Reign of Terror, generally considered to comprise the era in France of September 1793-July 1794, came right after the onset of the French Revolution. The main conflict at the time was between rival political factions, called the Girondins and the Jacobins. The death toll of the period is estimated to be 41,594.

So, it may come as a surprise to you that terrorism is not new. And historically, the groups terrorizing people are not Arabs living in caves but control-freak, power-obsessed governments terrorizing their citizens into giving up their God-given, self-evident human liberties and rights in the name of “security.”

Huh.

That sounds a lot like the USA PATRIOT Act, now that I think about it. And those color-coded terror alerts. And non-stop media hyping of small non-events into big, scary plots luckily thwarted or barely avoided. And the TSA Brown Shirts groping your wife and children when you want to fly. And the militarization of local police. And this NDAA thingamabob that Obama signed on New Year’s Eve when everyone in America was drunk and staring at fireworks.

But.

Here’s a quarter. It says on it that I’m free, right there stamped into the metal. So I must be free. Right? Right?

So, what the end result of all of this? Can we look to Poe’s story for some clues as to how we should respond to the modern situation? Could it be that Poe was warning us about what awaits us if we continue to allow tyranny to reign the day?

Take a listen to the story, and let me know…

P.S. Edgar Allan Poe died shortly after being “cooped.” Quite free indeed.

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And you might enjoy these other stories, which also link to analysis videos:

The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne:

Indian Camp by Ernest Hemingway:

Tags: al-qaeda, edgar allan poe, the pit and the pendulum, tyranny