SEE ALSO: Just carry the flag

In a recent interview with CNN, Biden issued a warning, stating that the United States would withhold military aid to Israel if it entered Rafah, the final stronghold of Hamas in Gaza, in order to eliminate the terrorist organization. In other words, after seven months of fighting, the Jewish state must choose between ending the war (defeating Hamas) and maintaining American support.

Certainly, for the Israelis and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, allowing the terrorists to escape is simply not an option. Indeed, a defiant Netanyahu fired back, “We are determined, and we are united to defeat our enemy and those who seek our destruction. If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone.”

Nevertheless, losing U.S. support may prove costly — a steep price that falls squarely on Joe Biden’s shoulders.

Imagine, after thousands of lives lost, hemming in the death-dealing extremists who slaughtered your people, raped your women, and kidnapped civilians (both Israelis and Americans), simply to be informed by your “ally” that you cannot finish them off — that you must deal leniently with the enemy because the president is afraid of a few unhinged protestors. It’s more than just madness — it’s evil.

Complete and utter evil.

Read the rest of this article here!

The post Biden Must Decide: Israel or Hamas appeared first on Citizens for Self-Governance.

SEE ALSO: ‘We’re fighting for the original principles’: Inside 2023’s historic Simulated Article V Convention

Prior to the ratification of the 17th Amendment, which established the direct election of U.S. senators, in 1913, the state legislatures were responsible for appointing lawmakers to Congress’s upper house. Not only did this keep their senators accountable to the states, but it also maintained a healthy system of federalism. The states’ ascendancy over the federal government in this regard served as a check and balance between national and state power. By signing away that power, state governments condemned themselves to eventually being disregarded by D.C. Fortunately, with a convention, the states can restore the Founders’ original vision, thereby reclaiming accountability over rogue federal politicians.

“The Constitution was written by folks like you,” Santorum reminded the over 100 simulation commissioners, most of whom were state legislators. “They wanted you folks, the state legislators, the states, to be at the top of the food chain…. Once you have a convention, then you show Washington that you are now at the top of the food chain.”

Santorum argued that even if the first Article V convention accomplished nothing else, this alone would be enough to shake D.C. to its core. Federal politicians and bureaucrats would see (1) that the states were fed up enough to call a convention and (2) that they almost certainly would call more conventions in the future. Santorum has long posited that the first convention will be only the first of many.

SEE ALSO: Just carry the flag

Michael Farris added that any passed amendment, even before it was ratified, would be enough to force Washington to seriously consider mending its ways. For example, he cited the simulation’s passed countermand amendment, which would enable a simple majority of state legislatures to abrogate federal rules and regulations. While Farris, Santorum, and Meckler all agreed this amendment might be too “bold” to secure three-fourths ratification in the states, Farris pointed out that it would incentivize Congress—threatened with the possibility of losing power to such a sweeping affirmation of states’ rights—to behave more responsibly.

Overall, one of many outstanding lessons from the simulation was that the Article V process works and in and of itself is enough to pump the brakes on our runaway federal government. Meckler said the experience “gave me a lot of faith in the process.” Farris agreed he was “very, very, impressed.”

“You’re now on their radar screen,” Santorum buoyed legislators, describing the power they will have once the first-ever convention is called. “They got to account for you.”

“I guarantee you,” Mark Meckler affirmed, “Washington, DC, broadly speaking, is watching us. To see this many states that angry—that would like to see [the Fed’s] power curtailed that dramatically—I think it has an impact on them.”

Jakob Fay is a staff writer for the Convention of States Project, a project of Citizens for Self-Governance.

The post Lessons from the Simulated Article V Convention appeared first on Citizens for Self-Governance.

SEE ALSO: Grassroots Proposed Amendments

Convention of States Foundation’s president and founder, Mark Meckler, opened the event on Wednesday, reminding attendees that future historians will look to this event as a catalyst that led to the first-ever actual Article V convention. He compared it to the Annapolis Convention of 1786, which laid the groundwork for the 1787 Constitutional Convention.

Day two of the simulation kicked off with inspiring speeches from modern-day “Founding Fathers,” including Convention of States co-founder Michael Farris, COS Senior Advisor Rick Santorum, and the 2017 simulated convention President, Rep. Ken Ivory.

People say there “are no Patrick Henrys and Sam Adamses and Madisons and Washingtons anymore,” Meckler acknowledged, but “I look out in this room, [and] I see an audience full of people of that caliber.”

Addressing the crowd, attorney Michael Farris, founder of HSLDA and Patrick Henry College and former president of Alliance Defending Freedom, explained that Convention of States is fighting for the Founders’ original vision for America.

“We’re fighting for the original principles… We’re fighting to restore the general principles of our Constitution, just like in 1776. They were fighting to keep the principle that Americans tax themselves—no taxation without representation. Why? Because that is the moral principle that lies behind all government.”

“They got it right when they said ‘we are endowed by our creator with certain and inalienable rights among these are life and happiness, and for this reason, governments are instituted among men.’”

“The reason for limited government,” he added, “is more freedom.”

SEE ALSO: Tocqueville warned us about this moment

Sen. Rick Santorum observed that, currently, the states are at the bottom of the political food chain rather than at the top as the Founders intended.

“The Constitution was written by folks like you,” Santorum reminded the commissioners, most of whom are state legislators. “They wanted you folks, the state legislators, the states, to be at the top of the food chain.”

He noted that state governments used to hold ascendancy over Washington, DC, but now, the federal government holds state governments in contempt. The only way to break that imbalance of power, he argued, is through Article V.

“Once you have a convention, then you show Washington that you are now at the top of the food chain.”

Following another speech from former simulation President Ken Ivory, who reminded attendees that the American people are ultimately in charge of the process, the convention voted on a new president, selecting Rep. Woody Jenkins from Louisiana.

Commissioners then split into three separate committees, the Term Limits Committee, Fiscal Restraints Committee, and Federal Legislative & Executive Jurisdiction Committee. According to Mark Meckler, ensuing debates were “lively” and “fairly heated” but “encouraging.” He described committee members as “statesmen and stateswomen stepping up and doing what it takes to try to fix the nation.”

Up next at the 2023 Simulated Article V Convention…

Proposed amendments that pass out of committee will be considered by all 49 states in a plenary session on Friday. This session will be live-streamed for the enjoyment of Article V fans on August 4 at 9 AM ET.

Already, the 2023 Simulated Article V Convention has proven to be an unmissable, historic occasion—and the most important day of the week is yet to come! For ten years, Convention of States Foundation has worked tirelessly to advance the Founders’ vision for liberty in America. Millions have joined the organization in that fight. Although the journey has sometimes felt sluggish, this year’s simulated event is proof, not only that we’re closer than ever before to crossing that final finish line, but also that patriot leaders nationwide are stepping up to lead the charge.

Jakob Fay is a staff writer for the Convention of States Project, a project of Citizens for Self-Governance.

The post ‘We’re fighting for the original principles’: Inside 2023’s historic Simulated Article V Convention appeared first on Citizens for Self-Governance.

SEE ALSO: Tocqueville on the deceptive nature of tyranny

“In a way, the story of America’s success in the two hundred years since de Tocqueville’s tour is our ability to properly balance this tension between individualism and collectivism. America’s genius lies not just in our spirit of entrepreneurship and pick-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps individualism, but also in our decision to make sure that this value on personal responsibility and success is never absolute. To varying degrees over the course of our history, it has been matched by a concern for the community and the collective. We measured success both by how well we were doing and how well the communities and the country we belonged to were doing, and we tended to view our individual and collective well-being as powerfully entwined.”

For Tocqueville, his overarching concern with democracy was it would inevitably beget an unmanageable strain of individualism. Unable to be reckoned with, that individualism (which he distinguished from egotism in that it is more than just a vice, but an erroneous political philosophy) would then eat away, like cancer, at the bonds of human fellowship.

“They,” he said of a democratic people, “owe nothing to any man, they expect nothing from any man; they acquire the habit of always considering themselves as standing alone, and they are apt to imagine that their whole destiny is in their own hands. Thus,” he continued, “not only does democracy make every man forget his ancestors, but it hides his descendants, and separates his contemporaries from him; it throws him back forever upon himself alone, and threatens in the end to confine him entirely within the solitude of his own heart.”

SEE ALSO: The ‘Me Decade’ Has Come Home to Roost

And while Weissbourd and Murphy seem particularly interested in how our individualistic bent has isolated us, I’m willing to apply Tocqueville’s critique in a way those authors aren’t. Not only has democracy made us forget our ancestors and each other, democracy has made us forget Truth.

When everyone is “entitled”—by virtue of the prevailing political philosophy—to their own “truth,” capital-t Truth is lost in the bedlam. Our nation looks like a Greek theomachy in which 340 million gods wrestle each other because each believes, simultaneously, that democracy has made him supreme. We “divorce, cheat, steal, upend tradition, dress in drag for kids, perform cabarets for toddlers… whatever it takes to satisfy “Me!”

In no way does this mean that America’s founding principles were inherently faulty. It means, from the very beginning, they came with a major caveat attached. Men like Tocqueville knew from the start that if we did not curb individualism with something—he proposed religion and God—it would eventually become everything.

We cannot ask of freedom something it never promised; we cannot ask it to make virtuous citizens. If we want virtue—and we certainly need it—it will have to come by some means other than repeat overtures to the “sovereignty” of self. By putting individualism above the common good and Truth, America has lost its grounding.

True, as Weissbourd and Murphy observed, “Individualism will always be a hallmark of American identity.” But it’s high time we reined it in.

Jakob Fay is a staff writer for the Convention of States Project, a project of Citizens for Self-Governance.

The post Tocqueville warned us about this moment appeared first on Citizens for Self-Governance.

When U.S. forces invaded Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945, they never could have imagined the bloody horrors that would follow. What was supposed to be a brief campaign devolved into a nightmarish, weeks-long game of whac-a-mole with deeply entrenched, unyielding Japanese defenses. Individual battle names, including “The Meat Grinder” and “Bloody Gorge,” expose the overall savagery of Operation Detachment.

But from the island’s vicious shores to the blood-stained heights of Mount Suribachi, an image emerged that would memorialize and inspire patriotism for generations to come: the image of five Marines driving Ol’ Glory into the ground.

Imagine, for Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, Harlon Block, Michael Strank, Franklin Sousley, and a fifth soldier whose identity is debated, the struggle that led them to that moment, easily one of the most iconic in history. Imagine the friends they already lost and later would lose.

For weeks after raising the flag, the battle would wage mercilessly on. Three of the men—Block, Strank, and Sousley—would not survive to see the end.

Imagine how pictures of their beloved flag might have burned in their minds even as they died for it.

SEE ALSO: Unremembered men change history too

Often, when I think of war, particularly bloody campaigns such as the battle of Iwo Jima, I am reminded of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:

“It is for us the living,” he said, “to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is… for us to be… dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Reflecting back on the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, in light of Lincoln’s conviction “that these dead shall not have died in vain,” the words “just carry the flag,” an unassuming phrase recently coined by a COS patriot, Becky Wolfe, come to mind. “Just carry the flag.”

From Cooch’s Bridge in 1777 to Iwo Jima and beyond, our ancestors bled and died for the Stars and Stripes and everything she represents. They have nobly advanced the cause thus far. Now, it’s our turn.

SEE ALSO: There’s an American flag on the moon

Will we join in Lincoln taking “increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion”? Will we pick up the flag that once waved from Mount Suribachi and carry it on into our next victory? Or will we retreat and repudiate the red, white, and blue? Will we curse our honored dead to die in vain?

Everything they fought for has been entrusted to us. The flag that stands on the moon, once waved from Ground Zero of the World Trade Center, and is draped over my great-grandfather’s casket is now in our hands.

What will we do with it?

To you and I, generations of American patriots call out, “Just carry the flag.” It’s more than our duty; it’s our honor. It’s a privilege to carry the flag that, more than any other in all of human history, represents liberty and justice. The question is: will we do it?

Will we take up the mantle and carry the flag?

Jakob Fay is a staff writer for the Convention of States Project, a project of Citizens for Self-Governance.

The post Just carry the flag appeared first on Citizens for Self-Governance.

Do you ever wonder what the purpose of the end is? Whether it is the end of a life or something simple as an object. Looking all over the world there is nothing that has its own eternal life. It could be something as simple as a plastic toy. That too, after its lifetime value is over, will be disposed of. When God created the Earth, why did He create an end as well? 

The Beginning of the End

Despite creating everything in the seven days, the end was not included in those days. In fact, the idea of the end or even death was not mentioned until after the fall of man. If we want to understand what the purpose of the end is we must understand why it came to be. Before Adam’s sin, the world was perfect, Adam and Eve lived with God in the Garden of Eden. 

God said in Genesis 2:17, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Despite the command, Adam ate of it and sin and man’s end entered the world. With sin, came guilt, shame, and a broken relationship with God.

Here is where we can find the purpose of the end. It is the preparation to restore the broken relationship with God.

The Beatitudes

Intrigued by this idea, I was inspired to discuss it with a friend of mine, who also happens to be a priest at my high school. He advised me to consider The Beatitudes. More specifically, “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3). He explained to me that the ones who lack any connection to worldly goods are the ones with the strongest relationship with God. 

It is not because they are poor that they are blessed but rather that they have no connection to worldly possessions. 

What God wants from us

In 1 Timothy 6:10, we learn “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” With greed, we cannot truly avoid the evil to come.   

So what does God want from us? To put it straight, God wants us to mend our relationship with Him when we reach eternal life. 

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17). 

We must remove the connection between us and our worldly desires.

The goal in life is to reach eternal life with God as I have previously discussed in my blog, Top Gun Maverick’s Message on Life. In order to do so, we must remove our connection to our worldly goods. That is why God has the end of all things. By ending everything, He is helping us learn to not have a love for worldly objects. Then we will be prepared for eternal life and when we die, we’ll let go of the last thing standing in our way, our worldly lives.

SEE ALSO: GRASSROOTS PROPOSED AMENDMENTS

The post Why did God create an end for everything on Earth? appeared first on Citizens for Self-Governance.

SEE ALSO: Grant – A hero for diffident Gen Z men

Rawlins, who, like Grant, hailed from Illinois, served throughout the war as Grant’s loyal assistant, confidante, and protecting friend. He scaled military ranks, climbing as high as major general, and serving briefly as U.S. secretary of war; but his most lasting contribution to history was, unquestionably, his role as Grant’s right-hand man and “conscience keeper.”

The two were virtually inseparable. Rawlins kept Grant on track, shielding him, during the war years, not only from alcohol (with which the general battled for much of his adult life) but also defamation, manipulation, and logrolling. Although some have overstated Rawlins’ role, suggesting incorrectly that he was the true genius behind Grant’s celebrated campaigns and that Grant merely took the credit, it is clear that Rawlins was an indispensable part of Grant’s team and success.

Regrettably, Rawlins perished early into his boss’s presidency, after having suffered from tuberculosis for years. It is an unfortunate mark against the sometimes naive Grant, an amateurish politician, that his administration thereafter plunged into corruption. Many have presumed that Rawlins might have protected the unsuspicious Grant from the men who soon took advantage of and hijacked his tenure.

SEE ALSO: David McCullough and why we tell stories

When he died, the nation owed an enormous debt of gratitude to Rawlins—we have not even begun to pay it off. Very few books have ever been written about him. His face is unidentifiable; it certainly isn’t plastered on our currency. Next to no one remembers that he even existed, let alone that he played a crucial role in a crucial general’s crucial life.

But perhaps that is a fitting tribute to Rawlins; a sobering reminder of the mountain of debt we owe countless unsung heroes like him.

Great men are the byproduct of great, but often unknown, men. Great nations are the byproduct of great but nameless citizens and their unheralded sacrifices. Entire books have been devoted to Lincoln’s mentors. Someone told Billy Graham about the gospel. Behind nearly every hero of history stands a Rawlins-like figure and friend, supporting faithfully the very men who would overshadow their existence. At Arlington, an impeccably dressed guard reminds us that we are built on the blood and patriotism of unknown soldiers.

Fighting for one’s country is not always about standing in the spotlight. In fact, it rarely is. Historians have captured and memorialized a few great men; legions more hide in impenetrable obscurity.

Whatever your role in the fight for liberty, don’t despair the lack of recognition. History may not remember your name, but it cannot forget your contribution. Like Rawlins, you can change the world without the world ever even knowing you touched it.

And as Ronald Reagan often reminded himself: “There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.”

Jakob Fay is a staff writer for the Convention of States Project, a project of Citizens for Self-Governance.

The post Unremembered men change history too appeared first on Citizens for Self-Governance.

SEE ALSO: Man up, America

There is no one solution to the masculinity crisis (nor is there a single root problem). However, if I may propose a solution (by no means a perfect one), I would recommend that young men need heroes and mentors. And not just any hero. I certainly don’t mean the strongest man at the gym or your video game-addicted roommate. I mean we need heroes with proven track records, whose lives are admirable and in order, and who inspire us to be better. This won’t single-handedly fix the crisis, of course, but rather than simply give well-to-do, college-educated elites something to scratch their heads about, it gives young men—the actual victims of the crisis—something to do; a part to play in the ending of their own crisis. If we want men to succeed, it’s time for us to challenge them to do just that.

Over two parts, I have laid out five heroes for today’s boys and young men, beginning with one’s:

Father and/or grandfather

I understand that not every man has a father or grandfather in his life (or a good relationship with them). Unfortunately, the privilege of having a father in the home is rapidly disappearing.  But, if at all possible, a young man needs a respected male relative in his life. If you’re lucky enough to know your dad and/or granddad, don’t waste that opportunity.

Studies show that when fathers are involved in the home, children are 80% less likely to spend time in prison. On the other hand, 71% of high school dropouts, 90% of homeless youth, and 63% of youth suicides come from father-absent homes. Regardless of your age, having a good relationship with your father is, indeed, a privilege. Make the most of it. Learn from him. Appreciate him. In a world of chaos, do everything in your power to ensure your relationship with him stays stable.

2. Mentors

Young men also need mentors and role models from outside their families. A man who has been happily and faithfully married for at least ten years, attends church with his kids, provides for his family, and maybe even runs his own business would be a good candidate for this role. The point is to pick someone successful, someone you can emulate.

Go out and get steaks. Come prepared with questions. “How did you meet your wife?” “When did you know that she was the one?” “How have you been successful in business?” “What advice would you give a young man like me?” Don’t settle for small talk about the MCU; probe the higher things of life, from politics, family, and religion.

Young men, in particular, tend to think that they are invincible. You’re not. You also don’t know nearly as much as you think. Don’t be too proud to learn from a man who actually knows what he’s doing.

Again, this won’t instantly cure you of the four-strand scourge of isolation, depression, discouragement, and anger that plagues modern men, but if more of us would get outside of our shells and sit at the feet of those who, having mastered themselves, have conquered the world and are not under its feet, it certainly would go a long way.

Jakob Fay is a staff writer for the Convention of States Project, a project of Citizens for Self-Governance.

The post 5 heroes for troubled young men pt. 1 appeared first on Citizens for Self-Governance.

SEE ALSO: There’s an American flag on the moon

For those who don’t know, Emmett Till was a black 14-year-old boy whose brutal murder at the hands of white supremacists prompted a new wave of civil rights activism in America. Although racial lynchings were not unheard of, Till’s young age and the grotesque details of his killing shocked the nation, escalating awareness about the ongoing horrors of American racism.

On August 24, 1955, Till—visiting hostile Mississippi from Chicago—and his cousins entered a white-owned grocery store to buy candy. Till was accused of flirting with the white female proprietor, Carolyn Bryant, although the specifics of what happened are disputed. Days later, Bryant’s husband and his half-brother abducted the young boy from his uncle’s home. The two men beat Till, mutilating his body, before shooting him in the face and throwing him into a river. When found, the body was so disfigured, Till could only be identified by the ring on his finger.

According to one grisly account of the lynching, Till’s “assailants… made Emmett carry a 75-pound cotton gin fan to the bank of the Tallahatchie River and ordered him to take off his clothes. The two men then beat him nearly to death, gouged out his eye, shot him in the head and then threw his body, tied to the cotton gin fan with barbed wire, into the river.”

Shockingly—but perhaps not surprisingly—the murderers were let off the hook by an all-white jury. Horrifically, the two men later admitted openly to killing Till, selling the details of the crime to a newspaper for $4,000.

SEE ALSO: Grant – A hero for diffident Gen Z men

“I’m no bully,” recounted one of the killers. “I never hurt a n***** in my life. I like n*****s—in their place—I know how to work ’em. But I just decided it was time a few people got put on notice. As long as I live and can do anything about it, n*****s are gonna stay in their place. N*****s ain’t gonna vote where I live. If they did, they’d control the government. They ain’t gonna go to school with my kids. And when a n***** gets close to mentioning sex with a white woman, he’s tired o’ livin’. I’m likely to kill him. Me and my folks fought for this country, and we got some rights. I stood there… and listened to that n***** [Till] throw that poison at me, and I just made up my mind. ‘Chicago boy,’ I said, ‘I’m tired of ’em sending your kind down here to stir up trouble…. I’m going to make an example of you—just so everybody can know how me and my folks stand.'”

Needless to say, Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Bradley, was devastated by her son’s death. But what she did next transferred her horror and grief to the world to partake in: “After seeing the mutilated remains, she decided to have an open-casket funeral so that all the world could see what racist murderers had done to her only son.”

Pictures of the boy’s bloated face circulated nationwide, inciting widespread outrage. Months later, in Montgomery, Alabama, when asked to move to the back of the bus, Rosa Parks “thought of Emmett Till and I couldn’t go back.” Posthumously, he became the icon of a movement. Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of that movement, invoked “the crying voice of a little Emmett C. Till.”

SEE ALSO: Calvin Coolidge’s must-read 4th of July speech

But what are we, today, to do about it? To be clear, no one I know says that what happened to young Emmett Till isn’t horrifying and wrong. But many conservatives have blanched at commemorating his death simply because the left is doing it, too.

If we are too disgruntled with “woke, liberal madness”—the left’s race obsession—to remember a 14-year-old who was once mutilated and lynched for no reason other than the color of his skin, we are the ones who have let politics blow history out of perspective.

Mark Meckler made a similar point several years ago when Republican Steve King was censured for racist language.

“Like many of you,” he wrote, “I have grown tired of the constant drumbeat of liberals accusing conservatives of racism. It seems… the accusation has become the catch-all term meant to disparage people of good will with whom liberals disagree. In the vast majority of cases, the allegations are absurd and offensive.” Nevertheless, he argued, “Conservatives can’t let their fatigue of political correctness dull their moral outrage over… racist language and posturing.”

The same is true of how we look at history. In many ways, the left has overblown racism in America by attributing almost everything from traffic jams (I kid you not) to our sugar-saturated diets to historical racism. But—and this is the part many conservatives do not like—that does not mean that racism in America was not evil, prevalent, and deeply hurtful. Nor does it mean that past prejudices do not still, in some ways, plague us today.

SEE ALSO: Thoughts after being called racist in public

There is a way to grapple with the horrors of American racism without denying the greatness of America. There is also a way to celebrate that greatness without whitewashing the horrors. Those who take a holistic view of history, I believe, will see both that America is an exceptionally good nation and that black Americans have, historically, been horrifically mistreated. It is possible to take both positions. We need not understate either.

It is unfortunate that the Emmett Till Monument will enter a world that cannot see both sides of the coin at once. Nevertheless, the monument itself is not a bad thing. May it remind us of where we have come from and all we have overcome.

Jakob Fay is a staff writer for the Convention of States Project, a project of Citizens for Self-Governance.

The post Why the Emmett Till Monument is important and necessary appeared first on Citizens for Self-Governance.

SEE ALSO: San Francisco Forming Poop Patrol to Keep Sidewalks Clean of Human Waste

Not surprisingly, crime is also on the rise. In fact, as CNN revealed in a recent video, stores such as Walgreens are now forced to lock their freezer sections with “heavy chains” so as to prevent theft. The problem is so pervasive, CNN witnessed three thefts while filming the video.

“This is just more icing on the cake,” complained one customer, “telling us that rampant crime has become a regular part of life.”

The video shows mustard secured behind plexiglass, flu medicine behind locks, and ice cream, fish sticks, and frozen burritos behind chains. Other stores in the area have latched their frozen foods with cables and coffee in locked safes.

In San Francisco, we went to the Walgreens that is the #1 spot for theft in all the 9000 US stores, per Walgreens. This is where chains once shut the freezer section. And we saw 3 thefts right in front of us. But across SF, coffee, mustard, nail polish– are all locked up: pic.twitter.com/IfYBVgpeI2

— Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) July 25, 2023

SEE ALSO: Grant – A hero for diffident Gen Z men

It’s safe to say that lawlessness reigns supreme in the Golden City, a locale that has resigned itself to violent crime, theft, and “safe” drug use. Unfortunately, this problem will assuredly spread throughout the nation if we do not find a way to clamp down on the borderline anarchy.

Ultimately, this problem is not within the government’s power to solve (although they certainly could help by renouncing their failed, soft-on-crimes policies). This is a people problem. Until we learn to apply responsible self-governance to the crisis at hand, it will continue to worsen.

It’s only a matter of time until we’re all buying our fish sticks and pizzas from chained refrigerators.

Jakob Fay is a staff writer for the Convention of States Project, a project of Citizens for Self-Governance.

The post You won’t believe what CNN saw in San Francisco… never mind, you probably will appeared first on Citizens for Self-Governance.