A must read: The Military Conundrum: Follow Orders, Or Follow The Constitution?Excerpt: Unlike the Great Depression (a deflationary collapse), a hyper-inflationary disintegration would shut down ALL economic activity except for trade and barter. Civil unrest would be difficult to avoid. When people begin to starve, even the most apathetic will take to the streets.
Preparations for a breakdown of this magnitude have already been made, most likely because elements of the government know full well that their financial actions will cause an economic disaster.
Towards the end of his second term, George W. Bush issued Presidential Security Directive 51, which under continuity of government gives the Executive Branch and the head of the Department of Homeland Security full control over state and local governments without the consent of Congress during a national emergency. The document was considered so volatile that the White House censored most of its contents. In fact, not even Congress has been allowed to see the entire PDD 51 document, which in itself is a gross violation of Constitutional Law. PDD 51 along with the Patriot Act also allows the President to declare a “national emergency” whenever he sees fit, thus giving him the power to pronounce himself de facto dictator of the U.S. without any checks or balances from the other branches of government.
Barack Obama, to the shock of many Democrats who believed he would rescind such orders after taking office, has actually supported them fully and is now quietly hiding Patriot Act legislation in his latest jobs bill so that Congress will be forced to pass it. (Note that politico.com buried this info on the last page of the article.)
Under martial law, all Constitutional rights and personal liberties are no longer legally protected. For instance, the Patriot Act and the Homegrown Terrorist Act allow the government to label anyone, regardless of how ambiguous the charges, as an enemy combatant. This includes American civilians. As an enemy combatant, you would no longer have rights under Habeas Corpus. You could be apprehended, charged, and locked away without ever seeing a lawyer, without ever contacting your family, and you could be held indefinitely (life imprisonment without a trial). Many Americans have a tendency to take for granted such official protections as the right to a trial or even a simple phone call. In a martial law scenario, it would be difficult to conjure even the semblance of a fair legal system.
Military control over civilian affairs often leads to totalitarianism, and not always because this is what military personnel wish for. The military system itself is not built on Constitutional ideals, and is therefore philosophically and politically incapable of administrating a society based on personal liberty. The military does not operate on democracy. Soldiers do not vote on decisions. They are not given the legal option of choice. They live in a highly restrictive social structure in which orders are passed and followed generally without question. Most importantly, soldiers are not trained to dispense balanced justice or mediate civilian affairs; they are trained to kill enemies, and that is all. Martial law not only tears down much need barriers between the military and civilian dichotomy, but it also simultaneously creates a dangerous division. The military is trained to fight and destroy the opposition, but what happens when the citizenry itself is painted as the opposition? Without a Constitutional framework, only disaster will result.
If you are military or police (current or retired) please follow up and share this link: Oath KeepersThe Oath keepers are a nonpartisan group of current and retired law enforcement and military personnel who vow to fulfill their oaths to the Constitution and pledge to prevent a dictatorship in United States by laying down their arms in response to unlawful orders.
I've written about related issues in the past. I'd like to suggest you read up and ponder your current preparations and future courses of action: -
Social Consequences of an economic meltdown?-
Social Implications of a Significant Economic Downturn -
Maslows Hierarchy of needs and the US Economy
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