The Constitution of the United States, with the Bill of Rights, is the foundation upon which most of us conduct our lives here in the United States. It establishes our rights and responsibilities as citizens of this nation, and it sets boundaries beyond which our government cannot go. In other words, it is the law of the land for the people and the government.

If our government declares Martial Law, then it is setting aside the Constitution. The people of the United States will no longer have any rights. None. Nada. The government (military) will be declared to be all powerful and the military will become the supreme law of the land. You and I will have no rights. No right to own personal property. No right to live where we chose. In fact, we will not even have the right to life itself. If we dont do everything the government says, we can be instantly executed without a trial.

Not a pleasant thought, is it? But it is the truth. However, there is another truth that usually goes unnoticed. Do you know what it is?

The government has no rights either. Our Constitution gives our government the right to rule over us. If our government throws the Constitution and our rights out the window, then it also throws out the original legal document that gives it the right to rule over us. You and I are no longer bound by the Constitution because it has been declared temporarily null and void.

What does this mean? It means every citizen of the United States is on his or her own. If you wish to submit to the military and do what they tell you, then that is your choice. On the other hand, if you disagree with their orders, then you are under no legal obligation to obey them. The one thing that can force you to obey the military is overwhelming force and the threat of death.

If Martial Law is initiated due to Y2K problems, then I will personally support it as long as it is only used to keep the peace and to provide emergency relief to those who desperately need it. If the presence of the military helps to prevent vandalism, robbery, rape, and murder then I will be an enthusiastic supporter of the military. However, if the military accomplishes these objectives by infringing on the rights of peaceful, law abiding citizens, then my perspective will be different.

Lets consider a few hypothetical scenarios. A group of military men knock at your door. They are heavily armed. And they outnumber you by at least three to one. Plus they are trained in military tactics. And they have their loaded rifles pointed right at you. Then they tell you they are going to search your residence without your permission so they can do one or more of the following:

1. Remove any food they believe is excessive so it can be distributed to the needy.

2. Remove all your guns and ammunition so they dont fall into criminal hands.

3. Remove all cash, silver, gold, precious metals, and jewelry to finance the military effort to help keep our country free.

4. Draft all men between the ages of 16 and ?? to fight for the freedom of our country.

5. Draft all women between the ages of 16 and ?? to provide support services for the military.

6. Remove all energy sources (solar panels, generators, gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, kerosene) for military use.

7. Evacuate you and your family to a place where you will be safer. You may only take the clothes you are now wearing.

8. Take partial possession of your residence as lodging for military personnel.

9. - - - Use your imagination and continue the above list as you see fit.

If you are confronted with any of the above situations, how will you respond? Faced with superior numbers and superior force, will you obey?

Before you answer, let me ask a few more questions. How do you know these military people are legitimate? Is it because they have some official insignia on their uniforms? Because they show some kind of identification card? Can these things be forged? Can they be removed from dead bodies? Are you being confronted with a legitimate military unit or a fake one? How can you know for sure? You cant!!! Even if it is legitimate, it ceased to be so when the Constitution was suspended.

So, what will you do? I suspect most of the people in this nation will submit the same way the Jews did to the German soldiers in the 1940s. They will give up without a fight. If most of the Jews had resisted and only one Jew out of ten had been able to take several Nazi soldiers to death with him, then the War would not have lasted as long as it did. By giving up without a fight most of the Jews eventually perished in horrible ways.

Will that be your fate in this situation? Will you surrender without a fight? As for me (and I cant speak for the other members of my house), I will go down fighting if that is possible. I would rather die a quick death as a free person than a slow painful death from starvation, disease, or imprisonment.

If you are prepared for Y2K, then you do have a choice. If you arent prepared, then you have no choice. Starvation will make you a puppet of whoever promises to give you your next meal.

A good overview of what happens under Martial Law is at the following link:

Man and Society During Y2K

The confiscation of food by the government has never in the history of mankind improved the life of the average citizen. It has only permitted those in authority to maintain a luxurious lifestyle. The average citizen has always spent more time, energy and resources standing in line to obtain the tiny amount of free government food than the food itself was worth. In other words, they burned 800 calories getting to the distribution site, standing in line for four hours in the freezing cold, and then returning to their home with 200 calories of poor quality food. Click on the above link and read the entire post.

Please dont get the wrong idea about me. I love my country and I obey its laws. I pay my taxes, I support our government leaders, and I respect and honor our military. However, if our Constitution is set aside, then I will be forced to act in the best interest of my own family and my neighbors (the people I know personally and can depend on in a crisis). We will organize to come to each others aid regardless of who is attacked, for any reason, by any group. As neighbors we will live by our nations original motto: United we stand, Divided we fall.

How will we be able to do this? If Martial Law is declared, I will visit my neighbors one at a time and tell them they can depend on us to help them defend their home from outside attack. The reason we will do this is because it is easy for a small group of soldiers (or mercenaries, thieves, etc.) to attack one house at a time and overpower it. But it is very difficult to attack a home if all the close neighbors get involved and help to defend the home under attack. This does not require organization into groups with specific boundaries (such as our group stops at the corner). The reason is because the people who live on the corner are neighbors to the people who live across the street. Each family unit should meet with their ten or twelve closest neighbors and agree that they will help defend one another from attack. This technique will allow an entire 200 home subdivision to protect itself from outside forces. (Or a town of 10,000 homes.) If you hear gunshots, then you come to the aid of the home under attack. If you are too far away to hear the gunshots, then you are under no obligation. But if you hear the gunshots and you dont help, then it will only be a matter of time before your home will be next on the list. Therefore, it is to everyones advantage, in the long run, to help at the first sign of trouble.

The above agreement does not comprise the rights of individual families by asking individual families to share their meager resources with an entire community. Each family only agrees to help in the mutual defense of their immediate neighbors from outside attackers. Other than that, each family is on their own to the extent they chose to be. If a family wishes to do a lot of volunteer work, then they are free to do so. But if they chose not to share what little they have, they are free to do that also.

There is another reason for agreeing with your neighbors to protect one another. If Y2K weakens our nation to the point where we become an easy target for foreign terrorists, then we may have to fight a foreign power here on United States soil. If that becomes necessary, then every family may have to make the decision to either defend itself or run away.

My final suggestion is to remember how we won our independence in the late 1700s. We faced a superior military force with superior weapons. But we didnt fight according to conventional military rules. We used guerrilla tactics. We fired from ambush and ran away to fight another day. In the end, we won. If someday you find yourself as the last survivor of your family and you still believe in the freedom our forefathers originally fought for, then use the strategy that worked for them. Dont go up against superior numbers. Dont sacrifice your life needlessly. Pick your fights carefully. Do as much damage as you can while still leaving yourself an escape route so you can live to fight another day. Dont organize into large groups. Small groups have a better chance of surviving (staying hidden and not betraying one another).

If we lose our freedoms because of Y2K, dont let that be the end of our national heritage. Remember that freedom will never die as long as it lives inside the heart of one patriot.

May God strengthen you in your hour of need.

Sincerely,

An Old Patriot

P.S. - If you think you will be uncomfortable talking to your neighbors about this issue next year, then print out this document and make several dozen photocopies now. If Martial Law is declared next year, then you can tape those copies to the mailboxes of your close neighbors. Tape one to your mailbox, also, so you wont identify yourself as the one offering this suggestion. If you wish, use a little whiteout to cover up this P.S. before you make your photocopies.

Next year, if you have access to a Ham Radio, please monitor frequency 3.550 for Y2K updates. If you have something important to report and you want to reach the broadest possible audience, then please do so at 9AM or 9PM, Eastern Standard Time (no daylight saving time adjustments). Many of us will be listening. If this frequency is occupied next year, then adjust up to 3.580. If that one is also in use, then go up to 3.610. Just keep increasing by 0.030 until you find a frequency where Y2K is the topic. Remember, in a true emergency any person can talk on any Ham Radio frequency.

If Martial Law is declared and the use of Ham Radio is outlawed, then use your own judgment in this matter. It is not possible to trace someone who is listening to a Ham Radio. You must broadcast for triangulation to pinpoint your location. There are only two reasons why you would risk broadcasting in this situation. First, if you were at deaths door and you wanted to warn the rest of the world of what lead to your demise. Second, if you have a mobile unit, then you could broadcast for a few minutes and then move quickly to another location. If Ham Radio use is outlawed due to Y2K, then dont use the 9AM and 9PM times to tune your radios. The government could use an EMP burst to short circuit all radios in use at that time. Once again, use your own judgment in this matter.

-- An Old Patriot (AOP@USA.hom), November 16, 1999

Answers

Thank you for one of the top posts (and one of the most important and helpful) I have seen on this forum in the last 8 or so months I have been reading it. I do not know anything about Ham Radio but have shortwave and was wondering what frequencies might be the best to tune into in case of martial law. Any ideas on that? Thanks again for what might be a real life-saving post for many of us.

-- Diana (healthy53@hotmail.com), November 16, 1999.

I absolutely agree - one of the top posts of the year. We have just moved out to the country, in a small isolated subdivision (20 homes), and I've been wondering how to communicate with my (mostly nice) DGI neighbors. I've decided to wait, either until either 1) next year and the SHTF starts, or 2) when the SHTF, which might be as early as 2nd-3rd week in December. I've pretty much decided - as Michael Hyatt says - it's MUCH TOO LATE to try to convince anyone about y2k. Folks will look to strong local leadership if things start unravelling.

God bless and protect us all,

-- Bill (Chicago519@aol.com), November 16, 1999.

Diana,

You should be able to monitor ham frequencies with a shortwave receiver IF it has "single sideband" capablity. This is sometimes indicated by a switch labeled "BFO." You might try tuning around the frequencies indicated now to make sure your receiver can pick up sideband.

I would also recommend installing a low profile wire antenna, if possible. I installed such an antenna by running copper wire under the eaves of my house.

Also, does anyone know of other ham frequencies to be monitored? The 3.550 band tends to provide local (under 500 mile) reliable coverage, but is not as effective as the higher bands for further distance communications.

Patrick

-- Patrick O'Leary (mrench@hotmail.com), November 16, 1999.

I've been playing with my old toys for many a year now. I'm able to walk a coke can at 500yds with rarely a miss. I'm an old school soldier and patriot, with a teary eye when Taps is played, or ramrod straight salute when ol' Glory passes by. Can recite the Bill of Rights and the Constitution with out looking at the paper. By the grace of God, we'll get through this. If this is the Revolution II, then let them fire the first shot via martial law. I'll die protecting the country I've grown to love, and the Flag that flies over it. I'm glad to see someone else in this country has the memory of freedom still in his mind. Jim Miller

-- Jim Miller (millerj@hqs1110th-ehm.detrick.army.mil), November 16, 1999.

I have to take exception to a part of your post, AOP. You contend that the American people will have no rights under martial law because the Constitution will have been suspended.

If you understand and abide by the thinking of the Founding Fathers, those rights are "inalienable" rights. That is, they can neither be given nor taken.

According to the Founding Fathers, those inalienable rights were conferred by God and cannot be taken away.

As distasteful as it may seem, there may come a time when the good citizens of this country will have to take up arms against those who woould deprive them of the opportunities for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

After all, it's happened before.

-- Vic (Rdrunner@internetwork.net), November 16, 1999.

Sorry, don't buy it! While I see martial law as a real possibility, I don't see troops forcing themselves into homes to confiscate guns, or food or take your women.If this goes down bad, the government is gonna have a hell of a time just keeping a lid on the cities, destributing food and water and rebuilding the infrastructure. They can't afford the alienate the citizenry at large by bursting into homes.This would lead to a full scale insurrection with many members of the military defecting to the anti government rebels.The Government knows this. Do you really think the government is gonna have the resources to do house to house searches for weapons, AND suppress rioting AND distribute food etc, etc. If they confiscate our food then they have to feed us, don't they? I know you "patriots" like to fantasize going out in a blaze of glory, wrapped in the flag, defending your women from NWO thuggery. But I think it's just that, a fantasy. Y2k's gonna be though enough with out every fustrated wacko using it for their own ends.

-- Ralph Kramden (and@awayWeGo.com), November 16, 1999.

I think you need to read the Constitution again. The purpose of the Constitution was and is to limit and restrict the power of the gov't. We the People created the Constitution ie "the gov't" it is our creation. The creation never rules the creator. As I have heard many a time, "I brought you into the world, I can take you out." The same applies to our gov't.

-- d j (y2kdude@pacbell.net), November 16, 1999.

Dear Mr. Patriot...Sir,

Thank you for writing....thank you very much.

Why, oh why, do people think we will be the one exemption from the patterns of history, simply because we are Americans...

There is a photographic history as far back as the Civil War. I have studied the pictures from wars and disasters. I read the historical first person accounts. Mankind can wreak hell. Mighty nations have toppled. It bothers me so much that people mock the very idea that we would fight a foreign power on our soil. It bothers me because I grieve for the shock and disbelief and chaos that will ensue should this happen.

Do you really think that people will respond cohesively for defense purposes? I wonder. I hope you are right.

-- Mumsie (shezdremn@aol.com), November 18, 1999.

Ralph<

Sorry, don't buy it! While I see martial law as a real possibility, I don't see troops forcing themselves into homes to confiscate guns, or food or take your women....

While I agree that on a national level confiscation of food, etc. would be impossible, it is entirely possible that you could be faced with it at a local level.

Think about this; If you were in command of an NG unit and you had a school or two full of hungry people with no food deliveries in sight what would you do? How would you feed them? You'd send out 10 or 12 guys with orders 'not to come back without a few trucks full of food', that's what you'd do. That's what I would do. That's what they're going to HAVE to do if it comes down to it.

Kinda gives new insight to the .gov spin that all Y2K problems will be 'local' don't it?

-TECH32-

-- TECH32 (TECH32@NOMAIL.COM), November 19, 1999.

Friends, in any disaster the needs of the many out-weigh the needs of the few. While Martial Law not if, but when declared will be illegal is a moot point. For the law will be determined by who-ever has the most people, and force. Y2k is only the begining of our problems!. There are a dozen things that threaten to topple our house of cards. Y2K will only act as a catalast to start the real problems. Why do you think Bin Laden is so quiet, well IMO I, and others think he is planning a Big,Big suprise party for the Western Powers at one minute past midnight, on Newyears day. There are 98 missing suitcase nukes missing from the Russian KGB, and 48 are alleged to be in the hands of the terrorist Bin Laden, and already in the US. After that it will be dog eat dog(not meaning to offend the animal lovers again). Another thing is the Solar cycle, and its connection with earthquakes. Also the weather, it is changing fast. There are too many other problems to list at this time. This Nation can dodge a single bullet like Y2K, and still survive. But if you put the problems together, then you have a shotgun blast, and that we can't dodge and survive intact. Go to Yahoo and type in "no such thing as doomsday", and read the summary of the book. It may change your life forever, Walter.

-- Walter Bright (relief@coastalnet.com), November 20, 1999.