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The American political system--and its inherent power--is built around the fact that the citizenry has guns. Firearms don't ensure freedom; firearms are a fetishized manifestation of freedom. There are many other examples too. The political system itself is what ensures personal freedom; it is the freedom of its citizens that validates (i.e. legitimizes) its power.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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