> >From: “Joseph Liberty” <joseph@patrio
> >Reply-To: God_Bless_America@
> >To: God_Bless_America@y

> >Subject: [God_Bless_America] Fwd: Re: Guns and the Industrial Revolution
> >Date: Tue, 09 Apr 2002 10:46:56 -0400
> >
> >—-Original Message Follows—-
> >From: “L. Neil Smith” <lneil@acces>
> >To: “Joseph Liberty” <joseph_liberty@hot Subject: Re: Guns and the
> >Industrial Revolution
> >Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 09:46:45 -0400
> >
> > Very interesting. Thanks. And just to back you up, have you read _Lord
> >Kalvan of Otherwhen_ by H. Beam Piper? He’d agree with what you’ve said
> >here.
> >
> > I’m going to post this to a list or two I participate in, as well as to
> >my
> >daughter, who’s named after one of the principal characters in the book.
> >
> >N.
> >–
> >========================================================================
> > Three-time Prometheus Award-winner L. Neil Smith is the author of 23
> >books, including _The American Zone_, _Forge of the Elders_, _Pallas_,
> >_The Probability Broach_, Hope (with Aaron Zelman), and his collection
> >of articles and speeches, _Lever Action_, all of which may be purchased
> >through his website “The Webley Page” at http://www.lneilsmith.com.
> >Autographed copies may be had from the author at [email protected]
> >
> >
> >kalaong@com said:
> >
> >This is just a random thought. Gunpowder was one of the first technical
> >inventions, that is, one that required a formula and preparation as
> >opposed to just a mechanical process like a windmill or waterwheel.
> >
> >What if that wasn’t an accident? What if guns themselves were
> >responsible for the rise of technological civilization? All tools make
> >work easier. When a conqueror sees a peasant who isn’t worked to
> >exhaustion, he sees, rightly, a threat-someone who will put up a fight.
> >The Church’s views on heresy and witchcraft and such. Medicine is the
> >same. A healthy person is harder to kill. Maybe they employed leeches
> >and bleeding precisely because they kill people?
> >
> >Guns are simple. An explosive charge in a sealed chamber open on one end
> >accelerates a projectile. The explosive is simple, chemically. And it
> >can be used to make very big explosions.
> >
> > A conqueror sees a gun and thinks of something he can use to kill
> >and enslave. So he allows people to build them, so he can take them and
> >use them himself.
> >
> >Someone who is physically weak sees a gun as a way to avoid death and
> >enslavement. Intellectuals are by their nature often physically weak. A
> >gun can be used by a weak person as easily as a strong one. Guns allow
> >weak people to fight when they would otherwise have to submit, and keep
> >fighting when they would otherwise have to accept stalemate.
> >Guns caused the collapse of dominance hierarchies. Now that there are no
> >absolute rulers, things can get done. Things can be discovered.
> >
> >In short, the nitrate reaction of gunpowder and dynamite is the guardian
> >of civilization.
> >
> >I came to this conclusion after reading “The Trigger” by Arthur C.
> >Clarke and Michael P. Kube-McDowell. They ask, “Tonight all guns will
> >stop working. What will happen tomorrow?”
> >
> >I answer, “Civilization will end.”
> >
> >
> >NEVER AGAIN UNARMED…. LET FREEDOM FIGHT!