Friday, December 05, 2025

Tad Stoermer – "Resistance is not defined by what it opposes - but by what it refuses to surrender" - two videos.

• Why The Founders Feared You

This video is a superb summary of the 1786 Daniel Shay's Rebellion in western Massachussetts (Scotch-Irish country - the epicentres being Colrain, New Lisburn, Palmer and Blandford), the 1787 US Constitution, and the consequential 1789 Bill of Rights - and the ideological battles and manipulations among the new power structures and ruling class.

The role of Patrick Henry in securing the Bill of Rights based upon the threat of his popular support – "he had come close to toppling Virginia's Royal government in 1775 ... mobilising the same sort of people who followed Shays ... protect our rights and liberties or there will be consequences for the Constitution" – is fascinating stuff. And look at this quote below – resolutely Ulster-Scots covenantal philosophy:

"... The awareness that the people can revoke the consent that they give to the government, and return it to their own hands to redeploy it wherever they like, is a human political right - one of those pesky 'inalienable' things Jefferson wrote about in the Declaration, and its a real legacy we have contend with as a reality today" (14:25)



• The Book that Reframed How I Understand Resistance: Halik Kochanski's Resistance: The Underground War in Europe, 1939-1945 (published 2022)

This is another fascinating video, mainly about how this author described "conditions, choices and consequences" of the French Resistance movement under Nazi occupation. As Stoermer says at around 4:00, "Resistance is not defined by what it opposes - but by what it refuses to surrender".









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