My Biggest Red Pill Moment

During my conservative years, when I got into arguments with Stubborn Luis, he introduced me to an American Historian name Dr. Tom Woods. I don’t recall exactly how, but it was around this time I became aware of the Politically Incorrect Guide To American History. Since I loathe political correctness, the title caught my attention. However, knowing that Dr. Woods is a libertarian, I...avoided the book like if it was an incurable disease. 

I was afraid to have my worldview challenged. My patriotism and love for America and it’s military was a central core to my character. To criticize the USA and it's armed forces was considered an attack against me personally. I would always rush to the defense of my country and it’s warriors. Especially because I looked up to the soldiers and marines, wanting to be like them at one point.

You can say that I...have a fascination with war. The drama, the heroics, the noble sacrifices, the thrill of mowing down your enemies, scoring your kills, being in hell with your buddies, having each other’s backs, fighting and dying for a righteous cause, especially the cause of liberty. I guess it may have something to do with how much I enjoyed playing Metal Gear Solid (great game), Call of Duty (especially World War II based), Gears of War, and Army Men. The American Revolution and World War II were my favorite wars to study when I was in government schools. I would binge watch Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Saving Private Ryan, Flag of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima, etc. I even considered Winston Churchill and George S. Patton to be my role models.

It has been said that there are two kinds of people who love war: those who've never been in one, and those who are bat-shit crazy. Time will tell which one applies to me.

Fast Forward To 2016

When I began to adopt the Non-Aggression Principle (1) (thanks to Earning Freedom), (2) I again stumbled upon Tom’s book, which I have been avoiding for four years. Knowing that Dr. Woods also follows the Non-Aggression Principle, I told myself:

I have to do this. I must know the truth, no matter how much it’s gonna hurt me. Honesty and character demand that I at least give this book a try and examine the arguments.

Determined, I read the Politically Incorrect Guide To American History. Up until the American Civil War, the book was easy to digest. Tom and I are in agreement concerning the positive influence of Christianity in the British colonies and America’s founding. (3) He wrote the significance of self-government and liberty, which was the central core to the American Revolution.(4) Nullification, or the Principles of 98, (5) was well articulated and reaffirmed what I learned from Kris Anne Hall, who successfully convinced me of the constitutionality of nullification. I also learned new facts about what really started the Great Depression, including the incompetence of the Federal Reserve.(6) There were many points of agreement I have with Dr. Woods.

When I got to Abraham Lincoln and the Secession doctrine, it was pretty uncomfortable to read, especially since I use to support the Union cause. But Dr. Woods set in stone the constitutionality and morality of secession, especially since he pointed out the hypocrisy of supporting America’s founders in their quest for independence while condemning the Southerners for doing the same thing. (7) This wasn’t the red pilling moment for me though, as I already learned these arguments from Stubborn Luis and Dr. Darden Pyron, whom the latter was a history professor in Florida Idiot’s University. (The irony is not lost on me since I made my opinions on college well known.) (8)

I also learned how Woodrow Wilson, being a progressive in domestic matters, was also a progressive in foreign policy. Wilson really wanted to impose his idealistic vision on the rest of the world, especially with the creation of the League of Nations and "making the world safe for Democracy." He was aggressive and an interventionist in both foreign and domestic matters. I can’t believe I looked up to him in the past, and that I believed him when he lied to the American People about trying to stay out of the war, when he prematurely chose to side with the British and French. (9) This was not my red pill moment either, because I heard about this from Glenn Beck and, again, Dr. Pyron.

Here Comes The Red Pill

Within government schools and my conservative patriot circles, I was told that FDR made an effort for the USA to stay out of the wars in Europe and Asia. Following the non-interventionist sentiment of the American people, FDR officially and faithfully remained neutral and only asked for a declaration of war when the Japanese unprovokingly attacked Pearl Harbor. I was told that Winston Churchill was a great conservative statesman, who rightly argued that Britain and France should have stopped Nazism early on before the invasion of Poland. That the Soviet Union was the lesser of two evils, and whom the Allies needed help in stopping the Nazi aggression. That World War II was a war between good vs evil, between freedom and tyranny, with the good guys being the victors...

...it was all a lie. (10)

Winston Churchill was no hero. He was a monster. While Hitler and Stalin were among the worst kinds of human beings, Churchill nonetheless committed war crimes and was a serial liar. (11)

Franklin Roosevelt did not remain neutral during the early years of the war. When Germany and Japan showed no interest in attacking the United States, FDR showed aggression towards both with actions including, but not limited to:

A . Selling/giving weapons and transports to Britain, China and the Soviet Union. (12)

B . Continuously breaking neutrality laws. (13)

C . Passing the Lend-Lease Act. (14)

D . Orchestrated the Greer incident. (15)

E . Imposed an oil embargo on the Japanese. (16)

While I may have a fascination with war, even I know that you should never start fights, only respond to them. Don’t initiate violence, but use violence only to defend your life and the innocent people under your care. It was becoming clear to me that the United States was an aggressor in this war, not a victim. FDR, Churchill, Stalin, the French leader, Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese Junta were all warmongers who sought to impose their will on their enemies, both foreign and domestic.

There’s a lot more to what Dr. Woods wrote, but it is sufficient to say that these revelations were shaking me to my core. I was barely holding on to my sanity when I read these next two pieces of information:

Operation Keelhaul

(With Arnhem Knights from Medal Of Honor: Frontline)

I think it is common knowledge on how friendly FDR, Churchill and Truman were to Joseph Stalin before and during the war. What Dr. Woods showed me was how that friendship extended to something sinister.

There were many, many Russians who hated communism, and for good reason. They even donned German uniforms in order to fight the Soviets. Considering the death and misery communism produces, one can hardly blame the Russians for choosing what they perceived was the lesser of two evils. When the American and British troops liberated the Russian POWs in German camps, the prisoners were promised that they were not required to return to the Soviet Union. That promise was a lie. The anti-communist Russians were either tricked or coerced to return to the very government that was going to kill or imprison them.

A horrifying example of this was what happened to the 200 Russian POWs in Fort Dix, New Jersey. They too were promised to not return to the Soviet Union. But since FDR wanted to please Uncle Joe, an order was carried out to have the Russians returned by any means necessary. Twice, the American soldiers tried to force the Russian POWs aboard the transport ship, and twice the latter resisted fiercely, even going so far as to wreck the ship they were on. In the third attempt, the Russian POWs were drugged and successfully shipped to the Soviet Union, where death and imprisonment awaited them. (17)

Upon discovering this information, rage and sorrow erupted within me. How could this happen? How can the American government and it’s military be capable of doing something this treacherous and evil when they were suppose to be fighting for a free world?!?!?!

A Free World?

What exactly did humanity gained from this destructive and costly war? Well, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Japanese Imperialism were overthrowned. Many countries were liberated, particularly the pacific islands and Western Europe. I see that as a good thing in my book...

...Right...?

...Dr. Woods points out...facts that is typically ignored:

Poland, whose liberation was the reason Britain and France entered the war, was still not free. They just traded slave masters. In fact, all of Eastern Europe came under the iron grip of the Soviet Empire. 

China may be safe from Japanese Imperialism, thanks to the intervention of the Allies. But the Americans and Soviets provided a safe haven for the Communists under Mao Tse-Tung, who successfully subjected China into a dark age of slavery and death. Millions paid for it. 

As for the Western countries, including the United States, we...have been giving up our freedoms ever since. Because of the looming threat of the Soviet Empire and the need for promised security, our governments have continuously increased taxes, deficits, debt, surveillance on both the innocent and guilty, violations of the constitution, undeclared wars against countries and groups who have not attacked us, government bureaucracies and regulations over the market, and dependents to the welfare state. In fact, the Cold War had given the US government the proper excuse to increase it’s size and control over the individual. (18)

Had the Unites States stayed out of the war, the Nazis and Soviets would have destroyed each other and become too weak to pursue further conquests for a long period of time. The Cold War would have never existed, meaning the State would not have grown exponentially. Meaning...America would have been more free today...(19)

As I read these facts from Tom Woods and his sources, a devastating and unbearable truth surfaced at the forefront of my mind:

(with Musique pour la tristesse de Xion from Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days)

...You mean to tell me...that the valiant efforts of the Band of Brothers...the duties fulfilled by the Fighting First...the heroic actions of Audie Murphy and other Medal of Honor recipients...the strategic exploits of Patton, MacArthur, and other generals...the hell and sacrifices our Marines went through in the Pacific...the telegrams received by family members of the dead...the widows and orphans that were created ...the sound of a poor man crying for his mother while holding his intestines on D-Day...all of this...was done...to make the world less free...?

...

...At this moment of clarity, my mind broke...I slowly closed Tom’s book, put it in a shelf, and did not read it anymore...at least for two months. Jesus once said that the truth shall set you free. He never said that it will cause you pain, turmoil, and a psychological coma. That’s what I felt during those two months. It does not feel good knowing that a lot of things I knew for more than twenty years...was a lie. A lie that gave me something to be proud of, a lie that encompassed my character. This whole journey...was very hard for me.

When I recovered from my psychological coma, I continued where I left off in Tom’s literature. The book ended with Clinton’s presidency, so I needed to get other sources to finish reading US history up to today, including the Tom Woods show (20) and Stefan Molyneux's Truth series. (21) While there were more Red Pill moments in my study of history from a libertarian perspective, none was as excruciatingly painful as learning the truth about World War II.

When I finished, I sat down in my room and contemplated on what I just learned. If I choose to accept this new information, I'm going to alienate a lot of conservative friends and family members I know. I will be looked upon negatively and my views will be misunderstood and misrepresented. And as a consequence of changing my paradigm shift, I will also have to change my course of actions on many fronts, including my career and future. But if I choose to ignore this truth and continue to spread the lies, my God and conscience will never let me sleep again. If I am to live a life of virtue and honesty, I must choose to believe what most would consider to be treasonous and heresy. I am ready for the coming storm.

Footnotes:

 1) Liberty Patriot. "What the Non-Aggression Principle means to me." minds.com. N.P., Mar. 2019. Web Accessed 10 Mar. 2019. https://www.minds.com/blog/view/828643769550745600

 2) Daxisle. "Earning Freedom." fimfiction.net. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Fanfiction, Aug. 2012. Web Access. 10 Mar. 2019. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/41655/earning-freedom

 3) Woods, Thomas E. The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. (Regnery Publishing, Inc. One Massachusetts Avenue, NW. Washington, DC 20001. 2004) Pg. 1 - 10.

 4) Ibid., 11 -16

 5) Ibid., 31-42

 6) Ibid., 139 - 156

 7) Ibid., 61 - 76

 8) Liberty Patriot. "Why I stopped going to college." minds.com. N.P., Mar. 2019. Web Access. 10 Mar. 2019.  https://www.minds.com/blog/view/830934453687091200

 9) Woods, 109 - 132

10) Raico, Ralph. "The World at War." youtube.com. Libertarianism.org at youtube, Jan. 2014. Web Access. 10 Mar. 2019.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTupV8o3mW4

11) Raico, Ralph. "Rethinking Churchill." mises.org. Mises Institute, Nov. 2008. Web access. 10 Mar. 2019.  https://mises.org/library/rethinking-churchill

12) Woods, 175 and 180.

13) Ibid., 175 - 176

14) Ibid., 176

15) Ibid., 177 - 178

16) Ibid., 179 - 181

17) Ibid., 187 -189.

18) Ibid., 183 - 184

19) Ibid., 184 

20) Woods, Thomas E. "The Tom Woods Show." tomwoods.com. N.P., N.D. Web Access. 10 Mar. 2019.

21) Molyneux, Stefan. "The Truth About Series." youtube.com. N.P., N.D. Web Access. 10.Mar. 2019.  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMNj_r5bccUyulYsatrzNGIvasrOeBy_Y