Stochastic terrorism is the use of mass communications to incite random actors to carry out violent or terrorist acts that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable.
Oaths as promissory acts make our actions individually unpredictable but statistically predictable. Government as a predictable social contract of laws helps ensure our accountability when we unpredictably break that social contract. Can we be self-governing, and are we obedient to the unenforceable? Some citizens have tried recently whether
declaring sovereignty or
blocking buses filled with non-citizens. More importantly, has our exposure to mass communication(s) made random individuals prone to carry out acts that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable. When we decide to buy bowling shoes rather than rent them we have made a commitment to going bowling or at least to be prepared to not get whatever DNA transfer occurs when renting bowling shoes. We expect to go bowling in the future but don't know when. If we commit to bowling we like having our own ball usually because it fits our hand better and can even represent our self-expressive needs. Surprisingly, they can even be
used to kill. And movies with or about bowling have their own lethality, perhaps enough to make us take oaths against those who would prevent us from bowling.
"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
How many of us citizens know the words to the
Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America, yet only really know a pledge of allegiance to a swatch of cloth.
The principles embodied in the Oath are codified in Section 337(a) in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which provides that all applicants shall take an oath that incorporates the substance of the following:
Support the Constitution;
Renounce and abjure absolutely and entirely all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which the applicant was before a subject or citizen;
Support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
Bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and
A. Bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; or
B. Perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; or
C. Perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law.
The language of the current Oath is found in the Code of Federal Regulations Section 337.1 and is closely based upon the statutory elements in Section 337(a) of the INA.
This is what
Oath Keepers, some of those who aided the Bundy Ranch resistance action claim:
Veterans, you swore an Oath...
Oath of Enlistment
I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
Officers Oath
I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God
Your Oath NEVER expires! It's time to keep it!
(2008) Many people think of loyalty oaths as relics of the McCarthy era, long ago outlawed or abandoned. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court has banned only certain kinds of loyalty oaths, permitting others. Last week, a mathematics instructor at California State University East Bay lost her job for refusing to sign one.
Marianne Kearney-Brown, who is also a graduate student at East Bay, tried to add a word to the state's Oath of Allegiance so that it would conform with her Quaker beliefs. The university offered her the chance to add a statement with her views, but insisted that she sign the oath, unaltered, and said that it had no choice but to fire her when she refused. A statement from the university said that if she changes her mind, East Bay would rehire her.
California's oath for state employees states: "I, ____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter."
The change Kearney-Brown tried to make was to insert "nonviolently" before the phrase "support and defend the Constitution of the United States." She told The San Francisco Chronicle that she had previously made that change -- without objection -- when she held jobs in public schools. "I don't think it was fair at all," Kearney-Brown told the newspaper, of East Bay's decision. "All they care about is my name on an unaltered loyalty oath. They don't care if I meant it, and it didn't seem connected to the spirit of the oath. Nothing else mattered. My teaching didn't matter. Nothing." http://www.insidehighered.com/...
When I "bowl alone", I bowl as a loyal citizen, because I have taken a oath to do so. I plan to continue recreating using sporting goods that while capable of killing, have leisure uses when operated safely and responsibly. These actions are statistically predictable in that I will recreate even while not joining a league and yet these same actions are individually unpredictable because I live in a country based on democratic and communitarian principles. Stop me before I bowl again...
Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000).
In a groundbreaking book based on vast data, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and our democratic structures– and how we may reconnect. Putnam warns that our stock of social capital – the very fabric of our connections with each other, has plummeted, impoverishing our lives and communities. Putnam draws on evidence including nearly 500,000 interviews over the last quarter century to show that we sign fewer petitions, belong to fewer organizations that meet, know our neighbors less, meet with friends less frequently, and even socialize with our families less often. We’re even bowling alone. More Americans are bowling than ever before, but they are not bowling in leagues. Putnam shows how changes in work, family structure, age, suburban life, television, computers, women’s roles and other factors have contributed to this decline.
“When a creature is exposed to violence, it will tend to adapt to that disturbance, so that when the violence ceases or the creature is allowed its freedom, the healthy instinct to flee is hugely diminished, and the creature stays put instead.”
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype