“Massad F. Ayoob (born July 20, 1948) is an American firearms and self-defense instructor. He has taught police techniques and civilian self-defense to both law enforcement officers and private citizens since 1974. He was the director of the Lethal Force Institute in Concord, New Hampshire, from 1981 to 2009, and now operates his own company.[1] Ayoob has appeared as an expert witness in several trials. He served as a part-time police officer in New Hampshire since 1972 and retired in 2017 with the rank of Captain from the Grantham, New Hampshire, police department.[2] On September 30th 2020, Ayoob was named president[3] of the Second Amendment Foundation. His nickname is “the bad ass of self-defense.”
Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, Guns & Ammo and Combat Handguns. Since 1995, he has written self-defense and firearms related articles for Backwoods Home Magazine. He also has a featured segment on the television show Personal Defense TV, which is broadcast on the Sportsman Channel in the US.
Ayoob has appeared in the courtroom as a testifying police officer, expert witness, and police prosecutor. Ayoob is believed to be the only non-attorney to serve as Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), a position he formerly held.His course for attorneys, titled “The Management of the Lethal Force/Deadly Weapons Case”, was, according to Jeffrey Weiner: “the best course for everything you need to know but are never taught in law school.”
I have only just become aware of the work of Massad Ayoob…. a third generation American of Syrian ancestry… Expert and instructor on firearms, defender of the Second Amendment.
This guy speaks with an air of authority, and a depth of wisdom on matters of gun safety and Law that in my limited opinion has few peers.
Having watched several conversational You Tube videos I was very impressed… for example his videos discussing ‘Mob violence’ and The Kyle Rittenhouse trial (Below).
It must be remembered that Ayoob speaks from ‘the US Legal perspective’ which varies from State to State and from my home country New Zealand’s Legal system.
Given the current Civil Unrest that has been purposefully orchestrated in US cities by the George Soros/ Democrat funded Criminal organisations posing as ‘Protest movements’ for the sake of destabilizing their society (and especially to blacken Trumps otherwise spectacular Presidency) … the destruction, violence, murder, and chaos the ensued… and what transpired with regards to Kyle Rittenhouse in the midst of all this obviously stimulated Ayoob’s commentary on these related subjects, and what a wealth of insight and good advice he proffers!
Not only on the legalities that saw Rittenhouse being acquitted of any wrongdoing, but also on the nuances of being in a situation where there is Mob violence occurring… how best to handle your self defense in that situation.
Avoiding the cesspool… He made no personal commentary on the politics of these events.
Watching Ayoob Videos we can see he certainly is no ‘Whack Anti-Police Gun Lunatic’ … much of his advice seeks to de-escalate any tensions when interactions occur between Gun owners and Police (for example when you get a knock at the door at 3am in the morning… or when you have a firearm and are pulled over).
He promotes respect and understanding… and speaks from first hand experience seeking peaceful outcomes.
That is about all I have to say about my impressions of this self defense firearms expert.
I will watch more of his instructional videos and commentary.
I made this Blog not only to inform others about this man’s important work, but also to serve as a ‘Who’s who reference for important Libertarians and Conservatives here at Eternal Vigilance Blog.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarian.
Postscript: Guns, Civil Unrest, and the Globalist Agenda.
The following ruminations I thought best to add as a postscript given they are my thoughts that should not be inferred to have anything to do with Massad Ayoob’s personal beliefs about the state of the world… of which I have no idea.
New Zealand needs our own ‘Second Amendment’.
This became esp obvious with regards to the Christchurch Terror attack and the Governments Jackbooted response.
Ardern exploited the attack as an opportunity to push her anti-gun population disarmament agenda.
Self Defense and Gun Laws are matters of great importance to the Libertarian ideology of a Free society… which are at complete variance from the Socialist Totalitarian Police State in which Tyranny reigns unchecked upon a defenseless and subjugated slave and brainwashed population who believe their Prison walls are keeping them safe.
New Zealanders do ‘technically’ have the legal right to self defense yet it is very nuanced and we don’t have the legal right as citizens to own pistols for self-defence.
As a Libertarian I advocate for Law reform to recognise our just right to do so yet we have a Government, and Police force, and social conditioned Sheepish population that are antagonistic to this legitimate right being recognised in Law… so I have no delusions about the Nil prospects of this law reform happening any time soon.
Keep this in mind when we contemplate how defenseless this policy left the victims of Brenton Tarrant in his Barbaric Massacres at the Christchurch Mosques in 2018.
I made this point as I prepared to deliver an oral submission to the Government inquiry into how this atrocity occurred and what could be done to prevent such a thing happening again… yet Bizarrely… having initially received the invitation to speak… They failed to inform me of a place and time to appear… so my argument that was founded upon Bearing arms for self defense was not herd in the public hearing.
The Ardern Reigime and Police had always sought to confiscate Guns from Law abiding New Zealanders and reduce their legal rights… and to pseudo-justify this approach… the last thing they wanted is to face open reasoned criticism against their oppressive agenda.
I had already made a written submission that was ‘supposedly considered’ and put into the public record.
All I could do is put my undelivered oral submission onto ‘Eternal Vigilance Blog’ and share it on social media.
IMO it is conspiracy fact… an open secret spoken out loud and at the same time denied… that the Globalist Cabal of Schwab/ Soros Socialist minions are seeking to overthrow Western democracies and install their New World Order and we can see a whole raft of suicidal policies being enacted by these traitors against the best interests of their own peoples.
The madness of their policies is starting to cause massive pains and social backlash… The Truckers protest in Cannada, The Farmers rebellion in the Netherlands, and the *Real insurrection* in Shri Lanka. Even Brexit can be seen in this light.
The Globalists openly admit their ‘Great Reset’ will cause big pain to populations around the Globe and in anticipation of this they have been busy Politicising and Militarising Police forces and brainwashing them into suppressing the legitimate Democratic Rights of their people to Publicly speak, to rally for protests, etc and I believe to consider anti-Globalist sentiments as being ‘a high risk and dangerous source of Domestic terrorism’… setting up the rationale for arresting and suppressing dissent… kinda like ‘Enemies of the State’ getting rounded up in North Korea… China… only this is being promoted now in the once Freer West.
The Sun is setting fast upon the West…. to the degree that in the space of a few years there has become a Massive push against Free speech, and the deplatforming of anyone and everyone who dares critisise the Far left Globalist agenda… or to openly discuss the activities of George Soros Just to hold such opinions as I have expressed above is almost illegal.
You get put on a ‘Watch list’ for expressing such things… The government now has powerful Tech that can ‘insure’ ‘misinformation’ does not reach the masses via the internet.
In New Zealand the media is bought and paid for by the Ardern Regime and she tells the sheeple her government must be their ‘single source of truth’
All this is designed to keep as many sheeple wallowing in indifference while these traitors sell out our country right in front of them… and most of all they seek to spook the useful idiots into thinking the disarmament of the population is for their own safety rather than what it really is… as it has always historically been… a precursor to the establishment of Brutal tyrannies… and the enslavement of whole populations… this is the chief reason why the US Democrats are hell bent to abolish the Second amendment…to render Americans incapable of standing up to their oppressive regime… remember that was the fundamental reason why the Founding Fathers wrote the 2nd Amendment to Keep Americans Free from tyranny by their own government… and it was penned into the founding document of the United States… The Declaration of Independence… the peoples right to overthrow oppressive government.
The Second Amendment stands firmly in the way of The Globalist New World Order because it ensures the People have some means of self defense against being subjugated.
I personally believe the greatest power we the people have is Passive resistance and peaceful civil disobedience (No rioting… No Violence of any sort)… and that is what I advocate for… while we are able to do so.
*********
Its that time of the year again my Peeps!
Cast your votes here… The Rock 2000!
Here are my picks…..
Looking forward to the countdown!
Here is some Blogs I have written about the Rock 2000 and other stuff… including 2020 when I won VIP tickets etc to the Live Rock Countdown and Concert at Victor Arena headlining Devil Skin… thanks to Sponsors Carlsburg Beer!
This post also contains an 800 unit song title list… by bands… I have spent literally months writing… to help people to pick their own 20 songs they would like to win….
Further thoughts that continue on from Part 1 here.
Science is no escape from the human condition… that gospel purported by many…is false.
Though we may increase in mastery over nature…certainty will always escape us… thus science is a pragmatic pursuit, not a source of absolute knowledge.
With every new answer comes new questions.
We will always rely on axioms and presuppositions… we cannot escape the need for faith… which underpins what we think we know… even the things we are most sure about….
I guess my original post could have been called… ‘Beware of Scientism’.
History shows you can ‘prove’ almost anything by fiddling with numbers.
It must be understood that not even math escapes the human condition… I know many people will be loosing their lunch over my impertinence… yet with time I hope to explain the many ways math can be corrupted.
When reading about various types of weird ‘inferred postulates’ like Dark Matter, The Big Bang, etc we always find two camps of thought.
Simpletons who think the said phenomena are rock solid facts and proceed to treat them as such in all their forthcoming activities… and others who have the intellectual depth and integrity to admit these cherished theories are full of holes… and proceed with caution in any further speculations that could follow.
It depends on which article you read as to whether or not you are encouraged to accept such phenomena are real … or to remain skeptical.
It is particularly scary when the political class pick up on certain theories… because they suit their political agendas… and begin to compel whole populations into accepting them as indisputable… and then using usurpatious powers proceed to embed them in Laws and institutions… Pouring Tax billions into the pockets of scientists who just so happen to produce politically correct ‘findings’… while critics are deplatformed and thrown out of Seats of learning… and making it nearly a crime to question ‘the official line’.
Science has died.
The Balance has been skewed.
What we are left with is Pure Pseudo science… very much like the Social Darwinism of the Nazis which Sub-humanised the Jews.
What is funny is that so many people naively assume such shocking corruption is not going on today!
The truth is there are many factors that can corrupt science… Money and political agendas being two biggies… and anywhere the State is pouring money into ‘research’… it becomes highly dubious.
Another funny yet erroneous stereotype that was born of the Materialist religion of ‘Scientism’ is the image of Doctors and scientists in white lab coats with thick reading glasses… and expressionless demeanor.
The psychological impact of this upon gullible minds is the impression that scientists are not only way smarter than other mortals… but esp that they embody a ‘Spock-like’ power of Objectivity… that all their utterances are devoid of personal prejudices… all this is designed to get the gullible to trust them.
Their white overcoats serve the very same purpose as the priestly gab of any religious cult!
The truth is the exact opposite.
You would struggle to find in any other area of life a more opinionated, conceited, biased, Vain, Greedy, unprincipled, and obstinate bunch of human beings than you find in science departments!
Pseudo-science are myths dressed up in Scientific Gab/ jargon.
Is it any wonder why there are so many pseudo-scientific ideas that hold sway among the masses???
When false postulates and theories are accepted as fact whole magnificent edifices are constructed upon these corrupt foundations.
Entire lifetimes, and reputations, and industries can be wasted building ‘White Elephants’… and strong vested interests assemble to carry on the lies… because the longer the sham continues… the bigger the mess when it topples… and people fear facing the ugly truth… and paying the price of correction.
The lies become so embedded that it seems like madness to question them…. Cognitive dissonance becomes the norm… an incapacity to acknowledge uncomfortable novel truths.
Progress has always had to battle with entrenched Mass-held delusions. What is funny/sad is so many Moderns only apply this precept in their warped conception that Science has always struggled against religion… a very inaccurate and simplistic apprehension of history… utterly failing to guard themselves against all the other personal bents that can prevent them from grasping new and challenging evidences.
esp their own modern post-Christian quazi-religious bents.
I ask people if they dare to entertain any controversial propositions that are at variance with the mainstream?
For it is a signal of an independent mind to walk it’s own path and have the courage to diverge at certain points from the herd.
The herd has been trained to pour derision and hate upon anyone who steps out of line and does not submit to the ‘orthodoxy’ of their times.
It may amaze people that I am talking about *The scientific community*… not some religious sect.
Understand that the scientific community is as prone to Backwards, erroneous dogma as any other Human endeavor is.
What is essential then is to write a code of ethics of which the scientific method is just one aspect of what entails the correct mental processes that are conducive to the scientific enterprise.
. to guard ourselves from slipping into a mire of our own subjectivity… eg with the interpretation of evidence.
Ultimately all we can do is acknowledge the human factor will always be lurking about… like a madman.
Science is no escape from the human condition… that gospel purported by many…is false.
Though we may increase in mastery over nature…certainty will always escape us… thus science is a pragmatic pursuit, not a source of absolute knowledge.
With every new answer comes new question.
We will always rely on axioms and presuppositions… we cannot escape the need for faith… which underpins what we think we know… even the things we are most sure about….
I am an Engineer by trade having served as an apprentice back in the 80s.
I studied General science and Engineering at high school… two subjects I excelled in given I enjoyed them both, yet to get into the Engineers class meant not being allowed to study ‘physics’ and ‘chemistry’ as two independent classes that were more specialist than general science.
The School must have thought General science was sufficient for engineers! (There is an element of truth to this)
Anyway I have never regretted my decision to learn a trade via ‘Hands on apprenticeship system’… we would spend several months a year at a Technical institute learning theory, the rest was learning on the job. I did a ‘fitting and turning’ apprenticeship which is machine work… lathes mills, etc plus ‘fitting’ which was welding and fabrication, and mechanic stuff. Best of all at you are earning coin and don’t graduate with a massive student debt.
Yet you learn ‘different’ things via an apprenticeship than what you learn when you go to University.
We learn mostly Newtons theories of Physics rather than Einstein’s.
And that does in the end have it’s disadvantages as I will confess to struggling with matters of Relativity and the claims of Quantum Physics… which I must do my best to learn at home by dent of my own desire to learn.
I must content myself at best with Laymen’s understanding.
I do accept that Einstein had a more accurate model for how the universe functions and that the State of the Art requires utilisation of his equations.
This achievement of Einstein to challenge Newton in itself must be one of the most important contentions that must be factored into… and embodied in any ‘philosophy of science’ if you hope to have a valid understanding of what science is… and what it is not.
Newton appeared absolute and unquestionable!
That was ‘the verdict of Science’.
Anyone who questioned him was automatically a crackpot.
Mad Einstein did exactly that… and in so doing exploded the notion that Science is a foundation for absolute truth… absolute knowledge… Newton was overthrown, and cracks are beginning to appear even in Einstein. This should at least rattle the nerves of arrogant ‘know it alls’ who think they have attained God-like certainty and omniscience!
Given we now know how little we know that such attitudes still hold sway says more about Human beings irrationality and prejudice… and incapacity for objectivity. Don’t you think?
On the other hand by grounding myself in swaff and metal filings … and big hammers and avoiding the indoctrinations of ivory tower intellectuals has given me ‘a freedom of thought’… whereby I stand on the outside… looking in at all the whack claims being made by Quantum physics, etc… and intuitively I can see these guys are wallowing in math-madness…
for example their massive claims about Dark matter! To me it is as mythical as the Loch Ness monster! I don’t buy into it…. and sure enough new theories arise that relegate ‘Dark matter’ to the dustbin of vain imagination.
Science is a learning process at best… never mistake wild assertions as actual facts!
For the sort of Engineering I do Newton is still King!
Yet we learn that ‘correlation does not prove causation…’ a very important thing to understand in our age of computer modeling whereby almost any hair-brain idea can be given ‘credence’ by fiddling with numbers and parameters.
I would suggest that Global warming is founded upon such pseudo-scientific modeling that was bespoke made to accommodate Political aspirations…
Michael Mann’s ‘Hockey stick graph’ is today absolutely debunked yet the damage it has done in skewing science has been incalculable.
WAIKATO NEWS
Tim Wikiriwhi: Delusions of politiicans
11 Jun, 2012 07:00 AM
3 minutes to read
Hamilton News
By Tim Wikiriwhi, Libertarian Independent
It is interesting how reality has a way of exposing Ignorance and folly, and bring unpopular truths into the light.
It is even more interesting to watch the various ways the ‘tyrants’ and ‘sheeple’ respond.
Collectivist communism bankrupted the Soviet Union, which is a reality not wasted upon the Chinese communists, who responded by modifying their economy to align more closely with Western socialist democracies which have a modicum of free enterprise, and private property, yet in reality is not ‘free’ at all, but heavily regulated, and taxed by a large, powerful, and meddlesome state.
Yet the Chinese now have discovered they have not prevented the collapse of their regime, but merely postponed it by a few decades, as the economic model they assimilated from the West is likewise fatally flawed.
The West now reels under the teachings of pain reality that their model of socialism is also ‘unsustainable’ … it just takes a little longer to reach it’s inevitable end.
This fact is proven by the massive debt crisis which socialist democracies now face, having been driven into the ground by elected big spending, anti-freedom, anti-capitalists.
Big spending,and micro management of society holds true across the board, and has now forced a heavily indebted Hamilton City council into ‘austerity mode’
The Council is now downsizing and selling off assets:
Indoor Rec Centre… No funds
Municipal Pools… closed.
Pensioner Flats… for sale
YMCA… For Sale.
Ibis/Novotel… For Sale.
Council Service… $6M cut
(Source: Waikato Times)
The current crisis is exactly as I predicted.
I have spent the last decade campaigning for council, warning the people of Hamilton that bankruptcy and pain was approaching like a juggernaut.
During elections I told the then-Mayoral-candidate Julie Hardacre that she would have to renege on all her big ideas and campaign promises, yet this did not deter her from continuing to pedal her ‘popular’ delusions, and thus she was elected.
Mrs Hardacres fantasies received full media support, while my economic and political truths were marginalized, and treated as ‘whack’.
I was left out of the political debates, thus many voters were left in the dark about the real state of affairs faced by the Hamilton City Council and the necessary alternative direction which I represented.
Most voters were not aware of the choice that I represented as a candidate.
Well, time is up and the apocalypse has arrived: many of my unpopular policies are now being forced upon the council.
The travesty is that they are now being implemented by the charlatans who got elected by promising to spend more, not less.
It is a real pity that Hamiltonians did not heed my warnings as I could have implemented a systematic program of reform when things were not so dire and thereby would have been able to get better returns on asset sales, during a better economic climate unlike the ‘fire sale’ that we must now endure.
I would also love to see a review of all the campaign promises of the current bunch in council, putting to them the hard questions of how they expected to fulfill their pledges when there was no money to do so?
Did they make their promises simply to fool the voters and get elected?
Thus like all socialist democracies Hamilton wallows in debt.
Never truer words have been spoken. The future of our children depends upon our generation defeating the evil lies of those who would distort the history of our nation for their own corrupt ends.
To be edited…
Why am I bothering to write a commentary on the Historical writings of James Cowan?
I have loved reading and the subject of history from my fifth birthday when my grandparents bought me a big fat illustrated history of the world.
Primarily I have a passion for history.. for its own sake…to educate myself.
Having grown up it was inevitable that I should loose my childhood innocence… my eyes have been opened to the world of political intrigues. The lust for unearned wealth and to gain unjust Power are a re-occurrent theme throughout human history… ubiquitous to all times, places… and races.
There are no noble savages.
And yet… amazingly enough… there is a delicate… faltering… thread of progress that has raised many modern people out of squalor and misery and given them standards of living barely dreamt about in past ages.
The defense of the values and ideals which underpin Human betterment are a sacred duty to those of us who have seen the light.
We must be eternally vigilant and on guard for the forces of darkness… certain lobby groups… and self interested parties …. motivated by envy and greed are ceaseless in their conspiracies to destroy… for rapine… and plunder… and to accrue political power.
History declares evil has no Racial preference. Marxist Rebel and Former President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe became one of the most brutal and wealthiest men on Earth while his country writhed in despair. He came to power and was supposed to be the savior of Black Zimbabweans from ‘White Supremacy’.
All he brought was greater misery… and greater racism.
It must be noted that in no way has New Zealand ever resembled Rhodesia… and yet that is how the Far left racist radicals have sort to portray the colonisation of New Zealand.
In their use of Marxist ideology… they are one and the same as Mugabe.
They seek to destroy western civilisation and accrue power for themselves.
And they seek to deceive the Fools by appearing to champion noble causes and ideals…
History proper exposes their lies and methods.
Understand this.
**********
Applying this to what is currently afoot here in New Zealand the far left Radicals seek to distort history by asserting that Maori did not cede sovereignty via the treaty of Waitangi, and accuse British colonials as invading these islands with the express purpose of annihilating the ‘indigenous’ [sic] population, and to divest them of their land. This is their asserted ‘grievance’ that asserts the British Crown and subsequent colonial government did not honour the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi… and that these transgressions that are said to have occurred over 150 years ago… need to be recompensed today.
What they seek to establish and perpetuate is a racially divided nation.
It must be asked… given the treaty grievance industry funnels billions of taxpayer dollars into tribal interests… and grants them undemocratic powers… Whom is really trying to rob and subjugate whom?
If you have a caring heart… I ask have you ever been deceived by professional beggars?
Chumps are born every day. Shysters know this.
******
Lets look at what the history books say and evaluate their authenticity.
How did the historian James Cowan view the collonisation of New Zealand?
This commentary series on James Cowan’s two volumes ‘The New Zealand Wars’ is part of my ongoing investigations into New Zealand history with regards to old world Maori culture, European colonisation, and modern day far left radical ideology and politics which have been progressively rammed down the throats of New Zealanders over the past 50 years.
It is my contention that these modern political doctrines are grotesque fabrications, perpetrating frauds and extortions, and wreaking havoc and social unrest in our once blessed nation.
They rely on ignorance and the falsification of history.
In these ambitions they display the common base traits of the dark side of humanity.
I realise these are heavy assertions.
Can I vindicate my positions?
I believe I can, because my historical perspective about the colonisation of New Zealand was the conservative position not too many decades ago… not radical by any means… before the subversive Marxist doctrines took hold.
These doctrines were not drawn from concrete facts but specifically formulated to cause strife and unrest.
To divide and conquer.
And they have to a large extent been successful in their subversion.
Though still the greater percentage of New Zealanders find their claims incredulous… none the less in academia and Political circles their lies have become ‘Officially sanctioned’.
I am seeking to confront these charlatans head on… with the facts!
The great lie they are peddling is to deceive the nation that it is my Anti-Grievance and Anti-Separatist leanings that ought to be seen as radical and misguided.
They would have you believe that my striving for Constitutional Racal equality before the law… is somehow… racist!
Contemplate that.
*******
What is the historical truth about the European colonisation of New Zealand?
This post is my introduction to this study of Cowan’s important publications.
At the time of writing this I am currently only about 20% of the way through reading volume 1.
By the end of writing my commentary, I hope to have given many proofs taken from Cowan, that affirm the correctness of my personal position which is a forthright repudiation of Modern Treaty grievance and Apartheid and the lies they are founded upon.
Will Cowan’s account vindicate my perspective?
Even if they do… do his opinions have any weight?
Why should we trust him?
In studying his accounts to what degree will my current views be further entrenched or be confronted with facts that demand contrition and correction on my part?
It is always a good thing to stand corrected… it is a positive good, and yet the corrupt detest facts that contradict their prejudices.
I will consciously resist the urge to overlook uncomfortable facts. Indeed these are opportunities to grow deeper understandings.
Having read about 10% (of both volumes) already he has presented me with many justifications… and challenges.
These will make for interesting commentary in future posts.
I am already learning much… and look forward to reading more.
********
Capitan Cook.
Read a short biography of James Cowan here.
Quote:
” James Cowan (1870–1943) grew up on Waikato land confiscated from Māori. The family farm included part of the Ōrākau battlefield.
It was here that Rewi Maniapoto, when asked to surrender, had famously told the British that he would fight on ‘forever and ever’ (‘Ka whawhai tonu mātou, Āke! Āke! Āke!’). Cowan’s lifelong fascination with colonial history grew out of his childhood experiences.
During the first decades of the 20th century Cowan wrote more than 30 books and hundreds of articles on New Zealand history, Māori ethnography and travel. He read widely, and did much to shape the way New Zealanders viewed their past.
He is best known for the two-volume The New Zealand Wars: a history of the Maori campaigns and the pioneering period (1922–23). Until relatively recently this was the definitive account of the New Zealand Wars, and remains a classic. It is particularly notable for his use of both Māori and European oral sources. Cowan died in 1943.”
We are concerning ourselves with his two volumes on the Rebellions.
The term ‘Rebellions’ is more accurate than the term ‘Wars’ as calling these wars does not correctly identify the type and nature of the disputes.
We can glean a lot about Cowan from that very concise statement.
He grew up in the decades following the Waikato war, and lived among Waikato Maori… at the heart of the Kingite struggle, and saw the defeated Rebels as heroic warriors.
From the first chapters this disposition is evident in his writing yet he adds some balance by noting the heroism of such men as Governor Grey.
He is generous with his approbations on both sides of the disputes.
So far so good!
With respect to Rewi Mainiapoto, I hope to write a post on him in due course when Cowan deals with the Kingites. The romanticism of our day grossly distorts the true nature of the conflicts by excessive lionisation of the murderous savage rebels, and villainising the heroic colonials who valiantly thwarted the Rebels genocidal ambitions. In the end Rewi Maniapoto would recant his part in taking up arms… having despised the council of a Chiefly ally who predicted the sorry outcome that would befall the rebels.
The slant that Romanticises those who advocated for violence, can be seen in the Maniapoto quotation above.
From my own studies it is rare indeed to encounter any writer from the beginning who did not to some degree evidence this embellished perspective.
The tendency almost universally favors the Rebels… which is the very opposite of what modern revisionists claim… ie they insist that history has been unfair to them, and that Maori have been the victim of 150+ years of systematic ‘White supremacist’ indoctrination.
This is utterly false.
The truth is Pakeha like Cowan grew up with Maori friends and neigbours and did not harbour Racist ideals, or look down upon them… this is evident in the contemporary records… and was evident in the very nature of New Zealand society until the Far Left Racist radical separatists started their toxic political campaign in the early 1970s.
Getting back to Cowan’s accounts of the conflicts…
Myself… as a person who has read a decent amount of classic War histories such as Herodotus’s account of Leonidas and the 300 at Thermopile , The works of Xenophon, Josephus, and much more I affirm Cowan’s writing style as being on a par with these…. first rate and on this basis alone we can appreciate why he is held in high regard.
It is the type of writing style that propagates a love of history in youth and adults alike.
Cowan has been a chief inspiration for many New Zealand historians ever since.
It helps that New Zealand’s birth is part of an heroic and contentious age.
It was a time when Men were really ‘Great’.
Cowan states that our history is as rich in character and exploits as the histories of many other Western nations and his writing style and attention to details vindicates this claim.
Photograph of James Cowan at his desk writing. Photographed by an unknown photographer in September 1940. Ref: PACOLL-5877-5
*******
James Cowan is considered by many the foremost historian on the series of Maori Rebellions that occurred in the decades following the Treaty of Waitangi in which British Sovereignty was established.
I want to examine his work and see if such pre-eminence granted him in this subject is well founded, or not?
I am chiefly concerned about objective truth… not writing style.
How much authority and truthfulness ought to be justly ascribed to his writings?
This is not simply a matter of ‘taste’… if he agrees with me he is ‘right’… if he disagrees with me… he is ‘wrong’.
There is too much at stake to leave history in a fog of ambiguity… and simply a matter of subjective opinion.
If you love history proper what matters is *Truth*.
What matters is doing justice to history.
We need to evaluate Cowan’s objectivity and power to reach legitimate conclusions.
We must distinguish what are recorded statements that were spoken by the people involved from mere speculations about their motives that really belong to the writer… not the subject.
This temper is essential if any hope of sifting the wheat from the chaff is to be achieved.
How ought we to consider his personal opinions, insights, and embellishments he uses to add colour to bare Objective facts, and by which we can perceive his leanings?
Does Cowan evidence gross ‘Euro-centric propensities’? or any other skew that needs to be appreciated when evaluating his works?
How fairly does Cowan treat the character of the various actors he is writing about?
These are the sorts of questions that shall be at the forefront of my study.
I will also be looking to clarify the root causes of the Rebellions.
According to Cowan… what were in his view the main chief causes for the various outbreaks of hostilities?
These rebellions were in breach of the Treaty and a challenge to British Sovereignty.
Cowan speaks of this fundamental point from the beginning… eg Regarding Hekes Rebellion at Russell …Chapter 5 Titled ‘The first British march inland’ … Cowan states…
” On the 27th April an expedition totaling 470 officers and men under Lieut-Colonel Hulme, of the “Slains Castle,” the “Velocity.” and the schooner “Aurora,” with the object of re-establishing the Queens Soverignty at Kororareka and carrying the war into the enemies country.”…
The paramount importance of this fact stands in stark contrast to the patent falsehoods and denials of modern revisionists that Maori like Heke were in Rebellion to the sovereignty which had been ceded to the British Crown at Waitangi in 1840.
Instead they pedal the modern innovation of ‘co governance’ and ‘Treaty partnership’.
Chief Tamati Waka Nene.
I would never suggest that British governance of the day (nor any government anywhere) was not without it’s flaws… yet from the facts of recorded history and logic we see it was ‘Old world’ Tribalistic Maori Like Heke who from self interest butted heads with the legitimate British authority.
Can anyone looking back be surprised that such disputes would arise simply by the nature of the situation???
Given all factors and conditions of the times these things were virtually inevitable!
There was no malicious intent on the part of the newly established British rule to provoke hostilities from Ngapuhi.
Violence was initiated by Heke… yet most of the Nagapuhi Chiefs supported the Governor… esp Tamati Waka Nene who fought against Heke on the side of the Colonial Governor.
The hypocrisy of the Modern Revisionist is that they play the victim… when in reality they themselves are distorting history for political advantage and financial gain and the expense of the rest of New Zealanders. Their Racism and Political Corruption is patent… and yet we are not allowed to say as much. Broadcasters, and Public figures get deplatformed when ever they dare to challenge the foundations of the new Race based power structure.
With the establishment of British rule via the Treaty upon a land in which Chiefs were used to governing their own affairs… we should not be surprised that discontent and suspicions arose… for that was the norm between Hapu… and Iwi, and to transition from that state of Anarchy to building *A Nation* whereby the Law prevails rather than the Taiaha would take time.. and big changes.
These changes were implicit in the establishment of British rule.
The anarchy of inter-Tribal warfare… esp now the Tribes all had muskets… could not be tolerated in a civil society… and it was expressly for the sake of ending the Bloody tribal wars that the Maori Chiefs invited the British crown to establish the rule of Law.
It had nothing to do with ‘White racism’ using their terrible ‘technological advantages’ to plan and execute a Holocaust upon the indigenous population… to exterminate them and take their lands.
Hone (John) Heke.
Each major outbreak of rebellion was of course the result of some contentious issue… the first one mentioned in Cowan’s works is the rebellion of Hone (John) Heke at Russell (Kororaeka) in 1845… the chief cause of which being newly establish heavy Customs duties being imposed on trade goods drove away traffic from the port.
The imposition of these customs duties (1841) was obviously an attempt by the Governor to defray costs of running the colony (established by Te Tiriti O Waitangi in 1840) from the British Crown.
It is an interesting lesion in economics that raising heavy taxes is very bad for trade and the prosperity of any economy.
Pre-treaty Russell was the key port in New Zealand. Ngapuhi Chiefs like Heke had been making a lot of money from the shipping and trade that visited the Bay of Islands in those times and had even levied their own ‘Port dues’ on every ship, and they also traded in prostitution, and ship’s stores to whalers.
More on Heke will be forthcoming (next chapter of my commentary), it suffices for now to mention that after the Treaty and the establishment of other centers of settlement and industry around the country… out of reach of the Governors ability to enforce tariffs the post-treaty imposition of Customs duties in the Bay of Islands put trade into decline and this adversely affected Hone Heke’s ‘Business’ and income.
Read about this in Chapter 3, pages 16,17.
Hence Heke was not happy about how things were unfolding after the treaty… and despite the fact that he had been partly civilized and educated at Henry Williams Mission Station, being still at heart a wild Cannibal Maori Warrior Chief, he chose to deal with this situation the ‘traditional way’ Maori Warrior Chiefs took care of ‘problems’… by taking up arms.
The rebellions were power struggles… a coming to terms with the new order, yet contrary to the politically manufactured assertions of the Modern revisionist of our times, there was no overt nefarious plot by Pakeha… no overt bad faith or willful breaches of the Treaty involved on their part.
‘Good’ Governor Grey. Respected by all including the first ‘Maori King’ Potatau.
Mistakes were made and sometime the curcumstances were beyond control yet one of the spectacular facts about the Birth of New Zealand as a Nation was that it happened during the time of enlightenment ideals.
Slavery had been abolished in the British empire.
The Treaty recognised the rights of All New Zealanders as Equals… British Subjects… including Maori.
And New Zealand was fortunate to have the highest caliber Statemen like ‘Good’ Governor George Grey at the helm during its birth pangs.
Was there no greed?
Was there no weasel business dealings?
It would be stupefyingly silly to pretend that instances of chicanery did not occur culpability being on either side… for such is sadly human nature… and yet it is a bare face lie to assert that the Colonisation of New Zealand by Europeans was an invasion based upon deception… and that it involved systematic Racist oppression of Maori.
We should not be surprised that some chiefs took it upon themselves to rebel when things went in directions that did not satisfy their self interest.
Such rebellion is completely understandable given the weak state of the governing power of young colony, the short passage of time that had elapsed from the signing of the Treaty, and the nature of the Maori Tribal ‘norms’ that still prevailed. Were it not for the Good will of Chiefs like Waka Nene who chose to honour the Treaty and support the Colonial Powers against rebels like Heke… the colony in New Zealand would have been short lived indeed.
Cowan himself makes the point the ongoing settlements of the Pakeha post treaty existed by ‘sufferance’ given the numerical superiority of Maori in the early years.
This means the greater percentage of Maori themselves could see the many advantages the industrious British settlers brought to their shores.
“He who controls the past, controls the future” George Orwell.
Though these wars happened over 150 years ago Far Left Political Radical activists and politicians in recent decades have twisted history into a bludgeon with which to destroy Racial Harmony that had grown up in the years of peace and good will that grew out from peace between the races, an end to tribal anarchy, and the establishment of the rule of Law.
This suffices for the introduction of my commentary on Cowan’s 2 volumes
As I have already stated… I will talk more about Heke’s rebellion in my next post.
I have purposefully made a lot of bold claims in this introduction with the intent of vindicating myself in future posts.
Please challenge me in the comments…
The commentary I have made with respect to this early rebellion in this post serving to illustrate a common theme that would play out in other outbreaks of rebellion… and how the modern Far left Radicals distort the truth.
