Living in the Montana there are plenty of “don’t tread on me” (DTOM) flags flying around. Heck, we even have two different versions as license plates.
But what is all this hype about? Normally DTOM is associated with second amendment ideology. It is not uncommon to find a DTOM bumper sticker in a constellation of “come and take it” and “home of the free, because of the brave”. This whole train of thought is basically “if you try to infringe on my rights, I will kill you”, except, their rights are already being infringed any they aren’t doing anything. These plates are especially ironic when you realise that the ideology is about fighting the government, but the license plates are approve and distributed… by the government. Meaning that this is state “approved” rebellion. Not unlike in Orwell’s 1984 when the “rebellion” is actually a government honeypot operation…
Not quite sure what their line for “being tread on” is, but it would logically be about 100 years ago. Around the time of the NFA laws. These are the laws that regulate the length of the barrel of your gun, don’t allow silencers, and don’t allow you to own fully-automatic guns. Ostensibly these laws were to combat the mafia, but this didn’t do much. Turns out criminalizing trivial actives of serial murderers doesn’t change their behavior. Besides the fact that these laws haven’t changed how much crime is committed, they can all be bypassed if you just pay the government some money. So basically it’s just a mafia-style extortion. If it were about crime, they would always be illegal, not just pay walled.
So perhaps it’s about stopping tyrannical governments? At this point (2026) we’ve watched Waco Texas, Ruby Ridge, Bryan Malinowski, Kent State Shooting, etc, and none of those were enough to go against the government. So what will it theoretically take? In 1770, 5 persons were shot by the standing government. This was then propagandized into the “Boston Massacre” and used as a catalyst in the Revolutionary War.
Note: I’m not saying that they should start a revolution, that’s not Christ-like. But their messaging would imply that they are a standing ready militia to march at the first sign of tyranny.
So what’s the point of all of this? Perhaps they just need hope that they could theoretically do something. So it’s just a dream of agency. However, we know that they are too fat and happy (“bread and circus” if you will) to start a war. Or perhaps they are read and capable, but are just of the normie-class, and are waiting for a Great Man to appear and call them to arms.