exercises that may be the forerunners of what
many contemporary militia movements do, and
in 1983 fugitive Posse member Gordon Kahl
died in a shoot-out and fire after he had killed
three police (pp. 52–53).
Very similar sentiments, along with occasional
murderous violence, appeared in Freemen
behavior toward legal officials in the mid-1990s.
In support of a militia member whose failure to
pay taxes led to his loss of property, angry
Freemen walked through a courthouse and near
the judge’s chambers after the police had a tip
that they wanted to lynch a judge (Stern, 1996,
p. 91). Just as Posse Comitatus member Gordon
Kahl killed his initial two police victims when
officers tried to arrest him, so too have
Sovereign Citizens in the United States killed
police—with seven officers dying in
confrontations (often during routine traffic
stops) involving them (Sovereign Citizens,
2011 see Anti-Defamation League, 2005, p. 1
Sovereign Citizens Movement, 2013).
Social and Economic Conditions That
Might Have Fostered Extremist
Antigovernment Sentiment
Much of the final quarter of the twentieth
century, and then the years in this new
millennium, have been strewn with such dire
economic catastrophes that capitalism itself has
seemed to be unraveling. Within the resulting
economic hardships that have hit (especially
American) farmers and other ordinary citizens,
antigovernment movements have flourished,
giving victims at least some explanation
(however inaccurate) of the causes of their
plights. The farming crisis during the 1980s, for
example, had multiple causes, and its impact
upon rural America was devastating.
Economically and politically,
…[t]he years 1981–1986 were a
defining period for agriculture in the
United States. During this time, the farm
sector experienced its worst financial
crisis since the Great Depression of the
1930s. The resulting turmoil cost many
farm families their vocations, lifestyles,
and accumulated wealth. While farm
families were the hardest hit, impacts
were felt throughout rural communities.
Also affected were those economic
sectors that support production
agriculture, such as manufacturing and
marketing of agricultural inputs, and
most notably, agricultural finance.
(Barnett, 2000, p. 366 see Rosenfeld,
1997, pp. 78–79)
An estimated 235,000 American farms failed
during the mid-1980s, dragging down with them
an estimated 60,000 supportive and surrounding
businesses. (Gorelick, 2000, p. 2)
During this same time, Canadians experienced a
dramatic rise in interest rates, from 10.31% in
August 1978 to 21.46% in September 1981.
Many people who had to renegotiate their
mortgages during this period simply could not
do so. I am unable to find an exact number of
property foreclosures during this period, but one
analysis of Canadian mortgage history
concluded that “Clearly, many established
owners were defaulting on their mortgages,
unable to make payments on homes purchased in
the optimistic late 1970s in the restrained 1980s”
(Evolution of the mortgage market, n.d., p. 5).
During the American farm crisis of the 1980s, a
number of banks that were dependent upon the
payments of farmers’ debts and mortgages
failed, but the major banking crisis during this
period overlapped with the farming crisis. Called
the Savings and Loan Crisis, “between 1986–
1995, over 1,000 banks with total assets of over
$500 billion failed. By 1999, the Crisis cost
$153 billion, with taxpayers footing the bill for
$124 billion, and the S&L [savings and loans]
industry paying the rest” (Amadeo, 2014).
Even larger was the bank crisis in 2008, which
led to a government bailout of $700 billion
(Madrick, 2013, p. 14) to various banks,
financial institutions, and corporations. Coupled
with this bank crisis was another real-estate
crisis, with approximately 3.9 million
foreclosures occurring in the United States
between September 2008 and December 2012
(Number of Foreclosures Down, 2012), and
involving 10 million people (Michaels, 2013, p.
1). A shocking number of these foreclosure
victims, however, lost properties illegally, and
the current Democratic Senator from
Massachusetts, consumer advocate Elizabeth
6 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 6, 2015
many contemporary militia movements do, and
in 1983 fugitive Posse member Gordon Kahl
died in a shoot-out and fire after he had killed
three police (pp. 52–53).
Very similar sentiments, along with occasional
murderous violence, appeared in Freemen
behavior toward legal officials in the mid-1990s.
In support of a militia member whose failure to
pay taxes led to his loss of property, angry
Freemen walked through a courthouse and near
the judge’s chambers after the police had a tip
that they wanted to lynch a judge (Stern, 1996,
p. 91). Just as Posse Comitatus member Gordon
Kahl killed his initial two police victims when
officers tried to arrest him, so too have
Sovereign Citizens in the United States killed
police—with seven officers dying in
confrontations (often during routine traffic
stops) involving them (Sovereign Citizens,
2011 see Anti-Defamation League, 2005, p. 1
Sovereign Citizens Movement, 2013).
Social and Economic Conditions That
Might Have Fostered Extremist
Antigovernment Sentiment
Much of the final quarter of the twentieth
century, and then the years in this new
millennium, have been strewn with such dire
economic catastrophes that capitalism itself has
seemed to be unraveling. Within the resulting
economic hardships that have hit (especially
American) farmers and other ordinary citizens,
antigovernment movements have flourished,
giving victims at least some explanation
(however inaccurate) of the causes of their
plights. The farming crisis during the 1980s, for
example, had multiple causes, and its impact
upon rural America was devastating.
Economically and politically,
…[t]he years 1981–1986 were a
defining period for agriculture in the
United States. During this time, the farm
sector experienced its worst financial
crisis since the Great Depression of the
1930s. The resulting turmoil cost many
farm families their vocations, lifestyles,
and accumulated wealth. While farm
families were the hardest hit, impacts
were felt throughout rural communities.
Also affected were those economic
sectors that support production
agriculture, such as manufacturing and
marketing of agricultural inputs, and
most notably, agricultural finance.
(Barnett, 2000, p. 366 see Rosenfeld,
1997, pp. 78–79)
An estimated 235,000 American farms failed
during the mid-1980s, dragging down with them
an estimated 60,000 supportive and surrounding
businesses. (Gorelick, 2000, p. 2)
During this same time, Canadians experienced a
dramatic rise in interest rates, from 10.31% in
August 1978 to 21.46% in September 1981.
Many people who had to renegotiate their
mortgages during this period simply could not
do so. I am unable to find an exact number of
property foreclosures during this period, but one
analysis of Canadian mortgage history
concluded that “Clearly, many established
owners were defaulting on their mortgages,
unable to make payments on homes purchased in
the optimistic late 1970s in the restrained 1980s”
(Evolution of the mortgage market, n.d., p. 5).
During the American farm crisis of the 1980s, a
number of banks that were dependent upon the
payments of farmers’ debts and mortgages
failed, but the major banking crisis during this
period overlapped with the farming crisis. Called
the Savings and Loan Crisis, “between 1986–
1995, over 1,000 banks with total assets of over
$500 billion failed. By 1999, the Crisis cost
$153 billion, with taxpayers footing the bill for
$124 billion, and the S&L [savings and loans]
industry paying the rest” (Amadeo, 2014).
Even larger was the bank crisis in 2008, which
led to a government bailout of $700 billion
(Madrick, 2013, p. 14) to various banks,
financial institutions, and corporations. Coupled
with this bank crisis was another real-estate
crisis, with approximately 3.9 million
foreclosures occurring in the United States
between September 2008 and December 2012
(Number of Foreclosures Down, 2012), and
involving 10 million people (Michaels, 2013, p.
1). A shocking number of these foreclosure
victims, however, lost properties illegally, and
the current Democratic Senator from
Massachusetts, consumer advocate Elizabeth
6 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 6, 2015
