The United States did not emerge accidentally as a global power. It was built through two foundational crimes: the genocide of Indigenous peoples and the system of chattel slavery. Both were morally indefensible, both were economically indispensable to the formation of the American state, and both were repeatedly justified—explicitly and implicitly—through appeals to Christian theology, racial hierarchy, and destiny.¹²

The founding of the United States did not mark the beginning of these crimes but their consolidation. Genocide and slavery were already well underway, embedded in colonial law, economic life, and social order long before independence was declared.³

European settlers arrived at Plymouth Colony in 1620 and initially relied on Native American assistance for survival.⁴ That period of cooperation was short-lived. As settler populations grew and European weaponry, disease, and military organization proved decisive, Indigenous peoples were systematically displaced, massacred, starved, or confined.⁵

Traffic stops are one of the most common points of contact between the public and law enforcement. They are also one of the most misunderstood.

In Ohio OVI investigations, confusion is not accidental. Most people do not know what they are legally required to do during a stop, what is optional, or how standardized field sobriety tests are actually supposed to work. That lack of clarity shifts power entirely to the roadside officer, often without the driver realizing it.

The OVI Pocket Guide was created to address that imbalance through transparency, not advocacy.

Why Traffic Stop Confusion Matters

During an OVI stop, decisions are made quickly and under stress. Drivers are expected to comply, interpret instructions, and perform unfamiliar tasks, all while being observed and judged.

Most people assume that everything they are asked to do is mandatory. It is not.

Others assume that field sobriety tests are scientific measurements of impairment. They are not.

Most Americans still imagine control as something obvious: soldiers in the streets, ballots being stuffed, or loud authoritarian decrees.

That’s no longer how modern systems work.

Today, power operates through data, algorithms, and narrative shaping — not force.

Most people don’t realize it’s happening.

Ants and bees communicate through signals. No single ant understands the whole system — it simply follows cues.