Americans, particularly, worry about despotism and often feel that they need to be armed to be able to prevent it.
Maybe it's time to update this little document ...
quote:
Declaration of Independence
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
quote:
A little rebellion...
... The second state(a) has a great deal of good in it. The mass of mankind under that enjoys a precious degree of liberty and happiness. It has it’s evils too: the principal of which is the turbulence to which it is subject. But weigh this against the oppressions of monarchy, and it becomes nothing. Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem(b). Even this evil is productive of good. It prevents the degeneracy of government, and nourishes a general attention to the public affairs. I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccesful rebellions indeed generally establish the incroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions, as not to discourage them too much. It is a medecine necessary for the sound health of government." - Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, Paris, January 30, 17872
(a) "... governments wherein the will of every one has a just influence, ... "
(b) "I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude." (also rendered as "I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery."
Indeed small rebellions have resulted in greater good, with women's liberation, civil rights, etc. What we are seeing now is rebellion on a large scale that has been fermenting for a while. Trump elected because of rebellion against the status quo, protests against Trump to rein in his grab for power and restore the constitutional rule of law.
But this doesn't solve - or even attack - the root causes behind current economic situations for working people: income inequality and loss of true wages for any but the ultra rich. The congress buckling under the rule of corporations to dictate laws and regulations.
This will necessitate a rebellion on a larger scale than any seen recently, if not a second revolution. Power does not give up power willingly.
It appears some individual here are having trouble understanding what a nation is. As an example, The USA is not it's lakes mountains and B-52s.
Curiously, I like to think about a "Virtual America" that exists without arbitrary geographic borders or delineations: a country of the mind founded on freedom, liberty, respect for fellow humans, justice, equality under the law, pursuit of happiness and basic human rights (see UN
Universal Declaration of Human Rights for a start).
This "Virtual America" has no restrictions on membership, all humans are eligible, it is voluntary, and nobody can revoke your citizenship or take it away from you.
I give my allegiance to these basic concepts
For all people: To the pursuit of happiness,
To freedom, liberty, equality, respect, and justice,
And to preserving our inalienable human rights
Welcome
™ Version 4.2
