We speak often of democracy and the peaceful transfer of power - no need to worry about tyranny when you can just vote the bums out of office!
But we keep seeing ultimate power congeal in the hands of people we will never get to vote against.
But we keep seeing ultimate power congeal in the hands of people we will never get to vote against.
We used to worry about the "tyranny of the majority," but now we've degenerated into cancel culture, the paramount expression of mob rule: many joining forces to silence a targeted few, with no respect for their rights as a minority whatsoever.
We long ago abandoned the principles of free speech, but with the advent of mandatory slogans and totalitarian politics, we threw away our respect for freedom of thought.
We used to stress the importance of the rule of law, but today's galvanizing political movement is a direct attack on the rule of law, a call to replace it with variable "rights" dispensed by the ruling class in response to demonstrations of mob strength.
We used to have a dream that our children would be judged by the content of their character, but now they are judged by the content of their social media posts, and by the color of their skin.
Everything the Founders of this country warned against - tribalism, factionalism, corporatism, alienating our sovereign rights, presuming guilt, even the original political sin of taxation without representation - is now the order of the day. We became everything they feared.
This didn't happen by accident. Some very clever people who hated the Founders, and loathed the nation they created, studied their warnings and made long-term plans to do everything they cautioned against. They turned nightmare scenarios into grand strategies.
And now, as yesterday's subversives become today's tyrants, they are determined to blow up the pathways THEY took to power. No one will be allowed to challenge, mock, or subvert THEIR eternal new order. No one will be allowed to "resist" when they are in power.
Those who would restore the nation of our founding must be ready to fight the same kind of long, determined struggle as those who undermined it. Attack their weak points, subvert them, mock them, and give them no quarter from living under their own principles.
Don't accept platitudes about democracy any more. Don't settle for a vote every few years as your only means of protecting your rights. Don't buy into any elitist, politicized interpretation of what "rule of law" means. It means nothing without equality and presumed innocence.
Most of all, never think of principles as arcane treasures to be displayed on a shelf, or instruments of last resort kept behind glass that can be shattered in case of emergency. You have to live them, uphold them, and reaffirm them every day. "Unalienable" means no compromises.
But for now, the spirit of 1776 is once again a revolutionary spirit, and the power in America is held by people who hate it - people who teach your children to hate it. Winning battles is more important than losing on principle. Liberty is dangerously subversive now. /end
