During a recent trip to Boston we visited The Printing Office of Edes & Gill, where Gary Gregory has recreated an 18th century print shop located around a corner from Paul Revere's house. We bought a broadside reproduction of the Declaration of Independence as originally printed by John Gill on July 16, 1776.
Before diving into the main point I wish to make, caused by having read the Declaration of Independence once again, here's a trivia question.
What day did the Continental Congress declare independence from Britain?
Congratulate yourself if you said July 2, 1776, because that was the day members of the Second Continental Congress voted to declare independence from Britain. John Adams even noted in a letter to a friend that July 2nd would be remembered in the annals of American history.
Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence began on June 11th, which was then edited by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. The fair copy ("original Rough draught") was then read to members of Congress on June 28th, who deliberated and modified the document further until the afternoon of July 4th. The final version of the document was dated July 4th, though it was not signed until August 2, 1776... and even then not all members had signed for various reasons.
"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, 1787
On the evening of July 4th, members of the Continental Congress voted to deliver the draft of the Declaration of Independence to Philadelphia printer John Dunlop, who produced what is believed to be around 200 copies which were then delivered to the 13 colonies. Nineteen versions of John Douglas' broadside, differing in layout, were reproduced by printers from Massachusetts to Georgia.
A new Declaration of Independence?
Reading the grievance section of the Declaration of Independence, I was struck by how easy it would be to replace a few specific terms and the result would be an indictment of our current government. Vestiges of the vision our Founding Fathers had for our Republic can be seen (imagined?) today, however, members of our three government branches have contorted the daily operation to the point that our government is no longer controlled by we, the people. While reading, Benjamin Franklin's retort came to mind when asked what the new government formed in July of 1776 would be: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
We didn't keep it. We lost our republic. It is gone.
We need an "Arab Spring" here to have any hope of getting it back. A revolt by citizens, not through the ballot box, but by whatever force is necessary. Oust every elected member of government simultaneously, banned from seeking office for the duration of their life. Remove every bureaucrat as well, with similar restrictions as with elected members - banned from government positions for life. We will accept members of the military into the insurrection provided they are "of us", the men and women who form the backbone of our military. Anybody of higher rank cannot be a part of our insurrection. No lobbyists and no PR flacks. No spokesman for any group or interest. No business lobbyists or owners or CEO's either. Nobody can join the revolution unless they represent only themselves as an individual citizen who does not use any financial or moral advantage they may possess.
Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem. Translated, "I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude." - Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1787
Once the people of our old government are cleared out, rescind all laws except for the Constitution as it stands. Rebuild from there, with the needs of ordinary citizens in mind and for our general welfare as free individuals - to restore faith in American fairness and justice. A guiding principle for the path forward can be found in a letter by Thomas Jefferson to John Taylor in 1816: "And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."
I would join that kind of revolution.
"Every constitution, then, and every law, naturally expires at the end of nineteen years. If it be enforced longer, it is an act of force, and not of right. It may be said, that the succeeding generation exercising, in fact, the power of repeal, this leaves them as free as if the constitution or law had been expressly limited to nineteen years only. In the first place, this objection admits the right, in proposing an equivalent. But the power of repeal is not an equivalent. It might be, indeed, if every form of government were so perfectly contrived, that the will of the majority could always be obtained, fairly and without impediment. But this is true of no form. The people cannot assemble themselves; their representation is unequal and vicious. Various checks are opposed to every legislative proposition. Factions get possession of the public councils, bribery corrupts them, personal interests lead them astray from the general interests of their constituents; and other impediments arise, so as to prove to every practical man, that a law of limited duration is much more manageable than one which needs a repeal." -Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1789