A Quarter Of Americans Now Believe Political Violence Is Justified [More]
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… 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.
Before doing that, though, we’ve got to be satisfied that we’ve used every means at our disposal to follow the remarkable system bequeathed us by the Founders.
[Via bondmen]
The four boxes — soapbox, ballot box, jury box, cartridge box — in that order.
The order is important.
It is important to remember that the Founders understood that a republic was a flawed system of government, but it was well ahead of whatever is in second place. They also believed that our republic would eventually fail, as had every republic before it down through history.
But further, and perhaps most importantly, they believed that the natural progression of all governments is toward increasing levels of tyranny.
Pay close attention to that last part…
… ALL GOVERNMENTS … INCREASING LEVELS OF TYRANNY.
Jefferson even believed that it would be best if we had an armed revolution and started over from scratch every ten years or so.