“Stand your ground, don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”

~ Attributed to Captain John Parker as spoken to his Minute Men on Lexington Green, April 19, 1775

There is always a first shot fired in any revolt or revolution. The American Revolution began with the “shot heard around the world” at the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts – shots were fired at Lexington Green but only Colonials were killed, the first Redcoats were felled in Concord.

Captain Parker’s command stands true today. The very reason America was born of a revolution was the desire for people to live as they chose, not the way someone else commanded them to live.

The anatomy of a Second American Revolution might look something like the following – it involves three things, the first two are borrowed from history:

1. Begin with Captain Parker’s “Stand your ground” admonition. If our federal government means to have a war, let it begin on a battleground of our choosing.
2. Add this idea from Abraham Lincoln: “The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but cannot do, at all, or cannot, so well do, for themselves in their separate, individual capacities. In all that people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere.”
3. Start small and work your way up. Pick a small enough unit that is under federal control (most often depends on federal money) and take it over – not necessarily by force, it could well be by influence.

The key to recovering our liberty is overcoming our addiction for federal funding. We are held hostage by a combination of federal debt financing and taxpayer money that politicians use to hook us on the drug of money. Federal education funding, federal block grants, federal money for local museums, bike paths, etc. combine to create an epidemic as destructive as any opioid crisis.

The original idea for government taxation was to provide a methodology for the satisfaction of common needs, things that impact all citizens, but predictably, government has become an end in and of itself, becoming self-aware and rather than serving the needs of citizens, confident in its necessity, corrupt in its execution and concerned for its perpetuation, it now feeds off them.

As Lincoln said, the things which we can individually do as well for ourselves, the government ought not to interfere. We must find more ways to render the government funding unnecessary. If we want bike paths, raise the money, and get volunteers. If our children’s education is lacking, we must teach them. Communities, towns, and cities – and the public entities within them – must wean themselves off the federal teat.

Another aspect of our revolution is determining what is absolutely necessary and how to deliver it in the most efficient way.

The example in my mind is from my university days – at Mississippi State, the Drill Field is in the center of the campus. Most colleges and universities have some large areas in the center, a Quad, a Square or some other large grassy area. These areas are typically transected by concrete or brick walkways, forming large squares – but without fail, students will cut across the grass on a diagonal because that is the fastest way to cross to get to their classes – and when enough student do it, the crossing becomes a bare dirt path. From this simple and logical human behavior, landscape architects have learned that such diagonal paths are both necessary and efficient parts of good design. Walkways are not just to preserve grass and keep shoes clean, they are transportation arteries that demand efficient design.

If you use the “drill field” analogy and apply it to our systems of education, how much would we discover is unnecessary and inefficient? Based on what we are hearing and experiencing in our school systems, I think it is safe to estimate that anywhere from 30 to 50% of our children’s time is wasted on nonsense. Universities and colleges are the same, offering degrees that lead to nothing but jobless debt and poverty.

This second revolution begins in the home, then the neighborhood, then the community, then the town, city, county, region and then the state. The states should be the largest unit of government with direct control over matters important to its citizens. The federal government must be removed from influencing local matters (which they do with federal funds with strings).

As Captain Parker said, “Let it begin here.”