norwegen
Diamond Member
To be sure, George III was not all powerful. The Americans began seating their own legislatures and governing themselves before the Revolutionary War even started. The impetus for their doing so was not so much because they were oppressed, but more because they were Whigs who were excited about erecting their own republican governments in their egalitarian societies (that is, societies devoid of inherited aristocracies (please don't cry about the slaves)). And, more than actually being oppressed, they were anticipating oppression, as they were witnessing the erosion of liberties in England and some of her other commonwealths. Oppression that directly correlated with the growth of the monarchy.Its not that this isnt new, its that this is a non-issue.
The OP, and those who agree with him, makes the mistake of perceiving 'the government' and 'the people' as two separate and distinct entities.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The people and the government are one in the same; the government acts at the behest of the people, where the people are solely responsible for the good - or bad - government they get.
So, should the American Colonists have followed this reasoning when they settled here in America? You buffoon.
"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."
-Declaration of Independence
Are you an idiot? The colonists were rebelling against an all powerful monarch in a country thousands of miles away. There is no comparison between that and our current govenment being of and for the people. Instead of bitching, do something. Crawl out of your internet cave and be active in the community and fight for the rights you think you should have. Being a blowhard is doing nothing. Nada. No one is impressed.
You're right: there is no comparison between that and our current government. The Americans of the 1760s and '70s were not nearly as oppressed as the Americans of today are.