There has been a lot of discussion lately about extremism and the negative influence that it is asserting on American society.  A recent Pew Research poll shows that only 22% of Americans actually trust the federal government and many believe that is at least indirectly due to the influence of the Tea Party movement.   All the major news organizations have been reporting on that poll like it is the end of civility in America.  The implication is that those who distrust government are extreme at best, prone to violence at worst. 

But that is exactly what our Founders intended, because they too distrusted government.  Thomas Paine said that government was a necessary evil. Their goal wasn’t to create some magical government that worked properly – they knew that whatever government they created would eventually become oppressive.  Franklin said they had created a republic, if we could keep it.  Their goal was to create a framework by which the citizens could change government when it did become oppressive. Jefferson wasn’t even sure, despite all the work that went into forming the government that it wouldn’t take another revolution to ensure our freedom.  It is commonly quoted, and indeed appears on the Jefferson Memorial, that he said, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants”.  What’s rarely quoted is the rest of the statement – “God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion; what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?  Let them take arms.”  Our third president was advocating violence against the government to remind the government that it wasn’t trusted.  Our early leaders were not in it for power – they didn’t trust government to work in citizens’ best interest either.  They knew that people interested in power and control would gravitate towards government and that they would need to be reminded that in this country, more government was never to be seen as the solution to a problem.  In his farewell address, Andrew Jackson reminded Americans what it took to protect liberty, “But you must remember, my fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing.  It behooves you, therefore, to be watchful in your States as well as in the Federal Government.” 

Today, we are being told that distrust and criticizing the government is unpatriotic, which is kind of amusing considering that during the Bush administration the left and the media promoted that protest was the highest form of patriotism.  In any case, they are missing the point, the First and Second Amendments are there for a reason – to allow citizens to protect themselves when government is out of control.  When Obama and Clinton and the like hint at ways of muzzling dissent, they are really treading on dangerous ground.  To continue to grow government and infringing on freedom cannot continue because a government too big to fail is too big.  Tea partyers and other activists are slowly waking up and realizing that we have not been vigilant enough.  This threatens the status quo and those in power who are in power, not to be public servants, but public rulers.  When you consider the perks and benefits that not only those in Congress get, but also their staffs, you realize they are not in it to serve, but to rule.  If Jefferson and Paine were alive today, they’d be leading a new revolution to oust those that have created a new ruling class that is just as decadent and oppressive as what they escaped from over 200 years ago.