Revolution in America

"A little rebellion now and then is a good thing and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical."

Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, Jan. 30, 1787


While Jefferson wasn't quite correct about a number of important things such as industry and the French Revolution, he was the president during the Revolution of 1800, which represented the first peaceful transition from one political party to another in Western history after the Middle Ages--I'm not sure if the dynastic changes of the English system count, and my history book may have lied to me....

Anyway, Jefferson aside, this is a point worth considering in light of Obama's platform of government reform. Can the government, with its bureaucratic tangles, preeminent lobbyism, excesses, and corruptions really be overhauled in even two full terms of office? Can a government survive such massive changes if they are not brought about with force?

Obama's right in saying that the government needs revamping. Every day, we experience the failure of the bureaucracy as we lose money in taxes that is then inefficiently reinvested--into what? What's happening to the economy right now, and what is the Fed doing to regulate it? What of Bush's budget plan--should such a thing even be allowed to come to the attention of Congress?

With these policy failures in mind, it's necessary to seriously consider the idea of revising the government. A republic that worked 211 years ago is not necessarily going to work today, nor has it, as seen by the Amendments and the continued history of judicial reform.

But, if we wish to revise the Constitution, how far can we take it? How far will we be allowed to take it? The only Western government that's shown any real volatility is the French one, and that's not safe in a state with this much military power and so much presence across the world. Other countries tend to either gradually reform (Britain) or be forced by revolution (Iran and pretty much any state that has had to throw off a colonial overlord)...but it's been years since the awareness that the U.S. needs reform. We haven't even managed to get rid of the Electoral College (which a more reasonable lame duck would have the decency to push, as opposed to some moronic final burst of power display).

Can the U.S. go through a peaceful revolution?

I posit: no.