By Number Five
Thomas Jefferson once said “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” He had an extremely valid point in his day, when the only way to bring about social change was to wage lengthy wars. Now that America’s government, along with many other governments in the world, allows the common citizen to influence policy, Jefferson’s statement does not have as much bearing on the avenues of change.
Many Americans argue that political activism is useless, claiming that their vote can never make a difference when mingled with millions of other voters. What these people don’t realize is that voting is only the beginning; influence in the policy-making process goes so much deeper. For a start, one can write letters to his or her representatives and senators. Popular belief tends to claim that the aforementioned activity won’t influence anyone, yet if enough of a constituency believes in an issue, and the congressperson knows the feelings of his/her people, a change will be made. After all, a congressperson’s goal is always reelection, and one can’t be elected without votes. Another way of influencing government is lobbying elected officials. As with writing or calling a representative, a trip to the representative’s office shows that you truly care about an issue. The most important method of influencing government, however, is by sticking it to The Man.
The necessity of sticking it to The Man is rooted in the necessity of keeping the government on its toes. A government must never take for granted the citizens’ respect for their authority. When a regime realizes that the people will let them do whatever they see fit, that regime begins to take away freedoms. Those in power put their greedy little toes in the water of corruption, and if the people don’t lash out, they’ll jump right in. Public indifference to the policy of a government is a catalyst for the creation of oppressive tyrants. By sticking it to The Man regularly, the government can see that the people don’t have the utmost respect for its authority.
One might now argue that one person defying an empire will do no good. Fortunately for us, this point is invalid. By sticking it to The Man, one inspires others to follow suit. Thus, one is never alone in one’s quest to keep the government honest. Another might argue that laws are in place for a reason, and breaking them is just foolish. Let me be clear: I am in no way advocating breaking the law in ways that would harm another human. The idea is to keep the institution of government on its toes, not to infringe on the rights of our brothers and sisters. In fact, I’m not actually advocating breaking the law, just sticking it to The Man (which may or may not require actually breaking the law).
The only question that remains: how does one go about the act of sticking it to The Man? Well your reading this. So that's a start. But the rest, my friends, is left to your own creativity.
(Published in Issue 1)
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