‘A Brave Resistance, or the Most Abject Submission’
by Becky Akers
LewRockwell.com
I’m not much of a movie buff, but Lunch Scholars sets me laughing each time I watch it. Especially entertaining are the students’ responses to the question, “In what war did the US gain its independence?” If they don’t shrug or stare in silent confusion, they hazard such guesses as “The Civil War?” One girl giggles, “We just did this, and I don’t remember!”
For a while, I attended meetings of the American Revolution Roundtable, convivial and festive affairs that “[bring] together a diverse group of people…,” – many of them published historians – “united by a common interest in the Revolutionary era.” One evening, a member advocated government’s “protection” of some site dating to the war; I have forgotten whether she wanted it officially designated a landmark, or, if it already had been, desired an increase in its budget. At any rate, the crowd vigorously applauded her efforts to extend the State’s power in honor of a rebellion against that very evil.
For all their “common interest in the Revolutionary era,” these adults had little more understanding of it than the stars of Lunch Scholars. Sadly, ignorance of both the facts and the spirit of the American Revolution curses our society; it’s one reason Leviathan has triumphed so thoroughly over a people formerly noted for their fierce autonomy and love of liberty.
In a sense, we can hardly blame folks for their indifference to the Revolution. The powder-smoke obscuring Yorktown had hardly cleared before the new country’s politicians distorted the war into a glorification of the American State. Historians continued that misrepresentation in the 19th century until its latter half, when they portrayed the war as a Marxist fantasy of proletarian revenge. Thereafter, further perversions turned the Revolution irrelevant: the Founding Fathers fought against obscure, isolated points that no longer mattered, according to the government’s indoctrination centers-sorry, schools, such as monarchy or taxation without representation. No wonder most Americans today care nothing for the Revolution, while its few enthusiasts completely miss its resounding rejection of government.
The Rest…HERE
