American Rebellion: Just Think What They Would've Done with Twitter!

I'm reading all about Paul Revere. The book -- Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer -- is un-put-downable!

Part of the attraction is that the places involved are all ones I've passed through so many times -- though never quite registered their significance or connected the dots.

Pondering more than just silver . . .
Paul Revere by John Singleton Copley

Another is the portrait that emerges of Revere the man -- someone active in several different circles, and pretty good at what he did, and probably a bit excitable (d'ya think?), but not a tremendously important man, relative to some of the "gentlemen" who ran the world he lived in.

And of course, David Hackett Fischer is a riveting storyteller.

But the thing that is grabbing my attention is the eerie similarity between events in the book and events in our world today. Take, for instance, this description of the colonists' reaction to a British military raid about seven months before Lexington & Concord:

"The largest supply of gunpowder in Massachusetts had been secured at a stroke, without a shot fired. It was a model operation in all respects, save one. The British commander had completely misunderstood the temper of New England . . . . "

" . . . Through the day, reports began to fly across the countryside. . . . . "

" . . . All day church bells tolled in the towns. At dusk great fire-beacons that had warned of war against the French were set alight, burning brightly across the open countryside. As far away as Connecticut, the militia began to march toward Boston. . . . . "

" . . . perhaps more than one third the effective men in all New England took arms and were on actual march for Boston. . . . . 20,000 men marched from the Connecticut Valley alone . . . . "

The British commander in North America did the obvious: sent a request to England for more troops -- lots more troops. "If you think ten thousand men sufficient, send twenty; if one million is thought enough, give two; you save both blood and treasure in the end."

More to follow . . .


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I've realized that when we ask ourselves, "What is it that we hope people will do?" we must include an element of recursivity: One of the things we want people to do is to involve more people in doing it. In a way, that element of recursivity -- dare I say "evangelism"? -- defines what it means for people to really become part of a movement.

(See Invite More People into Activism! (Pass It Along!) )












Because the forces of militarism control the vast majority of the tools of violence -- guns, jets, missiles, bombs, etc. etc. etc. -- on their side, we need to confront them with other means -- ones where we hold the advantage. In order to conduct an effective resistance, we need to ask, "What are our strengths?"

(See NETWORK the Resistance to NATO!)


Tuesdayistas are people who (a) take time each week to participate in a national (and now global) conversation about ending the war in Afghanistan; AND (b) help spread the word by reaching out to others (who will reach out to others (who will reach out to others .... to do the same!

(See I'm a Tuesdayista!)







Attorney General Eric Holder will speak at 3:30 p.m. today (Monday, March 5, 2012) at Northwestern University School of Law - 375 E. Superior on targeted killings of U.S. citizens.

What will Chicago tell Holder?

(See What Will Chicago Tell Holder? )