COLUMN: A second revolutionary idea

From Mike Liskey's "The Road Less Traveled," Fall '96 From Mike Liskey's "The Road Less Traveled," Fall '96 You say you want a revolution? well, you know, we all want to change the world," are the first philosophical lyrics of Lennon and McCartney's "Revolution." And while they wrote it for Americans, we believe ourselves to be a very privileged people who don't need to start a revolution to create change in our nation and our lives. Americans need to wake up from their MTV-induced slumber -- and have a revolution. Don't expect any miracles from Clinton and the other honorable representatives we elected Tuesday. They will continue to pass laws that serve no logical purpose but to legislate morals on the masses. Young people under 21 years of age still won't be able to legally drink alcohol in the U.S., but they will be able to die in a foreign country as a member of our armed services. Inspired by Samuel Adams, the beer, and School House Rock, the educational cartoon series that used to run Saturday mornings, I have come to the conclusion that our government is too big and doesn't properly serve any purpose anymore. A revolution needs to occur so that communities, states or groups of states can break away from the oppressive national government and create smaller, local governments that are responsible for their actions and their people's prosperity. A revolution only makes sense , since the history of the U.S. is rooted in revolution. The natural evolution of this country and its people is continual breaking away from governments that burden us with taxes and restrict our personal freedoms. According to School House Rock, Thomas Paine termed it "common sense" to get another government when your current one isn't giving you your basic rights. The School House Rock video "No More Kings" showed me what a modern revolution would look like. The Pilgrims would be all segments of American society that are persecuted by the government or the mainstream, who only want a place of their own and the opportunity to create a better home for their families. King Bill and the Imperialistic American Empire, in the role of King George III, also wants to prohibit any similar pursuit of happiness or accomplishment of dreams. The logical action would be for the outcasts and the persecuted to leave mainstream American society and live among themselves. But the parallels go further. At first, the Pilgrims didn't have much. Their new lives didn't resemble their old lives in England. Many Americans don't have much now and most of the urban poor want a new life that doesn't resemble the old life in the ghetto. With a dedicated work ethic, human resiliency and no government holding them back, the Pilgrims created prosperous communities. Modern American outcasts need to escape the government restrictions that hinder the buoyancy of their spirit; only then will they prosper. The Pilgrims started at the grass-roots level, building their communities from the bottom up. Small community governments allowed the Pilgrims to run their land their way, controlling their own destinies. The same solution would work for the American oppressed, who now feel helpless. They need to physically distance themselves from mainstream society and create local governments that impose few restrictions on individual liberties. Mother England didn't want the colonists to feel too independent because self-government would make it more difficult for her to exploit them. She sent in the Red Coats to force the colonists to obey England's exploitive laws. Big Brother, the American equivalent, would also worry that the exploited wouldn't allow themselves to be economically abused to the fullest efficiency. King Bill might have to send in the blue jackets (ATF or FBI agents) to keep the rebels in line, as demonstrated at Ruby Ridge and Waco. Several similarities between colonists and modern Americans jump out at me, such as the excessive taxation evident in every aspect of American society. England had the nerve to tax colonists' tea -- and the American government followed with the audacity to tax the working man's beer. Don't get me started on the federal income tax, which should be completely abolished. Some scholars will try to point out that the colonial problem was taxation without representation. Americans have representation, right? Wrong. The average person can't possibly be represented in today's diverse society where more than 100,000 people may have only one congressional representative. The average person is actually misrepresented by these professional politicians, who know nothing about most Americans' everyday lives. More Penn students should watch School House Rock and notice the revolutionary similarities between colonists and modern Americans. We need to take a stand and take command of our lives. The colonists had the Boston Tea Party, which symbolized their revolt against the English government and their taxation. Philadelphians should have a Schuylkill Rolling Rock Party. After all, what better place than Philadelphia, birthplace of the Constitution, to start a revolution?