Delusion's Blog

Strange how history repeats itself.

On this day in America we still have almost $4.00 gas and more and more billions of dollars sent overseas in the form of money for oil or cheap goods. And Congress, our elected representatives, is on vacation. They seem strangely out of touch with America and Americans and seem only concerned with their own re-elections. And yet, we the people still pay for everything they do in our name. Many of us will agree much of what Congress does is not in our name since they seem to have a stunning capacity to be ignorant of the average American taxpayer.

In the 1760's the Colonists had the same problem. They were asked to pay for the French and Indian War, of which they had no say and no vote (and where the Colonists were asked to shed blood). The Colonists refused, saying they were not represented in London by the decisions made, so they shouldn't have to pay anything. They were rewarded by the Stamp Act, then more Acts which taxed everything from paper to tea. And of course, we know the result. The Colonists felt they were not represented and therefore decided to take control of their own fate.

The Crown argued that the Colonists were represented virtually (as opposed to actually) since they were Colonies of the Crown, but the Americans didn't buy it. Their argument was that London had no conception of the needs or conditions of the Colonists and had no idea what their lives were truly like.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? I wonder how many of our elected representatives (and those now applying) know their history and the dangers inherent in repeating it.