The Tyranny-Liberty Cycle of Government

By Ann Miller

Many frustrated conservatives and constitutionalists, when discussing what is needed to reform our government, will reply, “We need a revolution.” I’ve heard that often from citizens I speak to whom I am trying to get involved in the political process on a grassroots level.

Their response to a call for action on a local level, is to dismiss the slow, arduous grassroots process in favor of sweeping, dramatic action. All this while never leaving their chairs.

The alarmist call for revolution serves the purpose of placing the responsibility out of reach of the average American. Revolution takes organization, militia, leadership, a plan for governmental overthrow and replacement, and a tremendous level of dedication to the cause to the point of a willingness to pay the ultimate sacrifice. Not exactly the stuff of local party volunteers. It’s a put-off by those who want to see reform occur, but are not willing to do the work themselves.

One must first understand the Tyranny-Liberty Cycle of Government to understand what revolutionists are actually calling for. The cycle looks like this, and is said to take about 200 years to complete:

The United States is 233 years into its cycle and is well into the Dependence stage. All-in-all, we are doing better than the predicted 200 years. However, with the election of President Obama, we are quickly making up for lost time in moving into the Tyranny stage.

As you can see, a nation does not move from Complacency/Dependence straight to Revolution/Liberty without first going through Tyranny. A call for Revolution is really a call to bring on Tyranny for our children, Revolution for our grandchildren, and finally if all goes well, Liberty for our great-grandchildren. Suddenly, grassroots doesn’t seem so slow and arduous, does it?

Our purpose should be to hold back the cycle as long as possible during the first half, then move along quickly through the dark half back to Liberty. Citizen involvement in government is essential for any hope of rolling back the cycle, or making corrections to the damage that Complacency and Dependence have done to our nation.

“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
- Thomas Jefferson

“Experience teaches us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession.”
- George Washington

“Each generation should be made to bear the burden of its own wars, instead of carrying them on, at the expense of other generations.”
- James Madison

“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.”
- Thomas Paine