Dissent

[Jonathan Buhacoff]

Sometimes the government makes decisions that frustrate or anger some people. When a person is extremely unhappy with the government, at least some possible courses of action are:

1. Dissent. Voice an opinion, share facts, and vote accordingly. This is the preferred way because if others share the same opinion, eventually things can change for the better. The right to honest and peaceful speech, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to petition provide an assurance that the government will not retaliate against someone for sharing their honest opinion and facts peacefully with others or for petitioning the government for change.

2. Emigrate. If others don’t dissent the same way and it appears the situation is unlikely to improve in the person’s lifetime, and if it’s an extremely important issue, emigrating to another country might be the path to greatest happiness. The right to travel provides an assurance that people can always vote with their feet.

3. Secede. If a significant minority of people are in dissent, they can concentrate in an area and secede from the federation. The right to a well-regulated militia is an assurance that people will have a fighting chance to defend themselves from tyranny in case the government refuses to allow the separation.

4. Rebel. If the majority of people are in dissent and the government is violating people’s rights in an attempt to quash the dissent, the people have a duty to rebel and overthrow its government to install a new government that will protect the people’s rights instead of violating them. This should be declared in the Constitution itself. In the United States, this principle is stated in the Declaration of Independence: “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security”.

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