From where does revolution come?

A while ago, I heard a quote spoken in a TV show, which told the story about George Washington’s spies, called the Culper Ring, which really existed before and during the American Revolutionary War.

The quote is, “One cannot speak truth to power if power has no use for truth.”

It has me pondering human nature, the fall of man, and the history of empires, of course, but really, I’ve decided that Greenvale is a microcosm of a greater battle between the “kings” and the taxpayers. And, this quote applies to some people in our current body of elected and appointed officials. Greenvale has become a 2-tier empire. This idea about Greenvale being 2-tier didn’t come from me; it’s from a Greenvale community member who is outside the Responsibly Rural group. But, I’m borrowing this person’s remark for my point.

There comes a time in the history of government or of an elected leader in which it or s/he no longer wishes to or can hear truth. At this point, trying to speak it to them is folly and falls on deaf ears. We are there in Greenvale now.

This fact doesn’t demean truth, nor does it remove the importance of truth. This fact also isn’t a pass to sit on one’s laurels and stop speaking truth. But it does mean recognizing that sometimes power eventually has darkened eyes and ears to see and hear.

When truth becomes a grating sound to the government or elected official, it is a solid indication the leader is compromised – perhaps not legally, morally, or ethically, (although, maybe these), and when the leader is so hell-bent on his/her trajectory that s/he can no longer bear witness to the sound of honest dissent and desires for change that help more people than help a small few, it’s time for change.

The American colonists of the mid- and late 1700s decided that if power saw no value in truth for truth’s sake, then the ONLY course therefore may be one of revolution - thusly removing the power altogether not by means of a democratic process or “representative government” a la what the colonists looked for and asked for FIRST out of King George and the British parliament (some colonists did after all send Ben Franklin to England [1764] to garner a reasonable outcome that would benefit the colonies and the British king). When diplomatic envoys did no good, then reprisal and upheaval came (Boston Tea Party [1773], etc.), and with no amenable outcome, then they brought actual revolution.

Focusing on only the non-violent sentiments of the colonists, these bear an awfully close resemblance of the little guys and gals here in Greenvale, bearing the brunt of the unfairness under an oppressive force that hides information (at tonight’s board of supervisors meeting the idea was presented to remove public documents from the website), spends hard-earned taxpayer money wantonly, alters the playing field so fairness goes one way, attacks those who dare to speak out, threatens (yes, for real) those who stick their heads up, ignores the wishes of the citizens who want change and voted for it by way of resolutions both in 2024 and in 2025…this sounds an awful lot like the British Empire and king looking to squash the annoying colonial peons.

It shocks me quite how much the colonists bore before 1776 clocked around. It shocks me further how many colonists kept their heads in the sand or still supported the power hungry.

Isn’t that happening now in Greenvale? We have a 2-tier government - the “we get this, and you get nothing” is very real here. And, “Oh by the way, if you dare to question us, we’ll make life harder for you by publicly ridiculing you and by taking away more of your rights to access of information.”

Come to a Board meeting. That’s exactly what it looks and feels like. They can’t even respect the duly elected new clerk. Every time someone here asks our elected leaders to follow the comp plan, ordinances, or the Planning Commission Policies and Procedures manual (amended as recently as a couple years ago) they go and alter the playing field (the PC just decided at the May PC meeting to remove the language altogether about the PC Chairperson only being able to serve for 2 years. This was after a public comment was made at the April Town Board meeting asking how come the current PC Chair has been in the role for over 2 years when the PC documents list a 2-year term limit). It’s all very much, “All for me and none for thee.” They do not even appear to care how bad this all makes them look. Never mind when others don’t allegedly follow rules, they get their pants sued off. Please can someone explain how this is not a kingdom?

It used to be the Greenvale public comment podium faced the whole “public” room at the town hall. Now, it’s front and center facing the board table – notably a very punitive move making the person addressing the elected body feel small as s/he faces the large table. Probably should bow before approaching the throne? That’s what it feels like as a wee little citizen.

I believe we are seeing the fixings of peaceful Greenvale Revolution these days. I’ve heard it said, and I fully agree, the Carr’s Tree Service matter of 2024, was the worst best thing to ever happen to this community. It will go down in the annals of Greenvale history as, “the shot heard ‘round the world.” It’s energized this community like nothing could have. AND, it’s caused this RR message to spread to surrounding communities too.

I have news for the readers of this blog post. If you’re not a king in our Board or PC, you’re a “colonist” of Greenvale whether you believe it or not. You can be mad at me for saying it, but I’ve worked and seen the crud here for several years now, and I know of no other valid description.

We all have a choice to align with the Greenvale Crown, align with other peaceful revolutionary colonists, or to do nothing.

The other bit of news, which I have been excited to discover, is that Responsibly Rural IS a fully bi-partisan group of farmers, small biz-owners, parents, grandparents, homesteaders, etc. who just want to get out from under this 2-tier system of haves and have-nots and who want to live a life where freedom is had, responsible spending is done, where we aren’t fighting private wars (King George?) AKA vindictive lawsuits over people who aren’t even in office anymore, and with respect for everyone in the neighborhood. The American Revolution was also made up of the same sort of group of folks.

May Peace, which surpasses all understanding be upon this community is my fervent, on-going prayer. But, to quote another beloved American Revolutionary war movie, The Patriot, when a colonist asked the reverend why he was off to battle, the reverend replied, “The shepherd must tend his flock, and at times, fight off the wolves.” We do both peacefully here and the tide is turning, and Yorktown is gonna get here.

- Silence Dogood Publius