Well, honestly, it might have already died from dehydration.

Thomas Jefferson is often thought to have said we need a new revolution every generation. Here’s the actual quote that might have come from:

 “God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. … And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.”

But you know what? If our forbears had revolted every generation…or at least every four generations…we wouldn’t be losing our country as I write this. The enemy could not have infiltrated and neutralized every last check and balance; corrupted every single institution; rendered the separation of powers meaningless; thoroughly compromised every single organization meant to protect the people and our lives, liberty and property; nor sold us out to foreign interests. I can think of a few historical markers where rebellion would have steered us away from this cliff we are now toppling over. Can you?