by Pietro Sirianni

Created on: April 24, 2009

The significance of the April 15th mock tea party is minimal at best, comedic at times, and mostly a promotional stunt. There is no comparison to, or parallel between this recent gathering and the original Boston Tea Party of 1773. One event led to the forming of an independent nation, the other led to the splintering of a political party. The original Tea Party was a movement by the colonies against the British Crown ignited by taxation without representation. This recent gathering could not have been about taxation because taxes have not gone up, and every citizen is represented by an elected official. Instead this recent gathering was about a group of people threatened by a change in the status-quo. Our recent tea party's 1773 parallel would have been the English Crown protesting the changes in the colonies.

Throughout history there are some groups of people that can not tolerate or accept change. The south could not accept the "Emancipation Proclamation" which led to civil war in America. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban could not accept anything but a radical theocracy and we see the terrible result both in America and the Middle East. Radical right wing republicans can not accept the change that has befallen them in the 2008 presidential election. Fortunately, at present the radical right wing does not have the power to cause the mayhem these other groups have caused. We must be ever vigilant though, for such groups are dangerous.

It is quite simple to see that current United States president Barack Obama represents a change in America. The "good old boys" network which hid under the name of conservative has been unseated. As a result all of those who profited from the old ways and those who merely believed the propaganda surrounding it, are left without the power and wealth the had become accustomed to. Those who simply believed conservative propaganda are now the most angry, they have nothing. Their leaders became wealthy then abandoned them. Fearful, alone, and disenchanted these simple followers flailed wildly at their perceived enemy; president Obama. The sad fact of the matter is that their own leaders betrayed them!

The Boston Tea Party was a great moment in American history. Thirteen colonies stood up to an oppressive monarchy and in time won their independence. These modern gatherings have absolutely nothing in common with the original. A group of angry radicals abandoned by their leaders take to the streets with signs ranging in content from taxes, to gay marriage, to abortion, to immigration. What drives these people the most though is the fear of change.

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