The American republic risks descending into mob rule. There are those among us who seek rule by disruption when they don't get what they want with rule by law. Their goal is to impose their will on society by intimidation, disorder and even violence.

Agitators and activists take to the streets at the slightest provocation, aided, abetted and encouraged by news media hungry for inflammatory video to boost ratings. Demonstrations erupt so often now they have become almost cliché to the point of diminishing impact, spurring protestors to ever more outrageous acts to get public attention.

It's not just in the streets or in the foyer of the Capitol building. Congress itself stages sit-ins on Capitol Hill and endlessly take up chamber time by monopolizing the floor with frivolous, meaningless and futile efforts to derail proceedings not to their liking.

Liberal socialists especially make sophisticated and effective use of social media and technology to incite, organize and execute mass gatherings. Idealistic young people are especially adept at these methods and embrace the leftist ideology as a noble cause, unaware or uncaring of practical realities.

The leftist protestors are no longer satisfied with just making their displeasure known, but increasingly believe rioting in the streets, blocking roads, and burning neighborhoods is just fine — and the police seem to be allowing it.

There's a term for what's been going on in America. The Greeks made up the word long ago: Ochlocracy,

the rule of government by mob or a mass of people, or, the intimidation of legitimate authorities. It's also called "mobocracy" from the Latin term mobile vulgus, which translates as "the fickle crowd."

Mass protests hold a time-honored position in American history, going back to the colonists who rebelled against oppression by a far-away king, breaking away to form a new nation. I have great admiration for those original colonists, for their hatred of oppression, for their independent spirit, for their courage against all odds to stand up to the most powerful nation in the world at that time in their fight for freedom, earning their title of "Sons of Liberty."

They believed so fervently in the right to speak up against what they perceived to be misuse of power by any governing body that they incorporated protection for it in the Constitution of the new nation. The First Amendment declares that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The violent rabble taking to the streets these days to protest cannot claim to be heirs to the cherished title of "Sons of Liberty." They wreak mayhem in the name of freedom of speech yet shout down those who disagree with them. They rail against oppression yet scream for more government. They demand more freedom yet call for more socialism.

NOTE

James Madison (primary author of the Constitution) in Federalist 10 wrote:

"Complaints are everywhere heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens, equally the friends of public and private faith, and of public and personal liberty, that our governments are too unstable, that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority."

While Madison was justifying use of the Electoral College to be the best method for enabling represention of viewpoints from all congressional districts of the USA, he and the other Founders had experienced "Pure Democracy" and knew (like the Greeks) that Pure Democracy leads to Majority Rule which is synonymous with Mob Rule. But, if Mob Rule escalates to RULE-BY-THREAT-AND-INTIMIDATION, then we have a system like Nazism, the CCP, or the Soviet Union where you are executed after a Show Trial.

Conservatives and libertarians are losing the battle because political discourse is drowned out. Dissenting voices within the party have become more strident and insistent, erupting into the mayhem common to Democrats.

The descent of America into mob rule will only get worse as divisive and opposing political dogmas harden into immoveable concrete ramparts.

Is it time for conservatives and libertarians to adopt the mob rule tactics of the left? Should those who believe in limited government, sound fiscal policy, and individual freedom take to the streets to oppose leftist goons and establishment hacks alike?

It is certainly tempting to follow Newton's Law and create an equal and opposite reaction to the forces opposing liberty. But the nature of that reaction should not be violence in the streets. Mob rule is not the answer to the considerable ills of a divided nation.

To begin with, once a person becomes part of a mob, that person ceases to function as a thinking, rational being and becomes a mindless organism chanting passionate simple-minded slogans. People caught up in the fever of a boisterous mob are no longer individual humans, but are reduced to being soldier ants controlled by the group-think colony, and group-think is anathema to liberty.

There is a place in our system for orderly dissent through mass demonstrations. It was with good reason that the nation's founders chose to protect the right of peaceable assembly. But there is no place for lawless abuse of that right.

There are effective ways for conservatives to champion the cause of liberty and reason without burning down the barn. The Tea Party revolt that erupted after Barack Obama took up residence in the White House created a template that can be used as a guide for the resurgence of a resistance movement to the advancing mobs of socialists.

The Tea Party, more a generalized movement than an actual organized political party, grew from grassroots anger over government encroachments on personal liberties. Tea Party activists demonstrated in the streets — peacefully — and made their presence known at town hall meetings hosted by political leaders. They mobilized action to win at the voting booth, getting conservative-minded politicians elected to municipal, state, and national offices and gaining influence in state and national legislatures.

The Tea Party movement was stolen away by establishment GOP activists, and never had a single point of focus and tended to be fragmented in its efforts, which eventually diluted its impact. But the movement established a tactical path that worked and could work again with new energy behind it.

We can expect redoubled assaults on liberty from the liberals, still stinging from their humiliating loss last November. Rest assured they will not be caught with their collective pants down again and are even now mobilizing and strategizing their battle plans for all future elections and legislative confrontations.

I believe it is urgent to revive a Neo-Tea Party movement or something by a different name with the same purpose to restore common sense and respect for individual liberty to our government and society. The gains made by the original movement will fast be eroded by the liberal onslaught if conservatives sit complacent and uninvolved.

Just as the original Tea Party movement swelled spontaneously from grassroots outrage, so can a revival emerge from the energy of hundreds of thousands of conservatives across the country who are mad as hell and won't take it anymore. Donald Trump tapped into that seething cauldron of energy to win the election (to what end remains to be seen).

The revival, I believe, starts with you and me. We must individually on our own take the initiative to carry the banner of conservative resistance against the socialist cancer. Here are some things we can do to aid the resistance.

Communicate. Prepare with like-minded folks in your area. Write letters to the editor supporting your positions. Make use of social media's political discussion groups.

• Start local. Attend town halls, city council meetings, school board and PTA meetings, and any public forums where conservative ideas should be made known. Beware that bureaucrats and those who profit off of the welfare state will try and shout you down.
• Gather intel. Pay close attention to what anarchists are saying, writing, and doing. It is more comfortable to socialize and commune only with those who think the same as you, but that does not inform us of the inner workings of the enemy mind. Without rancor, converse with liberals to understand how they think, why they think that way, and what they intend to do about it. In the military, they call this gathering intelligence.
• Protest. Take to the streets with a libertarian or conservative message, but do not allow the passions of the moment to blind you to rule of law.
• By all means, vote if you want your candidate chosen. Despite objections from the mobs, we still choose our leaders in the voting booth, not with a torch in the streets.

A distinguishing quality of a true grassroots movement is that it arises of its own volition from the collective will of many individuals that reaches critical mass and coalesces into a force to be reckoned with. That means it begins with individual effort from you and from me and becomes a legitimate power when there are enough of us taking action to make the power felt where it counts.