On December 16, 1773, some 150 colonists made up as Mohawk Indians threw tea taken from the British East India Company's ships into Boston Harbor to protest the Crown's taxing tea in America.  Though this act was cheered by at least 45–50% of the colonists at the time, it was most certainly decried as thievery and barbaric by other colonists who supported the Crown and would later be known as Tories.  Even at the start of the war, some 30% of colonists were undecided about which side to support.

The English Parliament responded to the Boston Tea Party, which was the most egregious and "last straw" of general colonial resistance, with the Intolerable Acts.  The British enacted collective punishment against Boston by closing the harbor until it received restitution for the tea.  The Massachusetts Government Act abrogated the colony's charter and empowered the military governor, Gen. Thomas Gage, who immediately banned any town meetings without his personal approval.  The Administration of Justice Act protected British officials charged with capital offenses by allowing them to be tried in England, and, finally, the Act extended forced quartering of British troops in American homes.

Nonetheless, colonial resistance continued, even forcing British troops to remain in camps because the colonials would not modify or repair any of the structures in which they intended to house troops.  The Act also led to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

The January 6, 2021 Capitol incursion has some parallels to 1773's Tea Party.  For example, the preceding rally is likely supported by 40–50% of Americans, though they certainly do not support the tragic deaths from the incursion a mile and a half away.  The rally was a protest over the questionable elections and an opportunity for the right to be heard in a way its members were denied for many years until President Trump was in office — and even then, the media and Big Tech silenced conservative issues and speech.

Keep in mind that, overall, the recent election also demonstrated that many Americans on both sides of the aisle are not okay with the Democrat party's extreme leftward agenda.  Some 30% of Democrats have even indicated that they question the election's integrity.  An independent audit could satisfy almost everyone, but not a single major Democrat voice called for such an audit, which has only exacerbated the issue.  If there was really no foul play, what's the harm in an audit?

Much like the British after the Tea Party, the political left has taken a hard line from the very beginning and continues to do so with its own set of intolerable acts.  The difference is that powerful businesses are implementing these acts alongside the government.  Amazon, Google, and Apple have taken it upon themselves to de-platform social media applications that allow free speech.  Facebook fact-checkers look for any feeble excuse to label a member's free speech as false or misleading.  Joe Biden and the left reportedly plan to gut the Second Amendment and threaten to pack the Supreme Court with left-leaning justices to stifle conservative voices once and for all.  If these and all the other things the left have in mind are not intolerable, I do not know what is.

There is likely another parallel, too.  The original Intolerable Acts spurred the sense of colonial patriotism and helped build the momentum for the 1776 Revolution.  Continued hard-line leftist government and business policies will likely do the same.  Although I don't advocate another revolution — I've been in a civil war, and we do not want that here — I do advocate that the right should take the momentum from Trump's election and further fuel it with the outrage over the modern Intolerables as the engine to power the political action at the polls necessary to replace elected leftists with moderate and conservative representatives.

As for dealing with the business Tories, here are some radical ideas: cancel your Amazon accounts.  Get rid of your iPhone, Android phone, etc.  Delete your Facebook account.  You'll be surprised by how free you feel.  One hundred million conservative and moderate Americans (including moderate Democrats who own guns) who want free speech and fair elections can hit the business Tories where it hurts.  Unlike the politicians, we don't necessarily need to put the modern Tories out of business, either.  Rather, it is much better to have them behave in a politically neutral manner and continue to provide their services to everyone.

Is the right united enough to make such a stand?  Is there a new national leader we can look to?  What about acting locally?  It is up to you.  Now is the time, or "never" could be the outcome.

Image: Boston Tea Party.  Public Domain.