This is where you are mistaken...the American revolution was NOT done by 99 percent of the population, in fact... in the beginning throws of the whole revolution the majority of the population didn't care or thought those that were wanting revolution were troublemakers making things worse for everyone. Even after the revolutionary war there were alot of people who didn't want to be a part of the united states...most of them moving to canada...which...started the war of 1812 when the US invaded canada.  Yes, the revolutionary war WAS not a gloruis war of good versus evil.  But then no war is.  The catalysts that started the moving towards seperation at first did not even want to leave the british empire...just to have the governing body change its policy...by the time the colonies decided AS A WHOLE to secede...the revolutionary war was already being fought and had been being fought for years.  It was a close thing that the colonies decided upon the venture they went on...mainly through the labors of thomas jefferson, ben franklin and john adams amoung others.  You say hard times is bitching about gas prices going up 20 cents...hard times was the tea tax amoung other things.  WHICH was really big business strangling the economy of the colonies.  No different than the oil companies or energy companies WHICH are part of our lovely government.  The parrallels are there...you don't even have to try real hard to see them.  The difference is the catalysts we had then as compared to now.  Look at the boston massacre, the boston tea party, and various other items branded in the history of the revolution...Those individuals then as they would now were considered troublemakers and now they would have been branded terrorists.  You can go on and on about the various things within our country within the past 10 years that ae jsut horrific by any standards..enron, haliburton, iraq, patriot act, tyco...the list goes on and on and on...all of which DIRECTLY affects us...but as stated in the declaration people are willing to suffer these evils...why? because people are inherently lazy...the extremists are what evict change...and if the people within america delay forceful action to illicit change within their government, there are those outside that WILL make that change for them...and not necessarily for the better.  It is a far better thing that WE make that change.  I just love how dismissive people can get about things of this nature.  The internet would be a parrellel to the newspapers of the time which some of the catalysts used as a medium to get the word out..in this day and age the press cannot be trusted to even print anti-government things for fear of repurcussions...anyhow it is not the rich that will revolt...as always it will be the poor and oppressed...jsut hope it doesn't go like most of the revolutions of this century with the various genocides that tend to take place...