Most Americans think Sam Adams was a dedicated brew master, while he was a “malter” (yet not a very good one), students of history get goosebumps thinking about his legacy.
Thomas Jefferson called him “truly the Man of the Revolution.”
And that, he was.
While other Founding Fathers slowly evolved into men willing to lead others to Liberty, Sam Adams was likely born a radical.
Adams’ father, a Deacon and businessman, was involved in early politics that set a straight and narrow path toward revolution.
Born in Boston, Sam Adams attended Harvard, closing with his thesis on lawful resistance.
Adams put his thesis to the test when he became a Boston tax collector in 1756. Within 9 years, the town was on the verge of bankruptcy, as Adams rarely bothered to collect taxes.
As Adams was slowing the flow of money to Britain, he was becoming what loyalists called him a, “master of propaganda” who controlled Boston with angry mobs.
He eventually led the Boston Tea Party and called for the gathering that led to the First Continental Congress. He was also the man who nominated George Washington to lead our first Army.
Today, our federal government would likely consider Sam Adams a threat to national security and label him a domestic terrorist while the liberal media would absurdly brand him as a “white nationalist”.
Over thirty years, Adams worked to education the common man, not the elites. He riled up the public, being loved by the people and deeply hated by those who profited off their cozy relationship with the crown.
In contrast to politicians today, Adams did not exploit his influential position for wealth. Friends often paid for his clothing so he would look halfway presentable while representing Boston in the Continental Congress.
Without question, Samuel Adams was America’s first true patriot.
Today, men like that are ridiculed or worse, locked up by the powers that be.
But they do exist and I know one of them.
You may have heard of Adam Kokesh.
He’s a man that is either loved or hated with few in between.
The 36 year-old is a Marine Corps veteran who served in the Iraq War.
Upon his end of active service, Kokesh took the then unpopular stance to protest the war, but has since been proven to be on the right side of history.
Adam’s bold protests caught the ire of the Marine Corps who downgraded his discharge from Honorable to a General discharge and removed him from the “Individual Ready Reserve” which is a four-year contract obligation Marines agree to as part of a four-year active-duty contract.
Since his protests of the Iraq War, Kokesh deepened his study of Liberty and engaged in a string of protests and education efforts, which led to his repeated arrest.
In 2013, Adam announced the “Open Carry March on Washington” which was planned to be a non-violent demonstration.
Kokesh was nearly alone in the march but filmed a 23-second video of himself in DC loading a shotgun. The streets were bare in early morning video yet the U.S. Parks service investigated.
Note that Kokesh had previously been arrested three times by the Park Service. Twice in DC and once in Philadelphia.
Days after posting the video, a Park Service SWAT team (yes, they have a SWAT team), breached the front door of Kokesh’s residence, lobbed in a flash grenade and handcuffed Kokesh and his roommates.
After a five-hour search, they turned up the shotgun and some mushrooms.
For his string of arrests in 2013, Kokesh received a two-year probation and a suspended sentence for drug and weapons charges.
Since then, Kokesh has turned down his revolutionary rhetoric and ramped up his education efforts.
When I met Adam last July at Freedom Fest in Vegas, I knew of his reputation which is mixed even in the libertarian community. Many feel his civil disobedience is too radical and attention seeking while others can see his true commitment to Liberty.
I saw his commitment. It was undeniable.
Adam told be about his plans to descend upon the city of New Orleans and make it the focus of his education efforts. He had written a small black book titled Freedom! and planned to distribute the book to every home in the city.
It didn’t make sense to me at first, “Why New Orleans?” I asked.
As we were standing in a back dock outside of the noise of the casino, Kokesh explained that New Orleans residents lived through the failures of government with Hurricane Katrina.
As the levies broke due to Army Corps failures, the disorganized government response was to disarm and corral the citizens – if they didn’t drown.
The heavy-handed federal response was to shut down the undamaged charity hospital that wasn’t approved by FEMA, and even prohibit doctors from treating emergency patients who were not “government approved.”
They even stopped efforts to feed victims – going as far as throwing out apples that had been pre-sliced.
Some parishes in Louisiana took the extreme step of barring the federal government from entering their borders – choosing to take care of themselves with the help of Americans around the nation.
After the storm and years later, the government short changed homeowners with their “Road Home” program by paying fair market values (which were paltry) rather than replacement values creating a massive divide that inflamed the low-income community.
Combined that with the city’s decision to demolish low-income housing, it was clear that state, local and federal governments were intent in rebuilding New Orleans, but only for the wealthy.
Kokesh got that, and like Samuel Adams’ work to education the “common man”, he’s doing the same thing and opening the public’s eyes to the real oppression that they face from an all-powerful government.
When Kokesh told me about his New Orleans plans, I thought they were lofty and he was unlikely to carry them out.
But he pulled it off.
This month, over 200,000 copies of the 100-page black book, Freedom!, began arriving in the mail in New Orleans. The cost was a hefty $131,000.
Kokesh followed the arrival of the book by heading to New Orleans himself and stenciling the title of the book in dirty city streets using a pressure washer – basically doing a partial favor to the city by cleaning their streets.
And of course, Kokesh was arrested and locked up for four days. The incident has Kokesh nearing 40 arrests for political activity – many of which you can see on his YouTube page.
Like Sam Adams, Kokesh is not advocating for war, violence, or blood at this time in his career. He’s advocating for Americans to wake up and realize that they are enslaved by governments and their interests to maintain power and wealth.
Today’s “common man” like the pre-revolutionary colonist, are expected to keep their heads down, maintain productivity and continue to provide a stream of tax dollars to maintain their chains in the form of government.
Adam Kokesh is figuratively handing Americans a hacksaw so that they can secure their own freedom without the need to kill the folks holding onto their chains.
His work is just beginning.
You can get Adam’s electronic version of the book, for free, HERE.
