"That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security."

I'm reading a dispatch [Link] from the uprising in the Mexican state of Oaxaca (pronounced "wah-hock-ah") and remember these rarely-invoked words from our own Declaration of Independence. It's almost unreal, that a simple teacher's strike would turn into something much more perilous - and hopeful - but then again, the seeds of revolt are never sown evenly nor watered predictably.

Oaxaca, one of the coolest-named states in Mexico, is also one of the poorest. Sharing the neglected and impoverished south of the country with Chiapas, home of the EZLN and 1994's insurrection and land reclamation, Oaxaca has had a radical tradition in both its impoverished and its middle-class.

The article is much more detailed so I won't go into most of it here and just suggest you go and read all about the adventure yourself.

The really fascinating thing going on here, what separates this strike from others, is that an Assembly of the People of Oaxaca, Asemblea Popular del Pueblo de Oaxaca (APPO), has been formed and now claims sovereignty over the entirety of the state. Originally designed for the sole purpose of crafting the teachers' union's demands, it quickly became an open, public, popular assembly. Such a situation is generally called a state of "dual power," and with it throws out serious questions as to the future of the people and governing structures in Oaxaca.

The federal government's response will likely hinge on the final resolution of the Presidential election (which will come September 6); Felipe Calderon would likely bring the full weight of the Mexican army to bear on the region, as was done in 1994 in Chiapas.

It will be interesting to see what happens: people don't start revolutions on whims. It remains to be seen if government officials and the citizens of Oaxaca come to some agreement, or if negotiations will take place through the barrel of an army gun.