Here in New Hampshire we’ve been at what Erik Erikson at Red State calls Tea Party 2.0 since day one. Not a week goes by when the message from any one of the dozens of groups around the state who support the anti-tax rallies that define the Tea Party Movement is to get involved. Learn something, join a group that shares your interests, and take action. Support candidates, change the direction of your local GOP group, communicate, invigorate and activate. Grab a weapon, and stand a post.
But there is this underlying concern that the Tea Party rallies are not trying to hard enough to drive actual grass roots activism with a purpose and a goal. That after the concert is over, people remember the lyrics but have no functional way to apply them. And it’s not an unreasonable concern.
Sure, a rally is a great thing, and there are plenty of them to go around. They remind us that we are not the only ones who feel the way we do; that there are others who see the need for action and a new direction. But you can’t just show up at anti-tax rallies and expect the government to back off. You know you need to do more. But maybe you are still not sure how or where to start. And that concerns some people.
You start by talking to people at these gatherings. They can show you how to work locally whether you have five minutes a week or all week. There is a way for you to contribute. And they can show you how to make contributions that matter. This is as much about standing up to taxes and spending as it is changing the process that got us where we are. That may require you at some point to get out of your comfort zone. But there is plenty you can do along the way. You can read and comment on blogs or even start one yourself. Write letters to the editor of your local paper, read bills and get familiar with how New Hampshire’s General Court does and reports its business. You can learn to testify on legislation, engage your representatives locally and nationally, hold signs, do lit drops, and above all else educate yourself and your family about your state and federal constitutions.
You also have to learn about how the oppostion works, and how to use that to your advantage. But lets start by keeping it simple.
The left would have you believe that whatever policy it is of theirs you object to your objection is based on hate, or fear, or anger, or ignorance. That’s their beginning and end. You are dumb, and mean spritied, and selfish, and greedy. But you know the truth as it applies to you so do not beleive the lies they tell about others.
As this applies to the tea party movement use basic common snese. Taxes are someone else’s property. Every tax, no matter where applied, to no matter what purpose, denies someone of their legal property. And that tax affects everyone in one way or another, inevitably hitting the pocketbooks of everyday Americans. So do not believe the lies of the left. Tax cuts are robberies not committed not privileges granted. And taxing the rich, or big business, or tobacco, or energy, or anything that suits their fancy, is a tax you will inevitably pay, in higher prices, fewer choices, lower employment, and depressed wages; almost always for useless spending that is outside their authority, and that has well exceeded your ability to pay it.
But you have the power to stop the bloodletting of your tax dollars. It is within your power. This is your government. But you can no longer sit by and hope that someone else will change it for you. So you can’t just go to rallies. You can’t just yell at your television or complain about it at the water cooler. You can’t just scream at the darkness. You have to be willing to light a candle.
And you also have to understand that the grow government liberals will do anything to snuff that candle out. They do not want you questioning their government. And they will smear you, lie to you, intimidate you, even frighten you, to keep you away. They do not want you to carry that light.
Not to worry though. There is strength in knowledge and numbers. If your candle goes out you can learn to relight it yourself. Until you learn how to do that, you can have someone close to you re-light it for you. That’s where the rallies come in. They help you keep the candle lit. You leave that rally or that meeting, and you take some ifnormation or an idea, and you learn to share that light with someone else. That’s what the Tea Party movement is about. Sharing the light of liberty. Helping people fight back the darkness of creeping tyranny one person at a time.
So no matter how desperate the left gets, the more of us there are the harder it is to put all those lights out. And as long as one still burns–somewhere in the darkness–we can relight them all again.
The idea of American exceptionalism is the movement. Knowledge and experience are the weapons. The desire for Liberty and freedom are the delivery vehicles. Now go out and light a candle.
Cross Posted From NH Insider
