Posted under Politics & Uncategorized
All those who went to Washington D.C. last weekend to protest nationalized health care did they best they could to try and influence the outcome.
However, from now on, I think it’s high time we stop marching on Washington D.C.
We need to march at the state capitol, at city hall and at the county courthouse. Even the local township hall.
The only way nationalized health care and such nationalizations of our economy and culture are going to be beaten is one block at a time.
Then one township, one county, one town. one city, one state.
Going to Washington only reinforces the idea of the imperial capital, the place where all the decisions are made that effect our “puny” lives. It reinforces the idea the masses have to spend every penny to head to the imperial center and then hope their voices will be heard. It reminds one of watching peasants locked outside the castle waiting for the king to see them.
Unfortunately mass protests on Pennsylvania Ave. often time take a back seat to backrooms in the Capitol and the chants of the people drowned out by the opening of briefcases full of money.
The only way we can decentralize is by not playing their game, not by buying into the notion they are oh-so-important or it’s Washington and nothing else matters.
Let others think that by filling the National Mall they somehow are having influence, like so many have done before. One does not need to gather in one central spot anymore to organize or network.
The internet has taken care of that.
Instead, what needs to be stressed, is what one can do right at home.
One of the reasons the orginial “tea parties” were successful last spring was the fact they weren’t held in one spot, they were held in communities all over the country, in places large and small.
Unfortunately there are those within said movement who wish to organize, centralize, and take over, making them conform to their agenda. They want to hold “national conventions” people can’t afford to attend to bask in the spotlight and let everyone know they’re in charge. It’s what they’re good at because it’s what they’ve been doing throughout their careers.
A better strategy, would be instead to find areas of the country one can declare “liberated zones”, free from the healthcare mandate, or Real ID or even the drug war for that matter. Anything one can think of that they can opt out of. Even Social Security or farm subsidies too.
The Free State Project is a good example of this. So is the Second Vermont Republic. The Berkshires in Massachusetts developed its own currency. Maybe the state of Oklahoma, not too enamored of the Feds right now I do believe, could be declared a “liberated zone.”
Declare enough liberated zones and you can create a momentum for freedom and create a rival areas for the centralists to deal with. And a liberated zone can be as small as a city block (a block of Mifflin Street in Madison was one such “liberated zone” during the 1960s for example). it could be your neighborhood, your home, your computer.
Your mind.
Regardless where it is, to create such places and be active in them will do more to loosen the centralist grip (at least from the start) then trying to fight them on the battlefield of their own choosing.
This is not to say don’t support a candidate for Congress who shares such views like a Rand Paul for example. It’s always important to take the battle to where the enemy exists.
But we can’t loose sight of the fact the best chance for success lies where we can best affect the outcome.
Right here at home.
Kirt Higdon on 27 Mar 2010 at 12:28 am #
At a population of about 300,000, the city of Corpus Christi, where I live, is not exactly a small town. But whenever I have had a problem which could be dealt with locally, I have been able to meet or speak on the phone with someone who could fix the problem and I have had substantial concessions made to whatever I was requesting, albeit I didn’t get every single thing I wanted. In contrast, I’ve not been able to talk to any of my so-called representatives in Washington on such matters as the health care bill or the wars or the bank bailouts. At best I get to talk to some college intern or secretary and get no answer whatsoever. Devolution of government to the most local level feasible is the way to go.
Tweets that mention I’m not a marching anymore | Conservative Heritage Times -- Topsy.com on 28 Mar 2010 at 1:09 am #
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by SARTRE. SARTRE said: I’m not a marching anymore http://goo.gl/fb/yfMa [...]