In order to successfully take back or government, we first have to turn our own views of politics upside down. Most of us get involved in the Tea Party movement, and politics in general, because we are animated by the issues of the day. To make this Tea Party movement work, and to broaden its appeal so it includes all Americans who demand change regardless of ideology, we must set aside the hot topics and concentrate on the fundamental issues which don't grab the headlines.
In a previous article (1), I have put forth the view that distinctions between left and right have become meaningless. The true division in our society is between the Robbers and the Robbed. The Robbers love to use the hot topics to keep us divided. We must resist that urge to help them divide us and conquer us by agreeing to disagree, if necessary, on the issues which mean the most to us.
One such hot topic is immigration. Many conservatives are deeply concerned about border security and the loss of jobs to people who are here illegally, while the libertarians and progressives among us generally prefer a more open border policy and desire to make it easier for new immigrants to settle here and become citizens.
Another of these issues is health care. Those of us on the left agitate for "single-payer" plans and more government attention to the issue, while most of us on the right say increasing government's role in health care will only lead to disaster.
In Grand Rapids (2), recently we witnessed competing demonstrations between groups supporting or opposed to a single-payer health care plan. The Robbers love this kind of news. While good people on both sides are putting their energies into arguing with each other over one issue, the Robbers can continue to oppress us on all issues without us putting up a fight.
If we spend our time arguing with each other over immigration, health care, or similar issues which dominate the news, we will never get anywhere. Even when it is a top issue for us, we need to be willing to set it aside in favor of those fundamental issues which will allow us to return to these debates in a sensible manner.
The first understanding which brings us together is simply the recognition that our system of government is broken. Regardless of our position on the political spectrum, we all can see just how far we have strayed from the Constitutional principles which made our Republic strong. In order to address any single issue, we first have to fix our system of government and, as Jefferson stated so well, bind it again to the chains of the Constitution.
This is why Free and Equal is recruiting speakers from the widest possible variety of viewpoints. We all have of grievances that need to be redressed, but considering where we all reside on the political spectrum, we express them differently, use different examples or points of emphasis, and often propose different solutions. Our goal is to get past any disagreement on labels or specific issues and start the conversation that will unite us, so we can fix this broken system together.
Much work has gone into expressing the ReTeaParty statement of principles (3). We have vetted them several times with many people all across the political spectrum in order to present them with the broadest possible appeal.
We can all agree that bailouts, rising national debt, and corporate welfare are destroying our economy. Everyone wants our government to be transparent and accessible to the people. We all want our freedom, and we understand that defending it starts with establishing our right to privacy from the prying eyes and ears of Big Brother.
Ultimately, all across the political spectrum you will find the growing understanding that the Constitution expresses the kind of government that will work for us much better than the corporatism we endure today.
We're serious in our call to Re-Declare our Independence (4) that we welcome "any and all groups and individuals dissatisfied with the current governance of the United States, regardless of ideology, partisan identity, or political affiliation."
Taking partisan stands on issues such as immigration or health care, or anything else that sets us up to remain warring factions, only serves the Robbers. What will work for us is to take non-partisan stands on fundamental principles which unite all Americans.
If we continue to play their partisan game, while we squabble with each other we face the very real possibility that the entire system will collapse. All the partisan issues become quite meaningless when people are struggling simply to feed their families and survive.
Before we can have any hope of reasonably working to our differences on single issues, we have to fight just to have a stable government that allows us to peacefully resolve these differences. We have to restore a sustainable and moral economy that supports our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
That is why the Tea Party movement is most successful when we stick to the fundamental issues of reform. Once we again become secure in a system which supports our lives, our liberties, and our pursuit of happiness however we define it, only then will it become possible for us to revisit the hot topics with the ability to actually resolve them in a way which is positive for all Americans.
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links:
(1) http://www.reteaparty.com/2009/04/17/what-tea-parties-are-and-are-not/
(2) http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/05/both_sides_demonstrate_in_gran.html
(3) http://www.reteaparty.com/principles/
(4) http://www.reteaparty.com/2009/04/28/the-tea-party-movement/
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