Sunday, January 3, 2010

Specific Steps YOU Can Take to Promote Liberty, Free Markets, and Individual Rights

Folks who are rightfully frustrated with the direction of our country today frequently ask "What can I do to help change things for the better?" The purpose of this blog post is to keep you energized in our fight for liberty and individual rights, and to suggest some specific steps you can take that will help promote our principles:

* Become active in your local tea party movement -- the largest grassroots movement for liberty in our lifetimes! We will win some battles (as the defeat of spendaholic Governor Corzine at the polls last year shows); we will lose some battles. But no matter what, we must keep vocally advocating liberty!!!

* Get your pro-liberty Facebook friends to join the group page for the North New Jersey Tea Party Group!!! With over 1,800 members, we are the largest New Jersey-based tea party group on Facebook in terms of members. Let's shoot for 2,000... 5,000... 10,000!!! This group will remain active in spreading the word about and sponsoring pro-liberty events, particularly in New Jersey. It takes very little time to invite some of your Facebook friends to join our group -- do your part for liberty by sending out invitations today!!!

North New Jersey Tea Party Group's Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=172402990061

* And of course, you can become active in more than one tea party organization. Some additional tea party groups located in New Jersey can be found under the heading "Find Your Local Organizer Here" on the website for New Jersey Tea Parties United:

http://www.njteapartiesunited.org/

* Write letters to the editor. You can send the same letter to multiple publications, to cut down on the amount of work it takes. Some newspapers in New Jersey that you can write include:

(1) Newark Star-Ledger: eletters@starledger.com
(2) Bergen County Record: letterstotheeditor@northjersey.com
(3) Morris County Daily Record: letters@dailyrecord.com
(4) North Jersey Herald News: hnletters@northjersey.com

Also, some great tips on writing effective letters to the editor can be found at:

http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?id=11070

* Donate your money -- whatever you are comfortable sending -- to politicians that share your principles as regards less taxation, less spending, and less government control over our lives. Doing so in competitive districts -- even those that aren't your own -- can be incredibly helpful to candidates.

* One of the very most important -- and effective! -- things you can do is to discuss the issues you care about with your friends and family. For every one person attending a tea party, or marching on D.C., there are ten -- 100 -- 1,000 Americans who may not be there in person but who are there in spirit. Encourage these folks to become more active in the tea party movement -- some will, some won't. But even those that won't, are still more likely to vote against harmful politicians due to your efforts. Remember: being politically active means that you may not directly see the enormous beneficial effect you have on others. How many thousands of individuals in New Jersey voted against the taxaholic Corzine in part because of the pro-liberty enthusiasm of folks like YOU??? PLENTY!!!

* A final suggestion: if you have not yet read the novel "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand, pick up a copy for yourself and read it ASAP! The mass-market paperback version can be bought for less than $10 (excluding shipping) at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191145/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0

And of course, you can also read it for free by checking a copy out of your local library!

– Mark Kalinowski
North New Jersey Tea Party Group
Liberty, Free Markets, and Individual Rights

By the way, I encourage ALL liberty-minded folks to “friend me” on Facebook,

and also to join the official Facebook page for the North New Jersey Tea Party Group

For folks not on Facebook, please add your name to our e-mail distribution list by contacting us at nnjteaparty@gmail.com

5 comments:

  1. All great suggestions Mark.

    I believe that our concerted actions over the next two election cycles can result in a significant change in the direction of this country. I support Mark's recommendations and ask that everyone contribute their time, energy and money to the cause of liberty over the next few years. Consider it the best investment you can make in your future.

    I also second Marks suggestion that you read or reread Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, which dramatizes exactly what is happening to our country - and explains why. If we fight against the current policies of this administration, but only offer up a loose set of arbitrary alternatives, then all of our efforts will ultimately be in vain and we will soon be back to this same point, having to fight the battle over again.

    However, if we articulate an integrated philosophy grounded in the principles of individual rights, liberty and a true constitutionally limited government, then our actions will form the foundation of a Second American Revolution, upon which we can restructure our country, and once again become the shining beacon of freedom, both political and economic, that is envied throughout the world. Atlas Shrugged articulates these principles and is an important and inspirational guide to our future - if we choose to seize it!

    In Liberty,
    --
    C. Jeffery Small
    jeff@go-galt.org
    http://go-galt.org/Galt_Pledge/

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  2. This country did not get in this state in the last two election cycles, and winning two more will help, but not cure the problem. The problem is that while we conservatives are working and living our lives, hoping that our elected officials will do the right thing, they have enriched themseleves, their friends and created a dependant voter class. (40% of people don't pay federal income taxes). While COngreesional approval is at all time low, Congress members get reelected at a 94% rate. The ENTIRE SYSTEM MUST BE CHANGED!!! Check out www.ICaucus.org for a system to find and support candidates.

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  3. Louis:

    The problem you mention could be addressed with a constitutional amendment limiting all people in Congress to a maximum of two terms.

    Regards;
    --
    Jeff

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  4. I agree with all of the earlier comments, but I would add that the Constitution provided for a very limited government because the Founders understood that a government with more power invited special interests to fight one another for that power and to use it tyrannically over the People. The People are then forced to join in the fight for power to protect themselves, but what many of them really want is just to go about their own productive lives and enjoying their family and friends. An overly powerful government robs us of this choice.

    Our Constitution was meant to protect us from this fight for power and from being its victims, but that only works if most of us understand and believe in the limited government of the Constitution. Please study the Constitution and read what the early Americans believed it to mean. Without this understanding of American history, we are much less well armed for the fight to convince our fellow Americans that the principle of limited government is the only means to secure the rights of the individual to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We must be again free to choose our own values and then to manage our life in accordance with our own values. The overgrown governments of today do not allow this.

    I would also urge you to understand the importance of the 10th Amendment as a protection of many of our rights which the Founding Fathers did not feature, since they could not imagine many of them would ever be challenged. We have rights to acquire property, to trade with others, to procreate, to form domestic partnerships of our choice, to privacy, to work in our chosen profession, and to provide for our own health care as we choose. These are all negative rights, so we are not guaranteed success in achieving our goals, but we are free to use our best effort to acquire them without using force against others. We need badly to assert these rights under the 10th Amendment if we are ever to regain the full exercise of our individual rights.

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  5. If I may add, one step you missed is to teach your children true American History including the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and about the Founding Fathers. Public Schools are NOT doing this. In fact, quite the contrary. Being a great example and being active in the movement is one thing, but make sure our next generation understands our history and what is happening today and why it is a threat. It is going to take more then a generation to fix this. Look at how many people in our generation are already brain-washed. Vigilance starts at home.

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