Grassroots Evolution

I have had the coolest idea!  It's an idea about the evolution of grassroots movements and where I think they will go next.  There's been lots of talk these last few years about grassroots organizations, y'know?  Groups of regular citizens gathering together for some political purpose or another - even if it's just to rant.  Heck, I like to rant!  It's not very productive, but it can be fun.  (More on the productive stuff in a minute.)

I got involved in the Tea Party spirit myself and participated in both of the Tax Day protests held so far in my hometown.  I even got to speak for about ten minutes at one of them about my experiences overseas as an American and what it meant for me to come home to this land I love so well.  I made a couple of signs with my bud Travis and we had some good times.  I am pleased to say that the protests were gloriously un-lead.  Nobody was in charge.  The guys who had bullhorns passed them around and we all had some fun doing that crazy American thing that would get you beat up, thrown in jail, or killed in most other countries.  Saying whatever the heck we wanted to.  Sweet!

As fun as it was, both times, I've been thinking lately that a volume of folks standing up and saying that they feel totally ignored by their would-be lords and masters in Washington isn't really going to change things long-term.  Oh sure, it's had an impact, even a national one all told, but I've been thinking about root causes of the problems.  (I'm a geek.  I do that.)

So what do I think is the root cause of the voter angst and the mess in Washington?

The kinds of politicians we have, that's what.  Politics seems to (on the main) attract a rather low, base, and ill-mannered type of human being.  I can't tell you how often I've looked at candidates on a ballot and said to myself, "All of these clowns suck!  Is this the best we've got?"  Of course, the answer to that retorical question is, "No."  No, politicians who ooze up a tentacle and wave it around in order to be selected for the job are not the best we've got.  It's more like they are the worst that we've got.  That's because everyone better is off doing things that actually matter to them - and those things are not telling other people what to do and spending other people's money.

I had the coolest idea today about how to fix Washington and our country long-term!  It doesn't involve changing the laws or the constitution one iota.  It doesn't involve education or changing the way anyone thinks, either.  Nope.  All we need to do to make our country's leadership listen to the people is: Get better leaders!

All this talk about "change" (on both sides of the aisle) is really missing the point.  Our government has worked great through a whole bunch of upheavals both domestic and foreign (and anyone who thinks that our time is somehow more challenging or the worst ever needs to study a just a tiny, titchy bit of history).  The problem isn't our government or our laws - the problem is that our leaders are some of the worst suck-weasels to ever drag themselves out of a hog-rending plant!  This isn't just my personal feeling either: The folks in Congress (pick a house, pick a party) have abysmal approval ratings and have had them for a long time.

What we need to do is not let some fellow who is so-slick-you'd-think-a-cat-licked-him volunteer to be our next Congress-critter.  No, those days have got to go - because clearly that process doesn't work very well, very often.  What we need to do are find people who are honest, trustworthy, upstanding members of our community and then campaign for them.  Not to be elected - that comes later.  No, I think grassroots organizations will form around people who really would rather not be involved in politics and then beg them to go ahead and do it.  We'll petition our friends and neighbors!  We'll hold fundraisers!  And then we will approach these fine people and ask them on behalf of all those who have signed our petition to please, please, please represent us.

They won't want to, of course.  What normal, sane, rational person would?  These folks will have their own businesses to run, families they don't want to leave behind, or perhaps crops that need to be raised.  But when they see the grassroots support they have and feel how much people need them to actually represent them they will do it.  But they'll promise that they won't do it again!  And that's good - because the longer they stay the more likely it will be that they will transform into they kind of representative that doesn't represent us.  You know, like what we mostly have right now...

Is it hopelessly idealistic?  Yes.  Is it stupidly simplistic?  Yup.  Does it completely ignore electability analysis and all common wisdom?  You bet.  Am I going to get flamed for making such a dumb suggestion?  Most likely.  But I still think that this model of representative selection is the one that has worked the best in the past.  And as Patrick Henry said, "I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience.  I know no way of judging of the future but by the past."  What a man!  (And he wasn't a career politician either - he was a lawyer, businessman, and farmer.)

I have no idea how to get this kind of ball rolling, but the idea fascinates me.  Heck, I haven't even got someone in mind to rally around and encourage.  But I'd like to figure this out.  And I'd like to find the people who would take the American "can-do" attitude that has built up businesses, industries, and communities and take it with them into the halls of power.  It'd be a hoot to watch 'em go!

If anyone else has any idea about what we would need to do to organize something like this, get in touch with me and let's do this.  I'm going to be researching it myself and I'll let you know what I find out.  It's only natural evolution, after all!