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The Daily Signal
Get Involved
Locally. You Might Just Save the Country.
Slade O’Brien
August 02, 2017
While much of the media focuses on lawmakers in Washington clunking
heads and getting little done, the common narrative has been that
change is a pipedream.
But great change is afoot. They just need to look outside Washington to
find it.
At the local and state levels, citizen leaders, armed with a belief in
economic freedom and individual liberty, have experienced historic
successes over the past few years.
They’ve proven, as Alexis de Tocqueville noted nearly two centuries
ago, that the collective force of an enlightened people, awakened to
their interests, “will always be more powerful to produce social
well-being than the authority of government.”
Americans need an alternative to the mainstream media. But this can't
be done alone. Find out more >>
Look around and you’ll find stories of positive change playing out
daily across this great nation, probably right in your own neighborhood.
In New Hampshire, grassroots leaders ushered in lower taxes, making it
easier for businesses to flourish. In Arizona, activists made it
possible for thousands of students and their families to choose schools
that best cultivate their unique talents.
And in Ohio, they demanded lawmakers spend tax dollars more
responsibly, spurring the House to successfully override the governor’s
veto of the Healthy Ohio Program.
The momentum is encouraging. But in our system, government goes to
those who show up. The fight for freedom requires constant vigilance.
And right now, our nation is at a crossroads.
In a poll last year, 51 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said they did
not support capitalism—a troubling statistic, and surprising when you
consider how warmly they embrace the fruits of capitalism: iPhones,
Starbucks, Uber, and Amazon, to name a few.
I suspect what they actually reject is crony capitalism and Wall Street
bailouts, whereby special interests benefit from an overgrown
government capable of granting favors to the well-connected few at the
expense of hardworking Americans.
I reject that too.
Greater economic freedom and individual liberty are the best weapons
with which to fight back. And when this point is effectively
communicated to local communities, states, and all Americans, great
things can happen.
Consider Davenport, Iowa, where grassroots leaders persuaded the
community to come together and challenge the city’s onerous zoning laws.
Without their efforts, local government would have shut down Timothy’s
House of Hope, an outreach organization committed to “helping the
hungry, hurting and homeless one need at a time.” Today, the shelter is
open and continues to serve the most vulnerable in that community.
Or look to Mississippi, where grassroots leaders helped their friends
and neighbors to understand how occupational licensing requirements
were limiting opportunity for thousands of low- and middle-income
workers.
The Magnolia State was once among the more excessively licensed states
in the country, according to the Institute for Justice. To become a
landscape contractor there required more than two years of education
and experience.
But as people grew to realize the cost of these restrictions, things
began to change. Today, Mississippi leads the nation in occupational
licensing reform, and thousands more can now enter the workforce and
improve their lives.
And so much more can be done.
These days, Americans are paying greater attention to the political
process and getting increasingly frustrated. So many yell at the
nightly news, then throw their hands up in the air, and do nothing.
It’s not laziness or a shirking of civic responsibility. Often, they
just have no clue how or where to begin.
We need effective grassroots leaders who understand the vision of a
free society to step up, and show like-minded friends and neighbors how
to channel their frustration into productive action.
It’s going to take thousands of local leaders to grow a movement of
millions. Are you ready to lead?
Now is a great time to start a dialogue in your community about
economic freedom, individual liberty, and limited government.
Ben Franklin once said, “one man of tolerable abilities may work great
changes.” Don’t sell yourself short. Get involved. You just might save
the country.
Read this and other articles at The Daily Signal
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