From razor-wire topped fences surrounding the U.S. Capitol complex to the government mandated shutdown of selective local businesses, we definitely live in strange and uncertain times.
Like it or not, this is a seminal time in American history. You can either watch America’s freedoms quickly slip away, or you can join forces and fight back to restore government by and for the people.
Despite the lessons learned by our predecessors, the perennial question is always "What can we do?" Yes, the situation may be daunting, but the means to reverse it are time tested and true.
Start local. Get interested. Get involved.
Only through local involvement can you have a direct and measurable impact on the community and state in which you live. The days of deferring responsibility and remaining anonymous are long gone. Ditch the reluctance to speak up. The time to strategize and fight back is now.
Make it personal.
Do your research and take an in-depth look at the city and county governments that service your community. Look at their structure, tax base, and the quality of services they provide. Question everything.
Study the elected offices, public schools, commissions, departments, and court systems. You pay for them with your hard-earned tax dollars. It’s time to make sure every cent you contribute counts. Pay particular attention to what’s happening and who’s doing what.
Research those in charge: their records, their actions, and their backers and influencers. Make special note of who’s violating your rights, shirking their duties, gaming the system, or circumventing established protocols.
Then, think about your strengths, available resources, time limitations, as well as the eroding liberties and issues that concern you the most. From ensuring your vote counts in fair and honest elections to questioning why the crumbling roadways in your neighborhood are never repaired, there is always an issue that irks you. Find one that you can address and work to correct.
Next, get off the couch. Stop watching and listening to the propagandist mainstream "news" media. Draft a simple and realistic plan of action where you can make an impact and be the catalyst for positive change. Remember, there is strength in numbers. Hope is never lost when each and every one of us refuses to fail.
Have a goal and a role.
Know what you want to accomplish and why. Put your expertise to work by being strategic. Are you an IT whiz, an expert communicator, a hands-on organizer, natural influencer, or a teacher and mentor?
Whatever your talent or skill, put your expertise and connections to work. Choose to be a leader. The options for influence and action are many:
- Get to know your local city and county elected officials. Communicate with them regularly.
- Attend government agency and political party meetings. Go in numbers. (Believe me. You’ll make an impact.)
- Get yourself elected into leadership roles and on policy committees. Urge your friends and neighbors to do the same.
- Run for the school board to offset the alternative history 1619 Project curriculum, white privilege intimidation, and "cancel culture."
- Support local business and political party leaders who have moral fortitude and integrity–those who’ll carry your ideals into state offices, such as secretary of state, state auditor, county commissioner, health director, and prosecuting attorney.
- Expand your reach. Write, call, and email your state legislators to pass laws that restore or protect our God-given constitutional liberties.
- Promote the Convention of States Project as the rational and constitutional means to restore power to the people through term limits for elected officials, federal fiscal restraint, and curbs on federal power and overreach.
Never stop learning.
Become a student of the Constitution. Learn what it’s all about. Know your God-given rights and when to defend them. A good place to start is at COS University, which offers numerous courses, including Constitutional Literacy and Responding to Opposition.
Additionally, the COS Resources Center search function provides access to a host of articles on timely constitutional and social issues written by experts and scholars.
As noted in last week’s blog, the lessons learned from the 2020 election are many. And yet, one message predominates: only grassroots activism can change the current trajectory of our nation.
In your community, be the person who spurs positive change by getting involved. Have a cause and a plan. Become the citizen activist that supports and promotes the Convention of States Project and help us restore power to the people. The time to save our republic and the American way of life is now.
Guest Contributor
Convention of States Missouri Team
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