Here in North Carolina--as is the case across the country--there is a surge of new Convention of States volunteers.
Maybe those who truly value our Constitution, our federal republican form of government, and the rule of law are finally ready to get off the sidelines.
But new volunteers must be prepared for the long-term nature of this fight. Perseverance is a key trait.
The election results are clearly driving this increase in interest, as it represented the latest battle in a long-running war between two entirely different worldviews.
One side values our founding era and the idea that our rights come from God, government is constituted to protect those rights, and that our founding documents are based on unchanging basic principles.
Alternatively, the leftist worldview makes government into a god, out of which rights flow. Consequently, there are no absolute moral truths.
This worldview is happy to acquiesce to government control of all aspects of life and saddle our kids with debt. It is focused on equality of results, essentially a Marxist philosophy. It believes the states should be vassals of an all-powerful federal government in direct opposition to the checks and balances provided in the Constitution.
If you believe in the American worldview, then volunteering for COS and engaging in this fight is a positive, non-violent way to change the course of history.
New volunteers might initially be attracted to the COS Project because of the effort to call an Article V convention of states for the purpose of proposing amendments to the Constitution that Congress will never do on their own.
Those amendments would fall into three categories: term limits on federal officials, imposing fiscal restraints, and limiting the power and scope of the federal government. Essentially this is a way to put Congress, the executive branch, and the judiciary back in their constitutional box where they belong.
If we do that, it really matters little who is in office.
But that is a short-term goal within a much broader mission. It is an important part of what a volunteer will do from day one, but it misses the real power of this movement.
That broader mission is to create the largest grassroots army this country has ever seen. That is the long-term, game-changing component. The leftist movement has been working for more than 80 years to organize on the ground. Conservatives? Not so much.
Well after we pass the COS resolution in North Carolina and join the 15 other states who have done so, the grassroots army will need to grow and become more potent as a political force.
That army will help shape the agenda at the convention and work to ratify amendments sent back to the states. But it can do much more.
For instance, work for legislation to prevent the voting process from being compromised. Or prevent legislation that is being proposed by the National Popular Vote organization. If enough states enact this legislation, the intent of the electoral college will be undermined.
It will also be the way to reverse the hold that the leftist movement has on our institutions. How? More ordinary citizens need to run for local school boards, city councils, and county commissions. They can also engage in their communities in other ways, for instance by learning and teaching the Constitution.
We have to restore the culture from the ground up. We have ceded institutions to the leftist worldview, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Defeating the progressive worldview and instilling into our culture the values enshrined in our founding era is the long-term battle that will take perseverance. Join us. We have no choice.
Jeff Groh resides in western North Carolina and is a small business owner. He is also a Regional Captain for the Convention of States Project, a non-partisan effort to rein in the expanding role of the federal government.
