Our country is like a mighty tree, it grows from the Bottom Up. Stop that flow and what made our country great stops flowing and the tree dies.
People accepting the responsibility of Individual Freedom are those juices. But it’s hard.
If you ever were in a spot and couldn't afford or justify buying something or paying somebody to fix something and decided to do it yourself then you know the meaning of the term; "Trading Time for Money".
Painting ones house comes to mind. Anytime we trade “time for money” we not only learn how hard it is, but we also learn a lot about the real world. In this example we have a new appreciation of painters. The shining truth in my book however is the knowledge we learn about ourselves. Granted we may learn that we don’t want to quit our day job to paint houses, but I find an inner joy in learning what I am capable of in a pinch to take care of myself.
In other words when I exercise my individual freedom, I feel more confident in myself.
Getting around to the point of this blog, I saw the link below about a $35,800 a plate fundraiser for Obama to be put on by Warren Buffett.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-warrent-buffett-to-host-fundraiser-for-obama-in-chicago-20110921,0,2294.story
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Then I tried to imagine what I’d do in the political arena from the “Bottom Up” with that kind of money. I started drooling about all the things I could do with that money. I thought of huge rallies with guest speakers and great music and food. I would put this on for free to the public.
But if you read what I just wrote count the number of I’s in that paragraph. It sounded like an Obama speech. It also goes against the basic concept of bottom up politics.
That concept is based on individual people doing what they decide is best, with what they have, according to what priority they place on it. The sad thing is that we now need to take back from an over bureaucratized government the freedoms we have lost: and force them to listen to us and as Grover Norquist’s book title says, “Leave Us Alone”.
The Buffett article above reminded me of the benefits of “Bottom Up Politics” and trading my time for money. People learn through the doing, and that gives them skin in the game. But be careful, it can be addicting – this doing things for yourself. You find yourself thinking for yourself more and having more control over what you do.
As you get more self individualized you find yourself more critical of slogans. Remember JFKs “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”. As a practicing “Free Individual” I now would amend that slogan to fit our country and the freedoms it was based upon, better. “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can and want to do for your own damned self.”
The whole point of Bottom Up Politics is asking each and every day,” What can I do today?”
This is not about money but rather about getting your hands dirty. This is about getting your heart, mind and body involved. This journey to freedom will give you motivation to take it to the next step. From our experiences we will learn what the next step is.
No one accepts a leader until they have fought for it. Until they have made the journey, we call it wisdom. I.e. until they have skin in the game, they have not earned it. Money is a surrogate for that but it is a cheap copy, lacking substance and real value.
When a volunteer from our Oceana Tea Party goes out door to door and hands out a cheaply done 1/3 page black and white flyer on regular paper from their home computer which someone else in our group made and cut themselves; they are getting skin in the game by using what they have and asking what can I do today. When I see this I feel better than when I receive a robo-call.
Bottom Up is people power; Buffett and Obama are about “money Power”, and in Obama’s case “Other People’s Money”.
So I’ll be happy with what I’m doing, if I get some extra money to spend I will keep doing what we are doing only maybe a little easier, or for the flyers we can use card stock and use a paper cutter instead of scissors, If I do otherwise I will become what I fear and I will stop learning.
I will have started abusing my freedom and holding it too cheaply.
Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative
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