The world is morning the loss of boxing legend Mohammad Ali this morning and while it is sad...he did lead a long fulfilling life...which is all any of us can hope for.
While the world remembers the reasons for his greatness, I would like to focus on this quote that would be very effective for lovers of liberty everywhere...to learn this concept."
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hand can't hit what the eye can't see."
I have always loved this quote but until recently, I didn't grasp the full weight of it and how it could apply to someone outside of the ring.
Then I got involved politically after seeing my beloved President, George W, increase the size of government and spend like a drunken sailor who had turned social justice warrior. After watching Obama get elected and the Republicans go on to give him everything he wanted while pretending to be the party of small government, I had reached the end of my rope.
So I joined my local Republican party thinking they would be inspired to have more people active in their cause. Mistake! That's a long story but suffice it say, the party's are not the solution.
So then I joined the Tea Party. Certainly a much more productive thing to do but a very unorganized and ignorant force to be reckoned with. I mean that with all due respect as I was one of the ignorant ones. The disorganized part though aided in their survival since "The hand can't hit what the eyes can't see". But, this too was not the solution.
I learned a lot while in this group but I also learned there are more people who want to talk about whats wrong with the country than there are people who will lift a finger for the cause of liberty.
Education is worthless if the knowledge you gain remains in your brain. The Tea Party is still evolving and good things are happening with in the group but it's not enough. I have learned I don't need a label to effect change.
So back to "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee".
Mohammed Ali spent a large part of his life training for the ring. He hated training but he knew he had to suffer the training if he wanted to become a champion. What I'm going to say next is critical if lovers of liberty want to be the guardians of liberty.
If you want to effect change in America, you have to train and learn the game. When I say the game, I'm talking about the system we have that is suppose to preserve our Republic because it won't, contrary to belief, preserve itself. The Constitution is a document. It is a piece of paper unless the guardians of liberty enforce it.
I can hear some now. But but but we can't do this because our elected officials are letting us down and they are corrupt and won't vote the way we want them too. Hogwash! They will do whatever they are allowed to do. They have let us down only because we have abdicated our power to them.
One man is not going to save us. YOU ARE!
All politics is local! Elections don't change things, people do. I'm engaged and watching the presidential election like everyone else but I know something others don't.
Although I do think it's critical that Hillary or whoever the democrat candidate is not elected, it's more important what individuals do in their communities on a daily basis than it is who wins the presidency.
Think of it like this. Whenever a hot button issue stirs up the masses...remember the Gang of 8 bill? People will engage. Public outcry and one sweet Cantorization stopped that bill in it's tracks...literally one day before it was supposed to pass. That is the power of the people. It took large number of people rising up and giving a damn to stop them. Locally, you have that kind of power with about 5 citizens. That might be too much to believe...at least until you try it. With about 100 actively engaged and strategically engaged citizens, you could reclaim your city. We haven't yet achieved that..but we are working on it.
So the focus on the federal level is all wrong. Our power is in our precinct. Take back your local community, take back your country. Think Local, Act Local!
It is important that you get this. The ruling class uses your hot button issues to keep you distracted. YOU have so much power in your community that I don't have enough words in this post to convey. There are systems in the political process that you need to learn. It's not rocket science but it's not common knowledge or something that can be learned in a day, a week, a month etc. but you don't have to wait until you know it all to get started. Start now.
While learning the system, you must train for the strategy you will use in the ring. THIS is why our side loses. The enemy, those who usurp power for their own selfish reasons, knows you are ignorant. The enemy is not that smart, he is just smarter than you...until you learn the system, plan your strategy, and fight back. After that process, they lose and you win.
Example of what this looks like:
City A wants to pass a law that says hair shampooers must get 300 hours of training and pay tuition of 3,000 dollars in order to gain the license to operate legally in the state of Tn. Citizens read that, fret and note that it's wrong, maybe make a few phone calls...but that's it. Meanwhile, schools that offer the training are lobbying elected officials to pass this law. Perhaps even padding the pockets of elected officials to guarantee passage. We can't compete in that arena...only WE CAN!
The Beacon Center of Tn is currently fighting to get this law repealed and I'm all for that (donate to them if you can) but before this law was passed, it would have been easy to stop it. A few good citizens, informed and engaged, collaborating and coordinating a strategy could have stopped it. Informed citizens know the system. They know their elected officials on a 1st name basis. They have their phone numbers on speed dial. They know who the obstacles of liberty are. They know who the preservers of liberty are. They know insider information you could never gleen unless you attend meetings and that info literally falls into your lap...sometimes. Sometimes you become a citizen seal with the enemy never knowing how skilled and stealth you are because when you know the system and how to game it, you become smarter than they are. Imagine a public relations disaster for the elected officials who support this law when social media and sometimes the main stream media(MSM is not your friend but sometimes they will accidentally carry your water for you) pick up your very strategic talking point asking why do certain elected officials want to hurt poor people? Sometimes the light of day is all it takes to defeat them. A public relations nightmare will deter those on the fence and sometimes cause even those who have been paid off to do the right thing. They want to be re-elected. So you create the scenario where they might not be re-elected.
This strategy has been used about 20 times here locally. 18 times we have won. There's much more to the story and the strategy but I don't want to expose this for the enemy to use next time but...it can be summed up with Ali's quote..."Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hand can't hit what the eyes can't see".
Start by reading your cities agenda for their next meeting. Learn how their process works. This takes time and attending the meetings. Find other like minded citizens to join you, there won't be many as most people only want to talk about what's wrong but that's OK. Once you begin to learn the system, start brainstorming a strategy. You will be amazed how interesting and fun that part can be and how easy the enemy is to outsmart. Implement the strategy and WIN. I promise you, your 1st win will come sooner than you think and you will be shocked, amazed, and extremely satisfied. We won our 1st issue. We were shocked. We had delayed the ridiculous legislation for 6 months. We were proud of that. We did this with the media mocking some of us, against a very prominent politician, and while we were just in the process of learning. Even when you don't win you will experience gridlock ...which is a good thing...and despite what conventional wisdom thinks...is a feature of our great Republic...not a bug. Once you become aware that even now...the power still lies with the people...you will be hooked and you will tell others and the spirit of this power which gives us liberty will spread like wildfire.
You are not going to win your game because you have a righteous cause.You are not going to win just because you are right. You are not going to win on your principles alone. You are not going to win being the loudest, kicking and screaming, or raising up your pitchforks.
You are going to win floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee.
Ali was not the brightest candle burning. His IQ was only 78. To which Ali said "I was the greatest, not the smartest"
Stop boxing yourselves into labels and categories ...and just be and do and win. Republican, Democrat, Liberal, Conservative...whatever. Parties divide. Labels put you in a box and make it easy for the enemy to find you. End of story.
If you want your country to return to the principles they were founded on and to abide by the Constitution...start your training now. There is much to learn and much to do and you don't need an article V convention, a bloody revolution, money(although it can be very helpful), status, degree, specific candidate elected...You just need YOU to prepare for battle and get in the ring.
P.S. There are many different roles and duties for citizens to do. Not everyone can attend meetings but there's research, everyone can make phone calls/emails, and different people have different skills which can all contribute to one degree or another. Make sure someone writes about it...and posts it for all the world to see and don't worry about writing skills...people are hungry for this information and the 4th estate can't do this job, well they aren't there to do this job...so you have to.
I will end this quote with another apt quote from Ali “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”