Is tyranny our fate?

The question now becomes, what do we do? Obviously, we have one of two choices. We accept our fate, or we fight. Are we finished? Do we quit? Do we surrender?

It would be easy to do any of those things. No one would blame us. We gave it the good fight. We could hide behind the idea that ancient conspiracies set our fate long before we were born. Some argue that members of secret societies somehow trumped every ideal we hold, and overpowered every move we made.

We could pat ourselves on the back and say, well, they were just too strong. What could we do? Tyranny is our destiny. Is that what you want to tell your grandchildren when they ask you what you did to preserve the ideals of America?

In another era, we could have loaded up boats and sailed to a new world to live by the ideals we hold. But that was already done. People ran from tyranny. They came here – to America. Now tyranny has caught us. And there’s nowhere else to run. We either accept our pre-ordained “fate” or make a stand. This is it, my friends. This is the moment when we decide the future of our ideals.

You know the ideals I’m talking about:

* That you are born with liberty.

* That it is your natural right to speak your mind, start a business, own and control property, build your dream home – and expect it to be there for as long as you like,

* practice your religion exactly as you believe, and, above all,

* expect that the government will protect those rights at all costs.

We know by witnessing history that totalitarianism does not work. Government control of the actions of the people only leads to poverty, misery and death. We know that people pinned under the heavy hand of government do not produce for their masters. We know that that there are no such things as faceless, nameless masses in some undefined “common good.” We know that the United States was the first nation ever created that recognized the God-given natural rights of individuals – and America’s history has proven that such a system is the only one that produces prosperity and happiness.

Do we fight for those ideals of liberty? Or will we allow them to be lost forever under some global village? Do nothing, and they have made the decision for us. What can be easier than that?

FIGHTING BACK
But if we decide to fight, then we truly must know what we are doing. Half – hearted attempts at rallies and letter writing, like we’ve done in the past, didn’t get the job done then and certainly won’t get it done now. No short cuts. No silly rhetoric.

I’ve got to tell you that I get some pretty strange stuff in my office. Letters, e-mails, phone calls. People write to me with ideas they think will put us on the road to victory. Everybody’s looking for that one quick fix. The right slogan. The silver bullet – that will defeat our enemies and restore freedom to America. Almost daily, I receive someone’s solution – the great plan that no one else has thought of.

For example, a good friend of mine wrote a huge book that carried all of the facts and figures to prove his position against a certain government program. He called me to say all we had to do to turn things around was to get a copy of the book into the hands of every single Member of Congress.

I told him that the main fallacy in his plan was that he thought congressmen could read. In fact, they now have the votes in Congress operating exactly like a fast food restaurant. Truly, about the only question they ask now is, “Do you want to super-size that?”

I’ve received buttons, bumper stickers and tee shirts – all created to provide “the message” that will turn everything around. I’ve received phone calls resulting in long discussions about how to come up with just the right sound bite that will capture the nation’s imagination and send the scoundrels to the tall grass. And my personal favorite – “we’ll use words that will be so innocent sounding that the other side won’t know what we are really up to”.

THE SILVER BULLET
So, what is the real silver bullet to save our liberty? I’m going to give it to you.

I often hear it lamented that the Republic is dead and that we are now controlled by Washington. You know what – I have found that isn’t true. The Republic is still there buried under the weight of un-elected planning commissions, visioning statements, and review boards. The Republic isn’t dead, it’s just rusty from lack of use. It’s still there and still armed with the silver bullet the founders provided to guarantee that no one could take it away. You see, our founders created this Republic to be self-protected by making government at the local level the most powerful force.

The Silver Bullet is the “precinct captain”. You scoff? You were hoping for something much more exciting! Well, that’s probably the very reason we’ve ignored it. We would much rather turn our attention to Washington, Congress, or the President. Why then, are these government entities so powerful today? Because we’ve let them become powerful by placing all of our attention on them – while ignoring involvement in local government.

But the power still lies in the LOCAL precinct captain. Our opponents know it. They have left no lowly office untouched. Check it out. Go to your local government and check out the policies being implemented by the game warden and the dog catcher – Sustainable Development and animal rights, most likely. City treasurer. City clerk. The people who collect the taxes and issue permits. What are their policies? How about the planning/development department and its policy for building permits? Sustainable Development? Now move on up to City Council and Mayor.

In 2005, the United Nations held a major conference in San Francisco on Sustainable Development. The main targets for the conference were the mayors. Those who attended were asked to sign two documents – the Green Cities Declaration and the Urban Environmental Accords in which the mayors pledged to undertake 21 action items over the next few years to implement Sustainable Development.

These action items included water policy, energy policy, transportation, and health. The mayors were provided sample legislation and pledged to enact it. The policies called for the implementation of the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty and Agenda 21.

One week later, in Chicago, the U.S. Conference of Mayors called for the very same policies, making Sustainable Development and Kyoto the two priorities of the nation’s mayors.

In short, our enemies know that the power to impose this tyranny on us is now at the local level. It will do little good to spend time trying to stop it through Congress or the White House. What does the UN understand that you and I don’t? That it doesn’t matter what Washington’s policy is. They will just get the local cities and towns to do it anyway – because the towns and cities have the power to decide for themselves.

THINK GLOBALLY – ACT LOCALLY
Think globally – act locally is not just a slogan. It’s an agenda. Now, to save our Republic and way of life, we need to make it our agenda. The Founding Fathers did.

Make a chart of every single position available in your county. Break it down to the precinct level and then the ward level. List every office and every board position. Now you will begin to see how large a task it is. But take it one step at a time. Start to fill those spots.

Work quietly. Please don’t hold a press conference to announce your actions to the community. You don’t have to wait for a political party to organize the precincts. Organize a local group of activists – I call it building a Freedom Pod. Find individuals in local neighborhoods who are willing to talk to their neighbors, take them literature, and make phone calls. Soon, they will learn who the neighbors are who share our goals and principles. On Election Day, those volunteers will call those neighbors and herd them into the polls. The goal here is to get our people who understand the Sustainablist agenda into places of decision making.

It would be a dream come true to have candidates from every party running on the same issue. It’s a goal to shoot for. The other side seems to have achieved it. But make sure those candidates are people who understand the entire picture of Sustainable Development and Agenda 21. It will do you no good to help elect candidates who are, perhaps, good on one issue, like gun control or abortion, but fail to see the whole picture. Those are the very people who will fail you later.

You will need precinct workers to make sure our people get to the polls. You will need poll workers to make sure our votes are counted. Make sure they are people you can trust.

Run a candidate for the lowest office in town. Control it. No position is without power. Then do it again. Go up the ladder. Get more precincts. Grow, neighborhood by neighborhood.

Step by step. Control enough precincts and eventually, even presidential candidates will seek you out for help in getting elected. Again, only help elect local officials who oppose Sustainable Development. Refuse to support the lesser of two evils.

Pay attention to the non-elected review boards, policy committees, and planning commissions. Can you get one of your people on it? Who is doing the appointing?

Can you imagine the damage we could do to Sustainablist goals by getting one person on the local architectural review board?

You need to have the ability to create controversy against policies by current office holders. This will help you find like-minded folks to join you. And it will help create issues so your candidates can win. Remember, most people would oppose the Sustainablists if they knew the truth. Tell them. Spread out.

A NEW CHAMBER OF COMMERCE?
Consider this idea. If your local farm bureau or chamber of commerce isn’t representing you – start a rival one. They aren’t government, they are private organizations to which people pay dues to have them represent their interests. Understand this – you don’t have to just take their double dealing. Go around them. To spread the word and build your new organization, show up at council meetings, or at the meetings of any agency or board that purports to make policy that affects you. State your positions.

As a new group representing business interests, homeowners, or farmers, demand your say. Back up your demands by issuing news releases and doing interviews on local radio and television – representing your new group. Start by saying over and over again that these governing bodies aren’t representing the interests of your neighbors.

If you make enough noise as the group which is truly standing up for farmers or businesses, or homeowners, many will join you. You will pull the power structure right out from under the established organizations that have been taken over by our enemies.

Sure, we are way behind. Sure, we have a massive job ahead of us and we would be fools to delude ourselves otherwise. But, after all our hard work over the years, after being a lone voice in the wilderness, something has started here. Many more people are starting to understand something is very wrong. Give them an alternative voice and lead them to an effective outcome.

Now is not the time to circle the wagons or give up. Now is the time to move out, get involved, and turn the tables. Stop being polite to your oppressors! Tell them their time is through. Tell those who pretend to speak for you in Washington, the state legislature, the county commission, or the city council, to either get on board with our agenda – or get out of the way. We are no longer going to go quietly into the night.

Get mad, but let the anger be your energy source. Get busy and do what it takes to win. Organize at the local level – use the power the Founding Fathers gave us to preserve the Republic – and throw off the yoke of tyranny.

Write this down and keep it in front of you at all times: “The right of the individual to own and control private property is the foundation of liberty.” And now write this: “Precinct Captain is the root to victory.” That’s the silver bullet that leads to sustained liberty. Put the two together and restore and preserve this Republic.

Now that’s something to tell your grandchildren when they ask what you did in the great war to preserve American liberty. Salute, and tell them “I was a Precinct Captain.”

February 1, 2023

© 2023 Tom DeWeese – All Rights Reserved

~ The Author ~
Thomas A. DeWeese is the President of the American Policy Center.

Tom DeWeese’s commentaries may not be reprinted or republished without permission. All Rights Reserved. Submitted to and published by Kettle Moraine, Ltd. by arrangement, and with permission of the author.