I got a really nice e-mail yesterday from Ryan, who I don’t believe has ever posted here. The last lines are what prompted this post:
“Your ideas are revolutionary, and if implemented correctly they could dramatically change the face and future of Dayton. Any pointers for other citizens who would also like speak out and take action? Any help would be greatly appreciated.”
I’ve also been thinking a lot about what would someone like Thomas Jefferson say at the Dayton Tea Party on April 15th [1]. The reality is we are never taught how to rebel. The part about how to organize a revolution is left out of our school books. Rebels are an oddity and are often ignored, written off or locked up, depending on where in the world you are. The fact is, the word change and revolution have the same meaning, just to a different extent.
Holding a rally doesn’t solve the problem. Call it a tea party, call it a protest, call it a gathering of like minded people, we gather, but what do we do next? Take up arms? After all, that’s why we have the Second Amendment.
The more people who show up at a rally, the better the wake-up call to those who write our laws.
What I think we want is a rewriting laws so that no one gets rich by firing people or losing billions like the CEOs of major American corporations. We need to be protesting the casino on Wall Street, where the gamblers won, and the house is folding, and the taxpayers are the losers, even though they never entered the building.
Our lawmakers have been asleep at the wheel, while the kings of the new economy have gotten wealthy beyond belief on the backs of the American workers.
When people question why Rick Wagoner was asked to step down at GM, the real question is why he was paid over a million dollars a year when he was closing plants, firing American workers and making sure short-term “investors” came before the people who made it possible for him to draw a paycheck day in and day out. What CEOs have done is nothing short of criminal, yet, we seem to be willing to accept it, because, well, the alternative would be a revolution.
Before I start recommending reading Sun Tzu, Mao, Karl Marx or Alexander Hamilton, the first part of any revolution requires study of the issues and debate. Let it start here.
What would you tell Ryan?
Yes, a peaceful gathering of the minds and bodies – in unison will get noticed, like the Dayton tea party:
2009 Tea Party
APRIL 15, 2009
6-8 pm
Dayton Courthouse Square
Our office has received many calls regarding a “Dayton Tea Party.” Here is the information that we have received – “Tea Parties” are scheduled around the country in the same spirit as the historic “Boston Tea Party” to peacefully protest our government’s excessive spending on the stimulus package and budget.
Also, please be encouraged to e-mail or call your representatives with your concerns and views. If you need contact information for them, please feel free to call our office at 937-461-1776.
I would also tell Ryan:
Please be encouraged to e-mail or call your representatives with your concerns and views. If you need contact information for them, please feel free to call our office at 937-461-1776.
Second – read and be informed. I recommend the book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
, by Charene Ki and Josh Bernhoff. Post your ideas and share / network with other like-mind Americans who care. Like David Esrati …
Bob VL
I think we need to teach Ryan how to properly fill out a city of Dayton petition form and get 500 valid signatures!
I would tell Ryan to ignore Laws that do not make sense.
1 Learn to barter with your neighbors
2 Learn a trade
3 Maintain a fire break around your house but do not cut the grass or apply pesticides
4 Plant fruit and nut trees
5 Plant a garden
6 Support local businesses that support people of the community
7 Put chickens and goats in your community
8 Avoid paying tax as your State, Local and Federal Governments are mishandling and investing your money poorly to benefit a system that has not future.
9 Get a vasectomy.
I am sorry David I see nothing “revolutionary” on your site. I see it as mainly plain common sense and it saddens me that Ryan thinks it is revolutionary, when these ideas should have been implemented 20 years ago, but hey then the people that currently run the show, would and should be sweeping the dog crap off the street and into the methane capture digester unit to provide gas to my barbeque and fertilize my garden. OY Well so much for my Nirvana, off to bed.