FreedomTalks

The leadership of FreedomWorks, Chairman Dick Armey and President Matt Kibbe, have written a great piece on grassroots politics in American history.

Here is an excerpt:

Policy goes to those who show up. It is a law of political decision-making as dependable as gravity, and as old as the American experiment in republican democracy. But is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. For reasons both good and bad, the reality is that most eligible voters just don’t pay attention to politics or public policy. Most are simply practicing what economists call “rational ignorance,” expecting that their participation will not likely change policy outcomes. While it may be rational, typical voter disinterest leaves the field wide open for rent-seeking interests to skew public policy to their financial benefit. That’s bad. Witness the corruption that is the Federal income tax code…

Samuel Adams was the first American to recognize that “it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.” In the early 1750s, Adams began recruiting activists to the cause of liberty, targeting men in taverns, and workers in the shipyards and shops of Boston. He also succeeded in recruiting wealthy businessmen like John Hancock to his cause because of the abusive trade and tax policies of the British government.

Samuel Adams’ tactics often involved anti-tax protests under the Liberty Tree, a large elm across from Boylston Market. Tax collectors were hung in effigy, and the Crown-appointed governor mocked. Adams also organized boycotts of British goods and town hall meetings at Faneuil Hall, packing the room with patriots so that Tory voices were not heard. Every new policy handed down by George III and the House of Commons was used to build the ranks of the Sons of Liberty. Taxes imposed by the Stamp act of 1765, trade duties created by the Townshend Acts – each was an excuse to rally new recruits to the cause of American independence.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Grassroots Tactics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.