So where are we and where do we go from here?
The TEA Party movement started something, but what is that political philosophy doing now?
This past Tuesday I completed the look back at my book The Rise and Fall of the TEA Party - And How It Elected Donald Trump. I think it went reasonably well: usually between 35 and 55 people viewed each installment, which was pretty good to me considering I wrote the book about six or seven years ago. Back then, the subject matter was still fresh. (And if you liked it, you can get a paper copy in your hot little hands.)
Alas, the TEA Party is old news. Now there has been a little bit of movement on what I called TEA Party 3.0 in my Epilogue, as groups like Moms for Liberty and other patriot groups have indeed targeted schools for reform, with mixed results. But if you got into the TEA Party to work toward limited government, well, to quote Senator Lindsey Graham’s remarks to Brett Kavanaugh in Chapter 16, “You came to the wrong town at the wrong time, my friend.”
Once we figured out that we could vote ourselves goodies from the federal treasury that someone else (people about whom we were told were wealthy and were still not paying their “fair share”) was paying for, well, the horse was out of the barn and running amok three towns away. Cutting government was for suckers and, after all, no one wanted to be the sucker. Truthfully, most of those who screamed and yelled the loudest when we had the big TEA Party rallies turned out to be sunshine patriots: when the cutting looked like it may involve entitlements (as getting government down to a manageable size would necessarily require) it was “hands off muh Social Security and Medicare!”
I am probably the one percent of the one percent of the one percent who believes we should only do with government what the Constitution allows, but I also realize it would take time to get there. And you also need a plan.
Luckily for you I happen to have one. Back in 2007 I began a series of posts on my predecessor website called the 50 year plan. We’re now about a third of the way there and I thought it would be a good follow-up to my book to revisit some of those chapters and keep this little Tuesday thing going. (I also wanted to revisit how consistent my views have been over the years.)
So next Tuesday I’ll be posting an introduction, with the next installment looking at community. After that I’ll begin digging up some more of these and you’ll see why I was TEA Party from the day I heard about it. Now it’s just a matter of trying to figure out how to be most useful, with my current thought being that of a Matthew 13 type working the soil to eliminate the rocks, thorns, and trod areas to reveal fertile ground.
It’s the reason I like Substack and the modest community I have found therein. There’s no reason it has to stay modest, though, and you might find something that will make you nod your head and say “he gets it.”
I draw building plans for a living, so maybe it’s time to see how my other plans work as well.
In the meantime, you can buy the book or Buy Me a Coffee, since I have a page there now.
Looking forward to it.