Civil Disobedience, One American At A Time

The resistance against Barack Obama's radical agenda has begun. Seeds of discontent have been planted by Americans of a variety of political stripes, backgrounds, religions, ethnic groups, etc.

Its the 1960s all over again. Well, not exactly. There won’t be flower children frolicking through the meadows and cannabis won’t help people to turn on and tune out – at least for the fair minded among us.

Instead, I believe we have the makings of an American revolution of sorts on our hands, one that will seek to repudiate the policies of the Obama administration and our free wheeling, deal-a-day Congress. Policies that are bringing unbridled government spending our way, stem cell research involving aborted babies, reset button diplomacy, you name it.

And it won’t be something embraced entirely by conservatives – the seeds of disobedience will be sown by Americans of varying political stripes, except those from the far left fringe.

Two articles I read within the past few weeks have convinced me that change is on its way, but not the change that candidate Barack Obama espoused. Instead, this sort of occurrence is one that ordinary Americans will be bringing about one citizen at a time, perhaps over a lengthy period of time at that.

But change is coming.

Robert L. Dilenschneider shared some poignant thoughts about power in his article titled, “How to Be More Powerful Without Putting People Off,” which appeared in a February 2008 issue of Bottom Line / Personal. What stood out for me was this statement: “True power is not the same as running roughshod over other people or getting ahead at any cost. This form of power is temporary. People see through it and look for ways to undermine it.”

Ah, yes! Dictatorial power is always destined to fail, because as soon as it rears its head up the resistance begins. In our nation’s early days, before independence was declared, weary taxpayers rebelled against the British system by staging a tea party in Boston Harbor to protest taxation without representation.

It was a long struggle for colonialists who had nothing to lose, but everything to gain including their freedom. Britain wanted to exert its authority over a faraway land while Obama today wants to roll out his radical agenda on a sleeping American populace.

Unfortunately for the president, people are beginning to wake up from their slumber.

Michelle Malkin published the other piece which got my attention: “Going Galt”: America’s Wealth Producers vs. Wealth Redistributors. Malkin cited the character John Galt in Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” novel where Galt led the entrepreneurial class to to cease productive activities in order to starve the government of revenue. That sort of thing is happening right now as small business owners — who are the target of Obama’s pending tax increase on the “wealthy” — have decided enough is enough.

The Obama tax increase will hit businesses who pull in at least $250,000 annually, even if the owners take out just a fraction of the funds for themselves. Plundering the “haves” to aid the “have nots” sounds like a Robin Hood scheme, but that is what happens in a fairy tale — America is not some sort of social experiment playground.

I cannot say for sure how everything will come down, but I know it’ll be an individual movement first followed by a grassroots campaign that will openly challenge Obama. Small business owners, concerned citizens, young families, middle aged managers, retirees and the aged will be among those pushing back, people who understand that the radical transformation unfolding for America is something that they do not want nor can the nation afford if it is to survive as the land of the free.

Photo Credit: David Jouppi