We talk about liberty, limited government, freedom, Constitutional principles, and the like. Those are all relevant to the purposes of the conservative grassroots movement. But are they ends? Or are they just means?
I believe they are means. In the founders’ writings we find clues to the end, even they don’t state it explicitly. Jefferson did. Jay came close. And Adams implicitly understood that end.
Let me ask this: what’s the point of all the work we did in the past two years? I mean, some of us lost friends, homes, financial security, jobs, and family relationships over this tea party thing. Some of us switched careers.
Why? Why go through this?
If the end is good government, then by what yardstick do we measure “good government?” And what sane person would put himself out for a better government in Washington?
In the end, we are doing this for ourselves as individuals and for our family and community. We are doing this to improve our own lives, and with ours, everyone’s. But, again, to what end? How do we measure better lives?
The answer is in the Declaration and in dozens (if not hundreds) of writings from around the time of the American Revolution. It involves a state of mind and a state of being, not a station or a title.
Find for that end, pursue that end, and demand that government permit you to pursue that end. You’ll end up fighting for precisely what the Tea Party came about to promote. But you’ll recognize those things as means, not ends.
Finally, let me put it this way: if all of our stated objectives are met and we’re still miserable, we will have failed.
Please leave your thoughts in the comments section.