Paul von Mauser was born on June 27, 1838, and would go on to become a weapons designer. In 1869, Emma Goldman was born, to later become known as a feminist, anarchist, and early leftist opponent of Soviet Communism. In 1880, Helen Keller was born on this date.
We have a new president. Many people put a lot of trust in him — and many more hate him and seek to bring him down. In both cases, presidential politics takes up an inordinate portion of our brain space.
Over the weekend I twice wrote about four heroic senators, standing up to the insiders in their own party. Getting a lot of deserved attention.
But remember: the real leaders are not in Washington, D.C.
Right now, a half dozen issues are undergoing revolution. Legalized gay marriage swept through state after state; meanwhile, Democratic leaders (Clinton, Obama) lent none of their prestige to the cause.*
It was local and state activists who led. And even wide swaths of “the people” were out in front.
Not politicians.
Marijuana legalization has occurred in state after state, mostly by initiative petitioning. It wasn’t the politicians who pushed this through. It was activists.
And, again, the people.
The politicians — including, now, the new Attorney General — largely obstructed the advance of freedom on this issue.
Much the same can be said for improving police-citizen relations with mandatory cop cams and transparency protocols. In the past, much the same pattern could be seen regarding term limits and tax limitation measures. In most cases of progress, politicians have actually represented the rear guard.
Which should give us something to think about. We face a looming sovereign debt crisis, the pension system bubble, and ongoing culture wars regarding campus (and general) free speech.
If you think something should be done, minds should be changed, don’t look for a national figure. Look locally. Look to yourself. Go online.
Master the mechanisms of social change.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
*That is, these politicians “became leaders” on the issue at the point the issue needed no leadership. They remained opposed to change until the last moment, when the direction was firmly set and most of the watershed marks had been made.
On June 26, 363, Roman Emperor Julian was killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. On this same date in 1960, Madagascar gained its independence from France; in 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy gave his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech.
There are certain types of people who are political out of a kind of religious reason. I think it’s fairly common among socialists: They are, in fact, God-seekers, looking for the kingdom of God on earth. A lot of religious reformers have been like that, too. It’s the same psychological set, trying to abolish the present in favor of some better future — always taking it for granted that there is a better future. If you don’t believe in heaven, then you believe in socialism. When I was in my real Communist phase, I and the people around me really believed — but, of course, this makes us certifiable — that something like 10 years after World War II, the world would be Communist and perfect.
Doris Lessing, quoted by Lesley Hazelton, “Doris Lessing on Feminism, Communism and ‘Space Fiction,’” New York Times Book Review (July 25, 1982)
Our politicians are addicts. Not on drugs, exactly (though that is probably true in some cases), but on . . . well, click over to Townhall.com for the full argument. It may be something you want to share with your friends. You know, like a needle pizza.
This weekend’s column is an expansion of Friday Common Sense entry, “The Real ObamaCare Opposition.” See also:
Virginia became the tenth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, on June 25, 1788. Other events on the 25th of June include Custer dying at the Battle of Little Bighorn (1876); Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird debuting (1910), with the composer becoming an instant celebrity; and Civil War veterans began arriving at the Great Reunion of 1913 at Gettysburg.
“Private property and free trade stand on exactly the same footing, both being essential and indivisible parts of liberty, both depending upon rights, which no body of men, whether called governments or anything else, can justly take from the individual.”
Auberon Herbert, The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State (1885)
The ongoing ObamaCare Repeal fiasco, Dr. Rand Paul explaining:
That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you’ve understood all your life, but in a new way.
Doris Lessing, The Four-Gated City (1969)
June 24 birthdays include Henry Ward Beecher, clergyman and reformer (1813); Ambrose Bierce [pictured], author of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and The Devil’s Dictionary — his dark, cynical wit earned him the epithet “Bitter Bierce” (1842); Karin Pilsäter, Swedish politician of the Liberal People’s Party (1960).