American Majority is an organization that is definitely leaving its mark on the electoral process. It is teaching average Americans how they can make a difference in a political system that has become increasingly out of touch to the will of the people.
The organization focuses on both philosophy and activism. Its training, often at no cost and rarely more than the covering of overhead of the venues, makes individuals feel empowered. More accurately, the training empowers individuals. When you walk away from an event, one feels tooled to make a difference.
At the recent event I spoke at I set the stage by explaining to the audience the philosophy of freedom that has been lost over generations of political pandering and disdain for the will of the people. This was followed with some important strategies to empower people to take action on the public policy front today.
One of my concerns and one I discussed, is the understanding of our form of government. It is a republic we have, not a democracy. It was interesting that in a well informed group like those who attended this event , all understood that the founders called it a republic, but most said that the difference between the two is that a democracy is based on majority rule while a republic is representative democracy. In the latter, we choose other people to do our dirty work, be it the Congress or the President. If that is the definition of a republic, there is nothing unique about our country compared to all other democracies in Europe where they choose members of their parliaments and (as a result) the Prime Minister. Our founders had something decidedly different in mind. They believed in rule by law. A maximum amount of freedom would be left to the individual and strict limits would be placed on government. Unlike democracy, where the majority could impose its will on the minority, in a republic every effort is made to protect the few from the many. This is why our institutions have a chief executive (President) that can be from a different party from the legislative branch. This is why we have a Senate that can filibuster legislation (a requirement of that body for a super majority to end debate on a vote) to protect the interest of the minorities. These are lost concepts that are getting an opportunity to be heard again through American Majority training.
In addition, participants learn how they can make a difference. They learn that the real opportunity to influence elections is in primaries, where only approximately 5 percent of the population actually vote. The Tea Party movement (which American Majority is clearly a part of) could easily be a game changer in primaries around the country and, through the help of organizations such as this, it will be. In addition people learn how to prioritize precincts for political action. For example, those with large majorities with philosophies similar to the activist need less attention, while those that are closer to 50/50 need maximum effort to swing results in a certain direction. Furthermore, people learn how to use the power of social networking to change opinion on the stories of the day.
In the end people around the country are getting the tools they need to make a difference. American Majority is one of many of the important influences out there helping citizens understand how much they matter today.
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