A modern day Tea Party

[bobconfer]

Here's one of my recent columns....

From the 15 January 2007 Lockport Union Sun and Journal (Lockport, NY)

A MODERN DAY TEA PARTY
By Bob Confer

Did you happen to catch who was crowned as Time’s Person of the Year for 2006? It was you. It was me. It was each and every one of us. The magazine’s editors realized that the honor that was once bequeathed upon the likes of FDR, Ronald Reagan, and Martin Luther King, Jr. was more appropriately awarded to humanity as a whole for accepting the mantle of civic responsibility and using the networking afforded by the digital age to make real differences in people’s lives by sharing information and critiques of political and economic leadership. Time’s belief is that this interconnectedness and its grassroots efforts are destined to make a better tomorrow.

Analysis of the situation can be taken much farther and beyond the confines of the internet. This cumulative and intense effort to bring about real political change has been in the making for over a decade now, beginning with the genesis of talk radio in the 1990’s, which was immediately followed by key developments in information technology. Consistent and meaningful political debate has become a norm of day-to-day life because it is anywhere and everywhere thanks to a massive information pipeline that has grown to include talk radio, hundreds of cable and satellite TV channels, alternative newspapers, and an internet that has gone from nothing to something in the a very short period of time.

Sure, some people had for decades been keen on political change – look at the peace movements of the 60’s and 70’s as example – but it was hit and miss and not a part of contemporary culture. Those who were highly critical of government and taxes were looked at as oddities. More often than not these concerned individuals – who have now proven to be ahead of their time - were looked at as demented gadflies or strange conspiracy theorists.

Oh, how times have changed! Back in the 1980’s who would have thought things such as my column, Scott Leffler’s radio show, or Tom Christy’s TV show would be so popular? Who back then would have listened to, believed in, and be incited by those shows and their regular callers - the Als, Edwinas, and Felixes of the world - who are so adamant about the need for change? And, who, back then, in their wildest dreams would have ever believed there would be hundreds of millions of people – bloggers, webmasters, and browsers - connected by computers sharing their thoughts and beliefs about politics and life in general on an instantaneous and intelligently critical scale?

It has been proven through this movement that all people are intrinsically "demented gadflies." Every one of us in our own way does care about laws, legislations, and where or hard-earned dollars are going. We just needed a catalyst to fire us up. But, why now? Why did it take so long to wake up? Because, quite basically, the information wasn’t there before this newfound Information Age. We had no idea how badly we were being massacred or how much waste was being consumed by those we pay taxes to. By being uninformed, we had nothing to fight for and nothing to fight with. Knowledge is power, so, finally, we are completely empowered and can use every tidbit of data and commentary to hold the powers-that-be truly accountable.

You could almost say that there is a modern Tea Party taking place. The Boston Tea Party of yore was a major symbolic turning point in American history. It was an angry and immediate revolt against taxation and bad government. This new age Tea Party is a similar turning point in American history. It is even angrier – it’s much more than just tea this time around – and is even more immediate depending on need. If something dirty or moronic happens in the political world the news of it is spread through the ‘net in mere hours and the whole nation is on top of the issue, bringing about change in a relatively rapid and highly-accountable fashion as compared to the way things used to be done. We, not the government, are in control now.

This wonderfully adventurous Tea Party and its end results - a better America and a better Earth - are only possible because of you and your efforts. Time Magazine was right…your voice matters and you are a leader. Having said that, wear your "Person of the Year" award with pride. You deserve it.

[WNYresident]

Everyone say hi to bob.

Good article.

[buffy]

Shout it from the rooftops via satellite!