Across the Great Divide | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Diane Rufino, our most prolific contributor of Greenville, wrote this article with the collaborative efforts of Ron Pate of Clayroot, also of Pitt County.

    As we all know, this is an election year and a lot is at stake. The present administration shows no intention of slowing down or changing its dangerous course. And conservatives show no intention of slowing down their attempts to usher in “real change” in November.

    As Mike Hayes and I have been able to understand, and perhaps even have been able to share with readers, liberals and conservatives are all too quick to find fault with one another’s views. I think Fox News and MSNBC also have shown this as well over the years. As a good friend of mine, Ron Pate, has pointed out to me, it’s fine to find fault with the other side’s positions and reasoning, but the real strength of a movement is coming up with meaningful solutions. Ron suggests that people need to hear solutions. Real solutions. Ones that make sense to them. Solutions to social and economic problems. As Ron has told me: “Enough preaching to the choir.”

     At this point, I am going to attempt to share the sentiments and words of Mr. Pate as he has so kindly shared them with me:

    “The Tea Party movement as I see it is mostly conservative, higher educated, middle class to upper income, composed of people who favor less intrusive government, less government taxation, and free market capitalism.  Most of what you write, Diane, focuses on this audience.  You are, for lack of a better term, preaching to the choir.”

    “While you and I may make very some good points – such as the state of the economy, the social direction this current administration is taking us, the arrogance of our elected officials, and the disregard of the Constitution by those we send to office – it seems to me that unless those like us (meaning TEA Party folks) develop a strategy to targets liberals (and by that I mean middle of the road, to right of center) with meaningful solutions to the social problems, we will not make significant progress toward moving our government back towards its Constitutional design or returning to a healthy capitalistic society which creates jobs, stability, and growth.  In other words, preaching to the choir may keep the congregation happy and the church functioning, but it will it never truly result in the spreading of the gospel and the saving of souls. 

    I say all of this to make this simple point:  It is not good enough for all of us to point out the problems with the Obama administration's socialistic approach to government and the absolute loss of some of our basic freedom.  What is critically important for all is to understand that liberals are never going to just go away and disappear.  Therefore it is going to be up to us to either convert them to our way of thinking (not likely), to find some middle ground of compromise (not likely), or offer meaningful solutions to the boundless social problems in America (also probably not likely).   So, looks like we have an interesting dilemma, don’t we?

    That is why we must demonstrate how our movement can solve issues like: 

       ·The Economy and loss of jobs
       ·Poverty
       ·Our nation’s failing education programs
       ·Healthcare issues (such as denial of coverage for persons with a pre-existing condition; huge rise in costs, free treatment for illegal immigrants, the need for affordable premiums) Note that at the current rate of healthcare costs, with the costs of treating everyone being spread out among only a few who can actually pay, 50% of middle class Americans will likely lose their life-long accumulated wealth because of medical expenses.  
       ·Social Security crisis (robbing workers of their rightful retirement funds) 
       ·The energy needs for our country over the next 100 years without being dependent on foreign (and often hostile) countries 
       ·Protecting our planet without increasing the cost or increasing taxes for Americans
       ·Racism, reverse racism, discrimination, and the violation of basic constitutionally-protected liberties,
       ·Behavior that it counterproductive to our societies (gangs, out-of-wedlock births, teen pregnancies)
       ·Immigration
       ·Entitlement Programs and Entitlement Mentality (once entitlements are given, it is hard to take them away, but we must begin to cut back and redefine the program and make such services only “temporary”)
       ·Political corruption and obedience to the American people.
       ·Increased crime

    But what I believe is critically important is that we find ways to write about things that will change some of the liberal mindset in America.

    So what will our strategy be to solve the critical issues that face our nation?  How will we convert enough liberals back to conservative principles of government?” 

    The challenge will be to find and offer realist solutions to the major problems that face our nation and also demonstrate that conservative principles of government can stem this socialist tide.  I believe we can move our country back to the sound principles upon which it was built.  You can be sure that for us to win elections and change this liberal mental illness that has engulfed America, we have to show what we are made of. If we want to claim that power belongs to the people and the government is the people’s government, then we need to show how powerful and resourceful we are. The people need to present the options that we want our elected officials to consider, discuss, and hopefully move forward. How else can we more clearly prove that power resides with the people and not with the government? Reminds me of a line Ronald Reagan once said: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"

    When writing, we must produce credible alternatives which are based on the Founder’s fundamental principles. After all, the Constitution is only as strong as the principles on which it was based. The TEA Party movement is the movement with history and sound reason behind them. Liberal policies and philosophies have been tried all over the world at all times in history, and almost always with profound failure. The problem is that people either forget or simply don’t know their history. We need to articulate why a nation based on free market principles and reward for innovation and hard work provides greater overall solutions than does socialism (no incentives in socialism). We need to articulate why we need to keep God involved in our lives no matter whether we be in our homes, or at work, or at school, in jail, and even in government office (so long as Congress “makes no law respecting the establishment of a (national) religion”) because Christian values promote the healthiest communities and the healthiest minds and attitudes. We need to articulate how the core principles and concepts embraced by our Founding Fathers can and will solve most of the major problems of today (ie, by showing how not following them has led us to our current series of crises). We need to articulate why larger government means ever increasing taxes which will only continue to spiral out of control and place the nation at a continued risk of financial frailty. We need to articulate why increased taxation violates our fundamental right to property and our right to equal protection of property. We need to articulate the slippery slope presented when people expect the government to provide for them (for that is when the government feels justified in burdening and denying their liberties).

    These are just a few.

    Although Ron challenges TEA Party movements to come up with meaningful solutions (based on constitutional and conservative principals) which liberals can appreciate and buy into, he certainly encourages the Tea Party groups to continue pointing out the critical flaws with liberal reasoning and continue explaining how their policies are undermining our Constitution and leading our country into a direction that our Founders labored so hard to avoid. In fact, there are those (some even in government now) who think it is already too late for America. They give us another 10, maybe 15 years, and we will cease to exist as we’ve been blessed to do so. The reason? Too many laws have been passed that are contrary to our Constitution.

    My friend Ron, ordinarily a quiet man not prone to talk politics, has felt the need to speak up… just like a great deal of other Americans. He senses an urgency to action. And he senses the absolute need for Americans to FLIP this HOUSE in November and begin the arduous task to recovering the nation that was intended and designed to last forever. I thought it very important to breathe some life into Ron’s thoughts. I hope that Ron will continue to share his views and his profound intellect on matters that we need to discuss. I hope that readers will hear a lot more from Mr. Pate.
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