Striking 36 is about common sense freedom. The kind that comes with responsibility and civility. The kind that knows government serves a purpose but has to be watched every moment and checked when it’s out of hand. The kind that recognizes our obligation to help each other when luck and circumstance play a negative role in life, and our obligation to level the playing field when favoritism and cronyism provide an unfair advantage.
We’re neither Democrat nor Republican, in fact we rather dislike them both. They are labels that have come to signify a gang affiliation more than a political philosophy. We’d rather measure governments by laws repealed, not passed. We know that corporations, in all industries, grovel for government favor as much as special interest groups, and that generally neither deserve it. And we know to beware of people who seek power, because they are most likely to be corrupted by it.
We know that despite constantly being told how divided we are, society hasn’t crumbled, we still have friends who think differently, and we still care for one another. We know that discrimination and bias still exist, but that most of us are trying to end it; that the number of extremists of all stripes are exaggerated, but still potentially dangerous.
And despite everything we “know,” we can change our minds.
It is the system we should be most wary of. The system that perpetuates favoritism and cronyism, discrimination and bias, elitism and arrogance. That purports to know what’s best for us as it tells us what to do and what to think. That treats us as children. Defy the system.