"What do we do now", why we do what we do?

[funfaler]

Obviously the events of November 6th (and indeed many events over the course of our country's history) will be marked as a significant event on the course of our country.   

There are many commentators and discussions of what went wrong/right, and who's to blame, as well as what is going to happen now.   

There is little doubt that the "weather report" is gloomy, at least if you listen to the "left" and the "right" in their assessments of events.

I want to share a rather lengthy video with you all.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuL41ohlfZY

While there are items in this video which are not completely in line with Appleseed, there are MANY common points and MANY items which can be easily translated to Appleseed and its mission.

Specifically, listen to his comments on WHY we work to preserve this country, this is pure Appleseed.

Also, note his solution to the issues we face in this country, again, pure Appleseed.

As this country continues (perhaps better put, the people of this country continue to allow) to grind itself into the ash heap of world history, more and more people will awaken to the fact that we are no longer on the course our Founders set us upon....and more and more people will seek true answers to these issues, rather than fiat political answers.   

I for one still see GREAT HOPE, in fact, I see avenues of hope today, that were not even thought of a mere couple of years ago.   So even if there are points of darkness we can identify, there are many rays of sunshine which can be found, and expanded upon.   

I urge you to invest the time to watch this video, because the message is very much in tandem with Appleseed's mission, and there is a growing number of people in this country who are joining this effort.   

The potential positive opportunities for the country, and for Appleseed are HUGE.   But opportunities are much like $20 bill on the sidewalk, it is of little real value until you actually bend over and pick it up.     

So entertain this video for what it can offer, but like I said above, there sure seemed to be many good parallels to Appleseed, and a perspective which may shed some light of opportunity on the tasks before us.

[EZ3]

Well, we are out in front on the networking thing and the values thing.  The space thing is what I did before I started down the path that led to Appleseed.

He is certainly right that there is no escape, and no honorable surrender.  So I guess we had all better pick up a bucket and BAIL!!!

[colycat]

FF,

Thanks for posting the link.  I watched this twice 3 or 4 weeks ago, the second time through to take notes to use as part of my benediction.  It must have hit a cord with the students as all returned for Sunday

[V]

FF,

I love the video you posted. The guy clearly indicates the power of believing and knowing your message and certainly some of his sound bites are powerful things worth stealing, lesser sons of greater fathers, is a great soundbite takeaway for some things I try to convey in my benedictions.

I think his admonitions on not letting the tri-corner hat and the musket story mistakenly convey a "looking back to a golden age" that never was are good too.

But that is all about the mechanics of how to "change the world." About tactics.

In a previous thread, which some of you may not be able to see, about how to lead and change Appleseed as an organization, I posted some old, long, but I thought relevant material on this issue. (For those who prefer video this is a long and less edited version of the same lecture. In the sense of an emotional and presentational punch it is less compelling and polished than Whittle's but its the content that is important).

At first blush, these may seem to be covering the same ground, plus ca change plus c'est la meme chose, but crucial to understand is the difference between tactics and mission. In the real world, as well as within organizations like Appleseed, it is confusing these two things that causes so much angst.

While, as before in other Whittle presentations, I find much to agree with and admire in his technique and passion and to be honest much of his goals, there are also the seeds of future dissension in that I don't agree with much that he reveals in his subsequent Q&A session. To some he is a neocon who wraps his message in the emotional baggage and verbiage of the constitutionalists, etc. To some this is not a bad thing, to others it goes to far.

My point is not to start a discussion about this precise minutiae of dissecting differences and nuances, that's all arguing about tactics. When you are sailing north into an ice field arguing about going west, east or south all the while heading north is pointless. Heck, you should even settle for just slowing down!

My point is to be very clear about the mission.

The mission of Appleseed is not to change the world or the country, it is to get each person to change themselves.

This idea, which Whittle seems to me to present as a tactic, the messenger must not run away from his message, is not even original with Read, this article shows antecedents with Nock, for example.

For me the beauty of Appleseed is that it chose April 19th 1775, a single day, to get people to think about a single idea, swept clean of all the baggage we've collected and polluted it with over the last 238 years, a bright line which we ask each person to chose a side of.

That line was explained to us by a 92 year old Captain Levi Preston: "Young man, what we meant in going for those Redcoats was this: we always had governed ourselves and we always meant to. They didn't mean we should."

What the history, benedictions, passion of our cadre, etc., should be about, to be most effective, is to get people to ask that fundamental question, do you love Liberty and Freedom as values in and of themselves, or just as a means to an end. Do you value them at all?

Do you think, John Parker, Issac Davis, Samuel Whittemore did what they did that day to reduce taxes, to decide on a constitution, to argue about economics or philosophy or religion?

Did Samuel Adams, Otis, Henry, etc, all talk about Liberty and Freedom only as a tactic, only as a rallying cry?

Or did they actually mean what they said, that the love of freedom and liberty is the core, the lodestone by which you judge the merits of every other issue in your life?

Even for the devout, your religions and scriptures at their heart revolve around this issue.

Were you created as a puppet, the preordained toy of a supreme power or were you created in his image, free, free to choose?

Were you admonished to go forth and prevent others from making bad choices or were you shown another way, to remove the beam from your own eye, to choose for yourself and serve as an example that other might choose to follow?

Once you understand, that Appleseed is not about teaching only fundamental Rifle skills, but such fundamental ethical skills, all the differences that divide us fall away. Once you understand that by tending to your own garden, improving yourself, asking only is what I'm doing increasing the prevalence of Liberty and Freedom and if not fixing it so that you are, then all of the ups and downs of political parties, special interests, and yes even TEOTWAWKI, are just passing rain clouds with silver linings.

So to answer your questions. If you understand why we do what we do, nothing has changed so we just keep on doing what we always have been doing, sharing the love and passion for liberty with people.

If something has happened, as it apparently has for Whittle, which cause you to finally understand, that trying to use political power (barrel of a gun) to make people do the right thing doesn't work, then you should rejoice that the scales have finally fallen from your eyes and now begin to simply enjoy sharing your love and passion for liberty in and of itself and let all that angst and wasted effort fall away.

Lets go Appleseed...

[colycat]

Very good post, V.  Its good to see you back and even better to see you are a full instructor again.

[colycat]

As a side note,  Bill Whittle is going to be my virtual president for the next few years.  He will be doing a virtual press conference every month.  Un like the sort of real president we have.  His first one is up and is here  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3NgvF53Ra7M

[funfaler]

If something has happened, as it apparently has for Whittle, which cause you to finally understand, that trying to use political power (barrel of a gun) to make people do the right thing doesn't work, then you should rejoice that the scales have finally fallen from your eyes and now begin to simply enjoy sharing your love and passion for liberty in and of itself and let all that angst and wasted effort fall away.

And this is the crux of what I gleaned from the OP video, and it is a message which is growing and gaining momentum across the country.

It is, of course, the primary message (and even "tactic") of Appleseed, to get people to look past the politics of our condition, and to look at the "heart and mind" of our condition.   

Who alive in America today (those who are both alive and awake, and love Liberty) would not love to have the burden of choosing between Presidential candidates Thomas Jefferson and John Adams?   And this is the macro picture that the video seems to try to paint.

There are many tangential "campfire" discussion points which can engulf these macro ideas which are touched upon in the video, and in the discussions above.   

Whenever there is a sea change or a significant event in a person's life, they often take a moment to evaluate their condition, then seek ways to improve their condition.    This same process happens on a national level as well, and I think that the events of Nov 6th are just one such "sea change" event which will bring about a wave of introspective moments on the part of many people.   

There will be MANY people in this country who will be looking for ways to improve their condition and will be seeking new courses of action, as many of their previous notions are proving inadequate.   

These people are open to previously unseen/unheard ideas and messages.   

And as you aptly point out, Appleseed can be a source for the very message they are seeking.   

There are opportunities abound, and I easily foresee the number of opportunities increasing as time progresses. 

[Johnnyappleseed]

Thanx for posting this good video FF.
V welcome back and thank you for contributing your anayisis which helped me clarify Appleseed message and agenda.
Coly I will also watch Bill Whittle