I am not an editor or journalist.  I’m not an influencer.  I don’t sit in a boardroom or govern my companies’ policies; I abide by them.  Not exactly a position of fortitude, but like many of you I don’t have the luxury of not having a job.  I have a mortgage to pay and a son to put through college.

For most of my life I’ve been apolitical.  I’ve only voted in a handful of elections and my votes have never been one party-centric.  Perhaps I just never had the inclination to support a political entity that would invariably let me down. Perhaps I just thought that silence would serve me better than plainspoken conversation.

But inaction has consequences too.  In recent years, I’ve seen many of my colleagues and friends readily embrace the illusion of safety over personal self-determination. As these same friends and colleagues are equally eager to embrace a mantle of inclusion based on the exclusion of intellectual diversity, I’m reminded of Benjamin Franklin’s warning that adversaries of liberty would need to begin by “subduing the freeness of speech.”  

This isn’t a minority of my peers, mind you, that take no issue with federal mandates and the idea of government led disinformation boards.  It's disheartening to see how quickly we’ve lost our grasp on the historical truths that distinguish free societies.  But what did we expect?  Most of us never provided our children with a historical context to understand or even consider these truths. Instead, we’ve relinquished our role to Yahoo and Google, Facebook, Tik Tok, and Instagram.  We’ve given academia the green light to raise our children and we’ve taught our children not to question authority.  We’ve been lazy and now we’re disappointed about the way the cake turned out.

So, what can we do now?  Namely, what can someone like you or I do? What can someone with no audience and no political capital really accomplish when nearly every medium of political discourse and method of communication is driven by a coastal elitist narrative?   In truth, maybe not much.  But, not much, isn’t nothing either.  And, maybe if there are enough of us commoners doing something more than nothing, we’ll actually accomplish something quite substantive. 

Let’s focus our attention on few resolutions that promote vibrant communities and limited government. These aren’t schematic changes.  They are resolutions that “Main Street” Americans can implement without any real time commitment, monetary cost, or risk of reprisal.

1. Vote with your Wallet

You may vote at the ballot box once or twice a year, but you vote every day with your wallet. As Americans we are constant consumers.  We spend a lot and we spend often. And, every day we funnel our hard-earned salaries to corporations like: Paypal, Apple, Ben and Jerry’s, Starbucks, Target, and Nike.  It’s a sad irony, but we’re financing the who’s who of Woke Inc.

In 2023 let’s commit to changing our spending habits. The good news is most of us spend the majority of our money within the same circles of retailers and restaurants.  Switching over a handful of products is easier than you think and you can feel good about money you were already spending anyway.

2. Vote with your ‘Clicks’ (aka: Never Google Anything Again)

There are some fantastic search engines out there not named “Google” or “Yahoo.” Download one of them and set it as your default browser.  The only thing you’ll miss are the trackers, advertisers, Big Brother Google, and the liberal content you’re force-fed daily.

3. Teach you Kids the Bill of Rights

If you haven’t noticed, kids tend to be idealists.  What’s more ideal than ensuring the rights and liberties of individual citizens from an expansive government?  Post a copy on your kids’ wall. Understanding it will provide your children with a lifelong lens to see the abuses of power in plain sight.

4. Vote Twice!!

Ever found it frustrating that our elected representatives are being put in office by a constituency of uninformed and unmotivated voters?  Here’s a silver lining.  No, you can’t literally vote twice, but you can make your ballot count more.  

Judges don’t have a capital “D” or “R” near their names.  Do your homework (most of your fellow voters won’t) and vote down ballot.  Since you just taught your kids the Bill of Rights, now’s your opportunity to support judges who will actually uphold it. 

5. Know your Charities

You don’t have to support BLM, Planned Parenthood, or the Southern Poverty Law Center to have your well-intentioned dollars funding left of field ideologies.

6. Widen Your Circle of Influence

Here are a few ideas: write an article, volunteer, run for your local school board, join a PAC, teach a class online. These might take more of a coordinated effort but there’s no shortage of options.

7. Consider the Switch (from Network TV to Podcasts)

It’ll save you time and money, give you the flexibility to listen on your watch, and empower you to choose the content of your programs.

8. Raise Skeptics not Conformists

Children have a natural inclination to question everything; let them.  They’re going to have to unpack a lot of BS in their lives from all sorts of avenues and authority figures.  Let’s not raise sheep just because they’re more agreeable.

9. Buy and Hold

I’m not suggesting that you should revamp your brokerage account. But why not make money supporting the companies you love?  Consider that values of the company as one of the criteria in your selection.

10. Aspiration Trumps Contention

Anger and fear are short-term wins.  Represent the party of aspiration.  It should come natural to us.  You can start with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

Bonus: Pay it Forward

The best part about these resolutions is that they have a multiplier effect. Pay them forward. Let’s make 2023 the year we reject the fear tactics and divisiveness spurred by elitest ideologues.  Let’s not have our values cooked up in the boardrooms of some multinational conglomerates. They’ve led us astray; caused us to turn our backs to the city on a hill.  Let the common sense and common decency of everyday Americans pave the way back.  

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