America has always been a bastion of liberty and a home of innovation; that’s true now more than ever. The truth is that working for liberty in America is also working for liberty everywhere else in the world. Now is the time and here is the place where you can effectively work for peaceful, positive reform and the defeat of the corrupt two-party system.
I know that a change for the better is sweeping through this nation. It will ripple out into the world and effect change everywhere else. In the last year, here is what I have seen:
A national audience of over 20 million tuned into the presidential debates moderated by Larry King. They heard candidates talk about the erosion of our precious civil liberties, a foreign policy that breeds war, taxation, monetary policy and the Federal Reserve and more. C-SPAN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, YouTube, CNN Radio, LA Times, Washington Post and RT America all noticed and reported it. Free & Equal was a top ten trending topic on Twitter. Proposition 121 was defeated in Arizona.
The lesson is that people do respond to education. People are willing to stand up and demand something different. The response from the youth in particular has been incredible, and it fills me with optimism for the future. The grassroots movement to break the two-party stronghold is alive and well and growing by the minute. And Free & Equal will continue this work:
In February of 2013 we’re going to take Free & Equal on the road with a 10-city university bus tour. Notable speakers such as Ron Paul, Jesse Ventura, Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, Dennis Kucinich and Ralph Nader will be invited. Musicians such as Adam Levin of Maroon 5 and Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins are a few of the many being considered who generate interest in Free & Equal’s mission by staging concerts. The tour will be a powerful way to get our greatest resource â€"young peopleâ€" engaged and acting now for free and open elections.
Free & Equal will also be creating an elections database, which will provide information on every candidate, including voting history, associated private interest groups, and more. This database will also serve as a database for the entire liberty movement, by connecting activists and organizations all over the United States. It is especially intended to help independent candidates by putting them in touch with the resources they need. This is monumental news â€" the independent movement has grown so large that it needs its own database!
Even more exciting is that Americans are hungry for good information, and Free & Equal wants to help provide that with a Los Angeles-based studio, called the Honest News Network, which will foster open discussion on a range of issues from electoral reform, foreign and domestic policy, the war on drugs and more.
Our successes from last year and our exciting new ventures tell me that staying involved does work. I have seen the results with my own eyes: the youth are more excited, people are questioning what they’re told, peace and prosperity are the new watchwords. Knowledge of the corruption of the two-party system is growing. There is much still to do, but with the passion and dedication of so many activists, we can overturn this unjust system. We’ve already made incredible progress, and there’s more to come.
This is a grassroots movement, started by a few brave, far-seeing activists, whose place is now being taken by thousands and then by millions willing to take up the torch. The message of peace, prosperity and freedom is too powerful to be denied. People recognize that there is a better way, and they seek it out. A movement is building, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world â€" because, in fact, the world is at stake. Never has a movement for peace and prosperity had so many eager, tenacious young people behind it; this movement cannot be denied. There will be a peaceful, positive solution. Stay, and be a part of it with Free & Equal.
Christina Tobin is the Founder and Chair of Free & Equal Elections. Visit their webpage at www.freeandequal.org
