Project: Restore Values In Your Own Home With the explosion of progressivism in America, every major institution that influences public opinion has been overrun by collectivist/statists, from the movie theater to the classroom.
That means that your kids (along with the rest of us) are constantly bombarded with leftist messages.
Every day, they hear that business is the problem and ever-bigger government is the solution.
They are told all the time that anyone who opposes Barack Obama and the current statist government is a racist, a bigot, a homophobe, a sexist, and a greedy wealth-mongerer.
Think about that.
If you are a person who understands the danger of our nation's march toward statism - if you're a restorationist - you know you need to get involved in restoring the free-market Constitutional republic that America was (and will be again).
You know that evil will flourish if good people do nothing, so you are looking for the best "restoration projects" for you to personally undertake.
Your kids will undoubtedly know about your opposition to Obama and the statists; when they hear "occupiers" who might be their college classmates (or their first-grade teachers) essentially call you a racist, will your kids buy it? Or will they know better? And how can you be sure? I've made the point before that America works best on a "project" basis, and that we should all be looking for projects we can take on in the effort (jointly and individually) to restore America.
I've also suggested that your very first project should be to solidify your own personal values, so that you can take being pilloried by the fierce institutions of the left; so that, when you hear that anyone who agrees with your opposition to statism is a bigot, YOU will know better.
And right after that, your "next first" project should begin at home, influencing your own family, and making sure everyone under your roof has that same solid foundation of values.
When my four kids were much younger (especially during the time when they ranged in age from elementary school to high school), I worked as hard as I knew how to help them form strong values.
I took an interest in their lives, and when the BIG problems came up (usually those of a social nature), I tried to help them solve their problems through figuring out what the RIGHT thing to do would be (based on values).
Knowing they'd pay much more attention to what I did than to what I said, I tried to walk my talk: I worked hard, and I went out of my way to show respect to everyone we met (and I was very careful never to use the wrong words or speak ill of others, even when those "others" were people with whom I vehemently disagreed).
I invited thought and debate.
I demonstrated my entrepreneurial spirit, and encouraged theirs.
I told stories about how, in the fullness of time, the "right" always prevails - and I tried to show HOW things like courage and personal responsibility made your life better.
And, yeah, I suppose I preached a little, too.
I'm happy to say that today, when my "kids" are no longer kids, they each seem to have a pretty good compass to take them through the rocky seas of their lives.
They do find themselves completely surrounded by statists, from co-workers to classmates to the people their age they meet in social situations.
But while they do sometimes avoid taking a stand in order to avoid taking a fall with their friends, when push comes to shove, my offspring seem to be able to see through the loud craziness of their liberal contemporaries.
And when the name-calling starts, as it always does when liberals run out of logical arguments (shortly after they begin speaking), my kids have some pretty good immunity to it.
When their occupier friends start trashing tea-partiers, and business owners, and "right wingers" - when they start calling such opponents of statism "racists" and "sexists," my kids know better.
They have at least one example to recall (their dad), and they know the names don't fit.
And it makes the liberal argument seem pretty weak, I'm told.
Your big project - your most visible contribution to the restoration of America - is coming up soon.
Yours might be to start a business, or to undertake a major improvement of your existing business.
It might be to run for office, or to support a political campaign, or to start a discussion group.
But whatever it is, don't launch it until you've completed your most important projects.
First and foremost, make sure your personal values are in order, and that you're doing what you can to support strong values in your own home.
That work is the foundation upon which all your other projects vitally depend.