LittleLightShining
11-30-2009, 06:43 PM
Are you an activist or are you a politician?
An activist pushes others right up to - and slightly beyond - their comfort zone. The activist is a lightening rod. He's an attention getter. He is a polarizer. Some activists out there push people quite a bit past their comfort zones (which, IMO and in the case of the freedom movement, is a detriment to the good). These folks are activists.
A politician, on the other hand, doesn't push people outside their comfort zones. He works inside the system - with those already inside the system. (For example, your county GOP.) The politician negotiates deals with those insiders. He does NOT alienate them by pushing them far outside their comfort zones. He literally WORKS the insiders. He cuts deals with them. And with each deal - he moves them closer - ever so slightly - some might even say incrementally - towards liberty.
We need both.Words of wisdom originally posted here (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=220492).
This is a very important distinction that we need to be cognizant of moving into the next election. Not every activist is automatically an effective politician. Politicians are usually not very successful activists. There are rare cases where someone is both. Recognize who you are, what you're good at and where you can be the most effective and go from there.
An activist pushes others right up to - and slightly beyond - their comfort zone. The activist is a lightening rod. He's an attention getter. He is a polarizer. Some activists out there push people quite a bit past their comfort zones (which, IMO and in the case of the freedom movement, is a detriment to the good). These folks are activists.
A politician, on the other hand, doesn't push people outside their comfort zones. He works inside the system - with those already inside the system. (For example, your county GOP.) The politician negotiates deals with those insiders. He does NOT alienate them by pushing them far outside their comfort zones. He literally WORKS the insiders. He cuts deals with them. And with each deal - he moves them closer - ever so slightly - some might even say incrementally - towards liberty.
We need both.Words of wisdom originally posted here (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=220492).
This is a very important distinction that we need to be cognizant of moving into the next election. Not every activist is automatically an effective politician. Politicians are usually not very successful activists. There are rare cases where someone is both. Recognize who you are, what you're good at and where you can be the most effective and go from there.