THE SILENT MAJORITY

The paradox in all the discussions regarding 'left' and 'right' is how we measure our effectiveness. We are still basing our policies and values upon the small segment of society who are willing to EXPRESS their opinions while ignoring the multitude who watch and listen, but remain silent! Back in the 60's and 70's there was much more recognition of the "silent majority". They are still alive and well...and still the majority. I don't know if it is universal, throughout America, but in Clackamas County the number of registered Democrats, Republicans, and Independents are ALL down. That does NOT mean that the public is becoming hopelessly apathetic, but simply there is an increasing segment of "we the people" who are becoming disenfranchised by all the major parties. Why? For the same reason there has been an enormous surge in the number of grassroots political organizations - they are all looking for a party which most closely represents the values of the "silent majority". I think "Conservatives" may draw encouragement from the fact these grassroots organizations are leaning toward the values we represent (God, liberty, justice, financial prudence, states' rights & the Constitution and free market competition) – but not completely! The winner of all the political "spoils" (the "pot' in the Poker metaphor) will be the party which tailors its platform to embrace the best qualities of all parties. What if we had a party which recognized the fact that the 'war babies' are getting older and are somewhat decimated; their children are coming of age and are more progressive inasmuch as they are receptive to new ideas and approaches – as children will always be – but still retain most of the values of their parents; their Grandchildren are learning the values of parents and Grandparents. I know there are people I hope will be reading this who are much more qualified than I to recognize and identify the hybrid-values which will emerge from the age of transition. If we continue to stubbornly persist in retaining traditional political values we will discover we have become little more than a footnote in history. It's time we let our hair down before it all falls out.