For Liberty and Union: Paper No. 5

(by An American Citizen)

On Civic Responsibility

Tyranny doesn't conquer free peoples—it fills the vacuums they leave. While Americans binged Netflix, surveillance systems were built. While we scrolled Twitter, restrictive laws passed. While local elections saw 12% turnout, special interests achieved total capture.

The data is damning. Municipal election turnout averaged 27% in 2023. School board elections drew 10-15%. City council meetings host more staff than citizens. Meanwhile,

Americans spent 3.8 hours daily on entertainment media, 2.5 hours on social media, but couldn't name their mayor, their representative's last vote, or their children's curriculum.

Democracy is not self-executing. It requires players on the field, not spectators in bleachers. Too many good people chose comfort over citizenship. Now liberty loses by forfeit.

The Civic Vacuum We Created

Empty chairs at city council meetings didn't stay empty—lobbyists filled them. Unattended school board elections didn't go uncont tested—activists won them. Ignored zoning hearings didn't pause—developers dominated them.

In Portland, Oregon, a review found that 73% of public comment periods heard only from paid representatives of interest groups. In suburban Dallas, school board takeover by organized activists faced no opposition because parents didn't show up. Across America, average citizens yielded the field to professionals.

The results are predictable. Your property taxes fund projects you never approved. Your schools teach curricula you never reviewed. Your communities transform in ways you never endorsed. Not because you were outvoted, but because you never voted at all.

Knowledge death accompanies civic absence. A 2024 Annenberg survey found only 27% of Americans could name all three branches of government. Just 31% knew the First Amendment protects free speech. Only 19% could identify their state representative. Ignorance of rights guarantees their loss.

The Comfortable Chains We Wore

America made a devil's bargain: trading participation for entertainment, sovereignty for services, dignity for ease.

We chose suburbs designed for isolation—no sidewalks to walk, no squares to gather, no centers to meet. Suburban design isn't accidental. Robert Moses and other planners explicitly sought to prevent spontaneous gathering and organization. Isolated individuals can't resist collectively.

We accepted digital sedation—infinite streaming, perpetual gaming, endless scrolling. The average American spent 7 hours, 4 minutes daily on screens in 2024. Rome had bread and circuses; we have DoorDash and Netflix. The mechanism is identical: distracted populations don't threaten power.

We abandoned local institutions. Civic organization membership dropped 61% since 1970. Church attendance fell by half. Union membership collapsed from 35% to 10%. Bowling leagues, Rotary clubs, PTAs—all shadows of their former selves. When citizens don't associate, they can't organize. When they can't organize, they can't resist.

Historical Lessons in Civic Courage

History remembers ordinary citizens who did extraordinary things through simple participation.

The Committees of Correspondence weren't founded by heroes but by citizens who chose to write letters and attend meetings. Samuel Adams was a failed businessman. Paul Revere was a silversmith. John Hancock was a merchant. They became founders because they showed up.

The abolition movement grew from citizens choosing involvement. Frederick Douglass was a fugitive slave who learned to read. Harriet Beecher Stowe was a housewife who wrote a book. William Lloyd Garrison was a printer who started a newspaper. They ended slavery through civic engagement.

The civil rights movement succeeded through ordinary participation. Rosa Parks was a seamstress who stayed seated. Martin Luther King Jr. was a 26-year-old pastor when Montgomery chose him. John Lewis was a student who decided to march. They changed America by accepting responsibility.

Our generation faces the same choice: comfortable irrelevance or uncomfortable importance.

Dismantling the Excuse Machine

"I don't have time." You have 168 hours weekly. Subtract 40 for work and 56 for sleep—72 hours remain. You spend them on entertainment. Two hours weekly for citizenship is 1.2% of your time. The founders risked their lives; you're asked to risk missing one episode.

"I don't know enough." Neither did the farmers at Lexington. Neither did the housewives who organized boycotts. Neither did the students who sat at lunch counters. Democracy isn't expertise—it's showing up and paying attention. You learned to use smartphones; you can learn to use citizenship.

"It won't make a difference." The last school board election in Loudoun County, Virginia, was decided by 84 votes. A Florida mayoral race was decided by one vote. The 2020 Iowa Democratic caucus was effectively tied. Your absence is a vote for the status quo. Your presence could tip the balance.

"It's too divisive." Slavery was divisive. Women's suffrage was divisive. Civil rights was divisive. Every important issue divides because it matters. Avoiding division means accepting oppression. Unity without justice is tyranny.

The Compound Power of Engagement

One engaged citizen changes the dynamic of any meeting. When someone asks hard questions, others find courage. When someone demands transparency, officials become careful. When someone shows up consistently, power pays attention.

The math is compelling. If one person inspires ten to engage, and those ten inspire ten more, within three cycles you have 1,000 activated citizens. That's enough to swing most local elections, transform school boards, redirect city councils.

In Southlake, Texas, 100 engaged parents reversed an entire curriculum. In Loudon County, Virginia, organized citizens flipped a school board. In San Francisco, activated voters recalled a progressive district attorney. Small groups of determined citizens change history—but only when they show up.

The Waiting Room of History

Every fallen democracy had citizens who planned to act "when things got really bad." The Romans who would resist when the republic truly ended. The Germans who would speak up when the Nazis went "too far." The Venezuelans who would protest when Chavez "crossed the line."

They all waited too long.

The line you're waiting for them to cross? They already have. The surveillance is total. The censorship is coordinated. The President calls cities "training grounds" for military occupation. If this isn't your moment to engage, you don't have a line—you have an excuse.

Evil counts on good people's hesitation. It banks on your belief that someone else will act, that institutions will self-correct, that things will somehow work out. But institutions are just people, and if good people don't fill them, evil people will. There is no cavalry coming. You are the cavalry.

The Civic Minimum

If you do nothing else, do this:

Vote informed. Not just for president—every election, every position. From dog catcher to senator. Research candidates. Read actual bills. Uninformed voting is barely better than not voting; informed voting changes everything.

Attend monthly. Pick one: city council, school board, county commission. Just show up. Your presence alone changes dynamics. Officials act differently when citizens watch.

Speak quarterly. Three minutes at a public meeting. One issue. Your voice. On the record. You'd be amazed how rare citizen comment is and how much officials fear it.

Know five neighbors. Not just names—know their concerns, skills, situations. Community starts with connection. Isolated individuals are helpless; connected neighbors are powerful.

Teach your children. Not partisan politics—civic responsibility. Take them to meetings. Show them how to research. Demonstrate citizenship. They learn from example more than words.

Two hours weekly. Less than you spend on social media daily.

Building Civic Infrastructure

Physical spaces enable democracy. Create neighborhood meeting spots, community gardens, local libraries, public squares. Tyranny fears assembly—enable it everywhere.

Information networks break monopolies. Start neighborhood newsletters, local discussion groups, citizen journalism projects. Document government actions. Share suppressed information. Ignorance enables oppression—cure it systematically.

Skill development multiplies impact. Learn public speaking, meeting management, budget analysis, legal research, organizing tactics. Teach others. Competence threatens power—develop it collectively.

Mutual support enables participation. Provide childcare for meetings, transportation to events, meals for gatherers. Isolation enables control—end it through solidarity.

Civic responsibility isn't just about governance—it's about compassion in action. Check on elderly neighbors. Share surplus from your garden. Offer rides to those without cars. Teach skills freely. These acts of service build the social fabric that tyranny cannot tear. A society that cares for its weakest members is stronger than any surveillance state.

The Choice Before You

Continue the current path: comfort today, chains tomorrow. Entertainment now, enslavement later. Apathy presently, subjugation permanently. Your children inherit the slavery you accept.

Or choose citizenship: effort today, liberty tomorrow. Engagement now, empowerment later. Discomfort presently, dignity permanently. Your children inherit the freedom you secure.

The founders pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. You're asked for two hours weekly.

They crossed the Delaware on Christmas. You're asked to cross the street to a meeting.

They faced muskets and cannons. You face inconvenience and boredom.

They created a nation. We're letting it die.

Conclusion: The Republic If You Can Keep It

Franklin was asked what kind of government they'd created. His answer: "A republic, if you can keep it."

Every empty chair at a public meeting votes for tyranny. Every unread bill permits oppression. Every ignored election consents to control. Every absent citizen enables present tyranny.

The Kirk assassination happened while citizens weren't watching. The surveillance state expanded while we weren't resisting. Economic weapons deployed while we weren't protecting. Military occupation of cities was declared while we scrolled social media. Institutions fell while we weren't participating.

We get the government we deserve through participation—or its absence. Want better? Participate more. Through action, not wishes. Through citizenship, not spectatorship. Through responsibility, not apathy.

The republic doesn't die from conquest but from neglect. Not from invasion but from indifference. Not from attack but from absence.

Your absence creates space for tyranny. Your presence creates possibility for liberty.

The choice is yours. Daily. In every decision to engage or ignore, participate or procrastinate, show up or stay home.

Choose citizenship. Or lose the republic forever.

For Liberty and Union

Signed,
An American Citizen

Who Shows Up

September 25, 2025