Remain steadfast in your convictions. Live freely. Increase knowledge. Vote.

The first thing we can do to preserve our way of life is to be bold in our convictions and true to our beliefs, values, history, and traditions. There is an increasing pattern across the country of people with large metro backgrounds, big city views, and leftist values relocating to rural areas, and once there, over time, supplanting or radically altering the existing rural way of life with their values. Not everyone who relocates here does this, nor should it be construed that we don’t want new people becoming part of our community. We should however, remain steadfast in our values and not be so willing to change key parts of our values to appease a loud, emotional, minority view that typically masquerades itself as a morally superior majority view. Similar to what we see happening at a national level.

Next, live freely and exercise your established rights, commonly accepted behaviors and traditions. Continue to hunt, fish, go to church, believe in objective truth, utilize water rights, run cattle, farm, maintain private property rights, look out for one another and our respective kids and grand kids, be patriotic (it’s OK to love America), celebrate our history, honor our ancestors, uphold what is right and wrong, and stand against actions or ideologies that set themselves up against these things. Continuing to exercise our free will without being belligerent, disrespectful, or ostracizing others, particularly leftist liberals is a strong way to maintain our way of life while protecting us from weak arguments that would be much stronger in the absence of this activity.

Equally important is increasing and vocalizing education and knowledge. Especially pertaining to our local education system, existing and proposed local/county/state legislation, and the available mechanisms to voice our opinions. In a larger context, speaking about citizens, education, and our Republic in 1817, Thomas Jefferson stated:

“An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic. Self-government is not possible unless the citizens are educated sufficiently to enable them to exercise oversight. It is therefore imperative that the nation see to it that a suitable education be provided for all its citizens.”

This does not mean indoctrination into socialism, communism, Marxism, or other failed collectivist ideologies. Further, understanding we established a Republic with a peculiar form of Democracy, not a pure Democracy, is critical. We can argue this system has produced the most successful and prosperous nation on earth and in history for the greatest number of people. Not a perfect system by any means, but better than all other systems based on results and outcomes. Interestingly, pure democracy is a form of collectivism not representative government. James Madison in the Federalist Papers in 1787 made this point:

“Pure democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”

It is imperative we get more educated ourselves and pay better attention to what is and is not being taught in our local systems of education. The less educated we are the less we are able to counter destructive proposals or actions. We also could find ourselves in a situation where we are not aware of what we are about to give up or have taken from us.

And it is critical we all engage at some level and always exercise the right to vote. Get on a local committee, run for elected office or take the time to get informed on an issue, action or candidate. In many instances legislation, policy and local candidates are decided by dozens or hundreds of votes when hundreds or thousands of people did not vote at all. To preserve our rural way of life, we must vote and make our viewpoint heard at every available opportunity.