Read It, America!: Getting One Million Americans to Read the Constitution

I must say, this is quite instructive. A few weeks ago, I posted an excerpt (and a link) from an article of mine entitled, "Ron Paul Campaign Still Retreating from Iran War Debate". That post resulted in about 600 visits from DailyPaul.com to my (ad-free) blog and a long discussion thread.

Under this present title, however (Read It, America!: Getting One Million Americans to Read the Constitution), I have had three visits to my blog to read the whole story, three "votes" here on DP, and not one single comment.

I've noticed this with other topics as well. What seems to be of the most popular interest here at DailyPaul.com are the sensational items; actual problem solving doesn't get much attention.

Further, this tends to affirm my general observation that far too many Americans (Ron Paul supporters included), want a President to reform the nation FOR them, as opposed to WITH them. The trend plays out thus: The candidate is put forward as the champion. Supporters get behind him or her, working hard to win the election. He or she loses, and the supporters go home and lick their wounds for a couple of years before they gear up for another go-round in the next presidential election.

In the mean time, NOTHING is built.

When a builder comes along DURING the campaign, they are told, pretty much, "Not now, we're busy." And when they come back after a defeat, they're told, "Not now, we're tired."

So nothing gets built.

Folks, this is very short-sighted, and just plain dumb. You can't win the White House without votes. And you can't win votes without changing people's minds. And you can't change their minds without giving them new information. And you can't give them new information without getting their attention. And you can't get their attention without effort. And if everybody leaves the effort to somebody else, nothing gets done.

These are the facts. No one can dispute this.

So perhaps you'll think twice the next time you're tempted to say "We need to get back to the Constitution", or "That's unconstitutional!". If you're willing to complain about it, but not to lift a finger actually to FIX the problem of public ignorance and lack of conviction about the Constitution, then you, my friends, are part of the problem yourselves.

By the way, this is exactly the problem I ran into with www.RuleOfLawRestoration.com. Even here at DailyPaul.com, where you'd think I'd find the highest density of Constitutional goverment people per acre, interest in it was very sparse. Nobody could find fault with it, mind you; they simply had no interest.

So, problem solver that I am, I thought I should focus on things even SIMPLER and more bite-sized. Read It, America! is the most impeccably simple proposal I could imagine---less than one tenth as complicated as the ROLR project. Yet it turns hardly a head here.

I believe that a great number of people here are caught in what I call the Gap Trap. http://www.jackpelham.com/2011/09/05/the-gap-trap/ Yes, they left their old paradigms for better ones, but they have somehow gotten stuck far short of where the journey of reform COULD have taken them.

Ron Paul cannot fix your neighbor, even if elected. No, YOU have to fix your neighbor. And until you believe this, you will be of very little help to anyone. Indeed, if Dr. Paul does win the presidency, I fear very much that a great many of those who had supported him in the campaign will utterly fail to defend his presidential actions when the controversy boils to a head on various issues.

There is no way to avoid having to convert the public from its current dull state to a more enlightened one. If anyone thinks there is, I'd sure love to see that model laid out.

Perplexed and in hope of much better than this.

Jack