Topic: The Revolution
How To Grow A Revolution Without Central Planning

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Now that Ron Paul has effectively removed his campaign from the primary leadership role in the Revolution, many people are asking: "Who will do the planning?" This article attempts to answer that question.

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by Walt Thiessen
(libertarian)
Friday, March 7, 2008

Earlier today, I published an article which attempted to interpret Ron Paul's March 6th message to his supporters regarding whether he was dropping out of the campaign. Response to that article has been positive, but there have also been further questions raised. I'll quote from two of the reader comments on that article.

Regarding the proposed march on Washington, Richard Bohan asks who will plan it now that the Paul campaign has indicated that it won't be them. Similarly, reader DX10 asks what the stated purpose of such a march will be. He writes:

"If Dr. Paul is not going to be the focal point how will we determine who or what will be? We either do this in a coordinated way or it will be a failure."

He also asks:

Given (for some time) that Dr. Paul will not be the nominee how can we vote in the general election in a coordinated way to send the message to the MSM and the Parties that we will not be neglected?....

...I am the President of a company in the Military Industrial Complex (heavens!) and I am not used to proceeding without a plan. I trust you can see my frustration.

Excellent questions. Let's take a moment to examine them.

First, regarding the planning of the march, I would point out that there are two leading websites (among many) devoted to the march. They are www.ronpaulmarch.com and www.revolutionmarch.com. I don't know what plans they will make, but my guess (based on what's posted on their respective sites) is that they intend to make their plans in coordination with each other and with other, similar websites pushing for a march. This would be consistent with the way such plans have previously arisen in the Revolution. I'm trying to find out more details about their plans, and I'll report those details as I learn them (assuming my fellow columnists here at the Nolan Chart don't scoop me on such a story!).

Second, regarding the purpose of the march, I expect the planners will make that clear. My own assessment is that no march is likely to gain the attention of the MSM, although there might be some mild attention similar to what Dr. Paul achieved during his campaign. Expecting a march to accomplish more than that is unrealistic. Speaking for myself, the greatest advantage to having a march is that it is a terrific opportunity for the marchers to meet their fellow revolutionaries from around the country, thereby reinforcing the reality of the revolution and providing opportunities for exchanging contact information with each other.

Grassroots Planning

The essential nature of a grassroots movement is that it is not centralized in management. The Paul campaign learned about this first-hand, often to their own consternation. Yet, out of all the madness a number of positive developments occurred. The most famous, of course, are the well-documented money bombs. There's the 1,000 volunteers in New Hampshire. There are the hundreds YouTube videos. There are all the websites that have sprouted up. There are the phone calling campaigns, the sign waving efforts, the blimp, Larry Lepard's full-page newspaper ads, etc.

All of these occurred without central planning, without a single, well structured plan being implemented by an overarching planner. Certainly, the Paul campaign didn't plan any of them. They were as surprised as the rest of us when some new effort, some new strategem emerged. Rather, these occurred via individual and small group efforts, often only half thought out. Many people contributed to their development. Some were highly successful. Most were never even noticed outside of their local areas. All contributed to what we collectively describe as the Revolution.

It is a mistake to assume that there has to be a central plan. Decentralized planning of a Revolution has many benefits. First, there's no way for the government to end such a revolution once it reaches a critical mass short of declaring martial law and effectively eliminating any of the last vestiges of liberty that remain. When planning is done by a central planner, all you have to do is remove the central planner and the activity is effectively undermined. Decentralized planning makes a government crackdown much harder to complete.

Second, when planning is decentralized, the sheer number of projects dwarfs anything that central planners can possibly imagine. Activity happens much more quickly. Plans get implemented the same day the idea is proposed. Websites sprout up within minutes. Emails fly across the country. It's electrifying to watch. 

Evolution of a Revolution

But still some will wonder: can a revolution continue without central planning? The answer is to learn from the way the Revolution evolved. A known defender of liberty and the Constitution was pressured into running for president. When he finally relented, his nominal campaign staff started getting the word out. They also tried to plan their campaign, but to a large part that ended their role. This is partly due to the fact that they had never run a national campaign before. They made lots of mistakes as a result. But ultimately, the Revolution itself took over once freedom activists realized that (a) Ron Paul was running and (b) he actually had a shot at being heard by the voters. One of the running jokes of the campaign among the media was whether the cart was pushing the horse or the horse was pulling the cart. This is a reflection of the power and effectiveness of a decentralized, un-central-planned, grassroots movement.

Decentralized Planning Risk

The great risk with decentralized planning, of course, is that it can fall apart at any moment. So much depends upon the emotional motivation and numbers of the individuals involved. Clearly, since Super Duper Tuesday, the energy behind the Paul campaign was seriously reduced. What's also clear, however, is that the energy was not eliminated. It has managed to keep itself going, despite all the setbacks from that time forward. More importantly, it has done so regardless of the candidate himself. When Paul expressed concern that he needed to pay attention to his Congressional campaign to avoid an embarrassing loss there, Paulites expressed concern, but it didn't affect their energy level. Similarly, once the congressional primary was won handily, it didn't provide a giant boost in emotional energy. This is a sign of maturity of the movement. It maintained its own energy level regardless of what happened with Paul's congressional race.

The question at this point is: can the grassroots movement continue if Ron Paul is merely the movement's figurehead without actually playing a key planning role? This is a relative unknown at this point, but my estimate is that it can and will. The key to success will be the grassroots themselves. If they insist on isolating themselves, then the movement will fail. But if the grassroots reach out to each other and develop contacts and common strategies with each other, the Revolution will continue and can even thrive.

Local First Steps

Here in Northern Virginia where I live, I've already taken my own step in that direction. I am assistant organizer of Ron Paul Meetup Group #1311 in Fauquier County, Virginia. I contacted six other area meetup groups and suggested that we have a regional mass meeting of our members to figure out how to keep the Revolution going. Five of the six groups I contacted expressed interest, and we had an organizers meeting last weekend. Out of that meeting came an intention to have our mass meeting on the first Sunday in April. After I write this article, I'll be going into town to arrange the venue for the meeting.

What will come out of this meeting? It's hard to say. What has already emerged is that the members are anxious for the Revolution to continue. They're signing up for our event already. The information I've received over the past two days from other organizers, as well as from members of my own local group, indicate that we already have 35-40 people committed to attending the meeting. Our venue holds 100-150, so we have high hopes that the venue will be filled come April 6th.

The energy level is still there. What we need is to focus that energy together in our regional area. I can't say what plans will come out of that April meeting, but I'm confident that something will emerge, because that's how grassroots movements work.

If other meetup groups organize similar meetings with other groups in their regions around the country, we could see a new renaissance of the Revolution emerging from them. With Ron Paul as our figurehead, it becomes possible for the Revolution to continue. The key question is simple: are we, the grassroots, willing to continue it? For myself, the answer is yes. I think the rest of the Revolution will answer similarly.

©2008 Walt Thiessen, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Friday, March 7, 2008
Last modified: Friday, March 7, 2008

The views expressed in this article are those of Walt Thiessen only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Walt Thiessen is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

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