The tea party protest pictured here in Lansing Michigan was just one of many that transpired Friday across the nation. Inspired by the rant of Rick Santelli on CNBC, a grassroots organization opposed to the wave of spending by the Democratic Congress and the stimulus program of Barak Obama, in addition to the bailout package, have converged in cities across the nation to engage in peaceful protests.To get that last point across, one site advertising a tea party in Los Angeles listed the following advice-
“Few simple rules, :
NO: breaking the law (e.g., loitering, vandalism)
NO: violence (physical or verbal)
JUST: good cheer & a positive sense of public engagement & a smile.”
All of which begs the point-do they even get the point of what the original tea party was all about? Can you imagine the original participants of the Boston Tea Party taking seriously any admonitions from officials to refrain from dumping tea on the grounds that it is bad for the environment, and might even discolor the water? Of course not. Yet, this was precisely what happened in Iowa.Granted, this is a young movement, and might well grow into something big over time, and I would be the last to encourage violence or destruction of property, which actually would be counterproductive. In fact, the resultant higher prices on goods would possibly result in even more money in the coffers of the federal government. 
Like children, the movement should grow, but also mature, and work toward not destruction, but simply to affect prices in the opposite direction. It's actually quite simple. SAVE-DON'T SPEND!
Unfortunately, that is a hard lesson for children to learn, to say nothing of putting it into practice. Still, I'm afraid that all of us are going to have to make some serious sacrifices in the way we live if we really expect to affect needed change. A few hundred or thousand people here and there engaging in a symbolic act of dumping tea while chanting slogans and waving signs is all well and good, but like all protests, it must be followed with decisive action. Let's call it, well, fiscal discipline?
/>All of us are going to have to make some serious sacrifices in the way we live if we really expect to affect needed change. Otherwise this protest movement, like so many others, will just be hijacked by a few loud-mouths who will in the end accomplish nothing but serve to rally some people to a cause that in the long run will be seen as one chasing a fantasy, but willing to do nothing to really change anything.
