The Initiative Convention - The Vision

Increasingly our legislators seem more wedded to party ideology and special interests than doing the will of the people. If we want change in government, we need to try new methods to affect change. The state of Washington has a wonderful versatile initiative provision written right into the state's constitution. With 240,000 signatures the people can directly propose legislation and the socialist legislators in Olympia cannot do anything to impede this process! Unfortunately, getting 240,000 through conventional methods such as paid signature gatherers takes a lot of money and effort.

With the advent of the internet and concepts of viral marketing, I believe that this situation could dramatically change. This is particularly true now as citizens feel more alienated from their out of touch legislators than every before. I believe it is time to revolutionize the way the initiative process is handled using the economies of scale that can be organized by using the internet.

First, if we can collect a large database of emails of freedom loving individuals we should theoretically be able to get many initiatives signed very quickly. At the extreme, if we get 240,000 active participants in the state on the mailing list, it is a matter of emailing a petition to everyone and having them send it back. Realistically, it might be difficult to find that many people to be that active. However, if we can get 12,000 willing to get 20 signatures each from their friends and family, that is something that could be potentially very effective.

Viral marketing, simply forwarding emails to everyone you know, particularly those upset with the government can spread information like wildfire. If one combines it with "Digg bombs" where a bunch of people give a positive rating to a press release is a way of getting many other web surfers aware of what we are doing. These methods could potentially do away with the need for massive consumer advertising in the process of creating a large email activist list and increasing awareness of what you are trying to accomplish.

The other key idea is the concept of a large annual or semi-annual event which could get a ton of publicity such as the recent Tea Parties popping up all over the country. Viral marketing methods combined with word of mouth can be effectively used here. The idea is to have locations spring up all over the state where 10, 20, 30, or MORE initiatives will be on one place for people to go and sign. The concept is bringing economies of scale to the initiative process! Take all the effort towards getting one initiative and apply it to multiple initiatives.

Now think of what we can do then. We could have the following initiatives (1) a jury nullification initiative providing explicit instructions to the jury that THEY have a right to determine both the facts AND THE LAW (see U.S. v. Dougherty) and explicitly tell them they can vote not guilty if the law violates the Constitution! (2) a gun rights bill such as the one recently passed in Montana, (3) an anti carbon tax initiative like the recent legislation passed in Arizona in response to the Waxman-Markey Economic Suicide Bill. (4) Bills to reduce business taxation and overregulation. (5) Get rid of growth management! (6) Get rid of useless bureaucracies like the Department of Ecology. (7) Bills that make the National Animal Identification VOLUNTARY instead of mandatory in the state. (8) Prevent implementation of intrusive Real ID laws in the State. (9) Protect manifest intrastate commerce from federal government regulation. (10) Get rid of intrusive laws such as seat belt legislation. Are you starting to get the idea of what is possible here? The possibilities are endless.

It gets even better. Not only can we submit a law directly to the voters, we can force legislators in Olympia to VOTE on this legislation BEFORE the vote to the people! Let's face it. The people in Washington are not nearly as liberal as the Gregoire gang in Olympia. That is why a lot of bills, such as the Sovereignty bill sponsored by Matt Shea would not even get a hearing in Olympia...they did NOT want to go on record with a vote when they know the people are upset with the Feds. If we submit an initiative to the legislature, they HAVE to vote on it, no matter how uncomfortable it is! And if they do not approve it, the great thing is the people have the final vote! We then also get to remind people of the representatives' votes during the next election, which might help change the balance of power in the state.

If you are interested in participating in the initiative convention concept I urge you to sign up in one capacity or another by clicking here, where you can also sign up for the mailing lists of other liberty loving organizations. All it takes is a little outside the box thinking and we can take back this state. However, if people like us are unwilling to do anything, we should just surrender to the Marxists and be ashamed of the legacy we have left for our children. We can accomplish nothing without your help.