Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

Tea Party in New York!

Rate this topic


dan_edge

Recommended Posts

On February 19, 2009, Rick Santelli of CNBC News called for a Chicago Tea Party to oppose the Stimulus Bill and the socialist philosophy it represents. Over the past week, Tea Party protests have already been organized in 40 cities across the nation. I'm happy to say that City Hall Park (Facebook link) in New York City will be the site of one such protest. It's happening this Saturday (2/28) from 2pm to 3pm at City Hall Park in Manhattan.

My wife and I will be there, with poster signs and tea bags in hand. Several of our friends are coming, too, and we're going out to dinner after the protest. I hope to see you there!

Spread the word...

:dough:

--Dan Edge

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a video of me speaking at the NYC Tea Party protest:

I need to work on that shifty feet syndrome, but other than that I was pleased.

There are a bunch of pictures, too, which I'll post to my blog when I get the chance. Here's the transcript of my speech:

--Dan Edge

2/27/09

Speech for the New York Tea Party

Like many of you, I was inspired by Rick Santelli’s comments on CNBC on February 19th, and even more inspired by the fact that so many people across the country have answered the call to rise up and protest the direction this country is going. Mr. Santelli said that Cuba “traded the individual for the collective.” On a deeper level, this means that they rejected a philosophy of individualism in favor of a philosophy of collectivism.

Our Founding Fathers formed this country on the basis of a new, revolutionary idea that the individual’s moral right to his own life, liberty, and property is absolute, inalienable, and that these rights must not be violated by anyone including – and especially – the government. Mr. Obama, his administration, and most members of Congress, embrace the opposite view of the Founding Fathers. Sure, they will allow us to keep some of our freedoms and some of our property – until they decide that it benefits the collective to restrict our freedom and confiscate our property. Make no mistake: re-distribution of wealth; government-caused inflation that devalues the currency, destroying your life-savings; outright nationalization – all of these things are a violation of our individual rights, a violation committed by our own government.

I think that calling this event a Tea Party is very appropriate. The original Boston Tea Party marked the beginning of a revolution against a statist government. What we need now is a revolution – a revolution of ideas. We have to fight for the moral principle this government was founded on, the principle that made the United States the freest, most prosperous nation in history: that the rights to life, liberty, and property belong to the individual, not the collective, and when the government subordinates those rights to the group, that is what you call tyranny.

We’re here to tell you, Comrade President, that you’re not dragging this country towards socialism without a fight. Stop treading on me, Mr. President, because we, the people, the individuals of America, will not stand for it any longer. To hell with all your socialist (I mean “stimulus”) plans, to hell with Big Brother, and to hell with the collective!

Thank you.

--Dan Edge

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a video of me speaking at the NYC Tea Party protest:

I need to work on that shifty feet syndrome, but other than that I was pleased.

There are a bunch of pictures, too, which I'll post to my blog when I get the chance. Here's the transcript of my speech:

--Dan Edge

2/27/09

Speech for the New York Tea Party

Like many of you, I was inspired by Rick Santelli’s comments on CNBC on February 19th, and even more inspired by the fact that so many people across the country have answered the call to rise up and protest the direction this country is going. Mr. Santelli said that Cuba “traded the individual for the collective.” On a deeper level, this means that they rejected a philosophy of individualism in favor of a philosophy of collectivism.

Our Founding Fathers formed this country on the basis of a new, revolutionary idea that the individual’s moral right to his own life, liberty, and property is absolute, inalienable, and that these rights must not be violated by anyone including – and especially – the government. Mr. Obama, his administration, and most members of Congress, embrace the opposite view of the Founding Fathers. Sure, they will allow us to keep some of our freedoms and some of our property – until they decide that it benefits the collective to restrict our freedom and confiscate our property. Make no mistake: re-distribution of wealth; government-caused inflation that devalues the currency, destroying your life-savings; outright nationalization – all of these things are a violation of our individual rights, a violation committed by our own government.

I think that calling this event a Tea Party is very appropriate. The original Boston Tea Party marked the beginning of a revolution against a statist government. What we need now is a revolution – a revolution of ideas. We have to fight for the moral principle this government was founded on, the principle that made the United States the freest, most prosperous nation in history: that the rights to life, liberty, and property belong to the individual, not the collective, and when the government subordinates those rights to the group, that is what you call tyranny.

We’re here to tell you, Comrade President, that you’re not dragging this country towards socialism without a fight. Stop treading on me, Mr. President, because we, the people, the individuals of America, will not stand for it any longer. To hell with all your socialist (I mean “stimulus”) plans, to hell with Big Brother, and to hell with the collective!

Thank you.

--Dan Edge

Great speech! That was awesome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow Dan, excellent !!!!!! Very well done.

Can you tell us some more about the event?

How many people were there? Was there a large fraction of intelligent people? Were there police there? Did others have interesting things to say? Was there a particular comment or sentiment that stood out to you? How long did it go? What did you and your friends think about the event; what was the discussion at dinner? How did you feel afterwards, energized? Would you do it again? What were the good points and what were the bad points? How did the protests go in the other 40 cities, if you know?

Lots of questions, feel free to give short answers.

P.S.

Your picture on this forum is not very high quality and doesn't do you justice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great job, Dan!

In speech class, my nervous habit was touching my pants while my hands were at my side. The teacher rolled up some scotch tape and placed it there so each time I went to touch it, I touched the tape instead, thus making me aware of the habit. It didn't take long for me to stop. Perhaps get an old pair of shoes and put some tape or something sticky on bottom when you practice your speeches?? :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a tea-party like protest in downtown Chicago, and the protesters were chanting, "Atlas has shrugged!"

hmmmm...

That Rocks!

I'll be heading to Madison, Wisconsin for the Tea Party here on...April 15th.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Anyone planning anything for the second wave of these, the Tax Day Tea Party protests?

This is where you can find a protest scheduled in your city.

This would be a great opportunity for some O'ist intellectual activism.

Here is a very recent youtube from ARI titled "Atlas Shrugged and the Tea Party Revolt":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6ilV2J8XnI

Edited by intellectualammo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...