Did you hear the one about....

Community organizing: it's not just a joke anymore.

During the 2008 presidential campaign it was standard right-wing pundit fare to poke fun at Barack Obama's history as a "community organizer." I freely admit to joining in the revelry. The title seemed as self-appointed and self-righteous as anything Hugo Chavez could cook up.

This is instructive. The fact that "community organization" struck such a minor chord with many Americans may tell more about the country and its conservatives than about Mr. Obama. What if taking one's positions, one's values, and one's principles into the public square requires something more than a single day at the ballot box? What if rather than liberal do-goodism, community organization is really... democracy?

A country founded in the manner of ours always faces a paradox: majority rule is democratic, but minority rights are essential to a free society. A republic cannot flourish when the majority is allowed to rule tyrannically over its minorities. Our first presidents were among the first to point this out. Our country fought a civil war over the concept. Our long, storied progress as a nation has been undeniably marked by the eternal struggle to settle this juxtaposition.

It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that one's perspective on the function of democracy is largely shaped by one's relative position in the majority/minority mix. Now, majorities shift over time, there are regular changes in political party rule, and it is too simplistic to suggest this dynamic is a dichotomy. Rather, dozens, scores, or even hundreds of individual viewpoints may find themselves at any moment in time part of either camp.

For the last 30 years, generally speaking, conservatives have found themselves in the majority camp. Elections might be close, setbacks may happen, but given enough force of will and determination, simply turning up at the ballot box in their numbers would ensure continued dominance.

Meanwhile, others saw themselves on the outside looking in. Blacks, the poor, immigrants...whatever. These were groups often marginalized in practice, if not officially. Enter the community organizer. The concept is as old as time: strength in numbers. Focus. Determination. Collective will to action. The point is to form a single voice out of the chaos of many. It is to stand together to rebalance the political landscape, and reassert the position of the minority in the broader context of the society. Clearly, some of the things advocated by the "community" might be ridiculous, they may be petty, they may be patently wrong. Nevertheless the vital thing is that they find in their unity a certain power. A power to shout out for what they believed is right. A power to demand a seat at the table, or at least a corner in which to stand.

In short: they participate.

Here is where we all can learn. The Libertarian/Conservative message is on the wane. Out of fear people are clinging to Uncle Sam. Maybe the majority/minority mix is changing. In reaction, it isn't beneath us to gather in crowded rooms over cheap coffee to air our grievances. It isn't beneath us to rally around those who share our concerns. It isn't beneath us to spend years to accomplish a goal we think worthy. And it sure as hell isn't beneath us to participate in the democratic process more than once every four years.

And maybe, just maybe those who espouse freedom and limited government need to step up and organize... or be organized.

Let's agitate, irritate, and bloviate over the need to teach economics to every high school student in the country. Why allow the left exclusive rights to be grumpy over educational inadequacy? Organize!

Let's organize to demand school vouchers. Let's reach into neighborhoods where conservatives don't tread, to find allies they shouldn't dread, to promote knowledge for every head. Organize!

Let's create a market driven health care system that isn't hostage to regulation, threatened by litigation, and funded by taxation. Organize!

Let's slow the advance of representation without taxation by making the tax code flat, fair, and fiscally feasible. Organize!

I remember hearing the old union cry: "Early to bed, early to rise, fight like hell and organize!" and thinking what a tired bit of nonsense it was. I also remembering a pastor exhorting our congregation that "O Lutherans, you will tap your toes in spite of yourselves." The pastor's point was that his stereotypically buttoned-down flock would be forced by the moment to express themselves in rhythm. And this is what conservatives must recognize: theirs is not an agitating nature. Theirs is not a marching strand. In short, theirs is not a minority mindset.

Nevertheless, it is time. It is time to stand up. Make a little noise. Fire a few shots over the bow, and never let the country forget the principles which form the foundation of this great republic.