MoveOn's 50 Ways to Love Your Country: How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change

MoveOn's 50 Ways to Love Your Country: How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change MoveOn.org Date: March, 2004   —   $8.76   —   Book product page Rating:

By releasing "50 Ways to Love Your Country", MoveOn.org has unleashed the Anarchist's Cookbook of political activism on an America that is rapidly re-engaging in politics.

In the 60s two-thirds of eligible voters conscientously chose representatives to convey their hopes and dreams to the federal government. By the 90s, that number had dwindled to less than half. A post-Watergate crisis of confidence in our elected representatives, and a post-Vietnam disintegration of America's purpose in the world helped convince many young people that it didn't matter who was elected.

Thank you Presidents GHW Bush and Bill Clinton for showing us that America can act with purpose and determination as part of a global community. Thank you President Clinton for showing us that Americans can be economically successful and socially and environmentally conscious. Thank you President GW Bush for being such a poor leader and so starkly contrasting what is with what could be again.

I was talking with my Mom the other day about how, if President Bush has done nothing else well, he's at least mobilized American voters. She asked me if there was something else she could do to get Kerry elected, other than fritter away my inheritance in campaign donations. The only thing I could think of was to write letters to her representatives. After reading this book, I have another 49 answers.

The book is a series of fifty, one or two page tales of political activism with some excellent 'how-to' tips thrown in by the MoveOn staff. It's written primarily by progressives, but any of the fifty practical actions can be, and are, used successfully by conservatives. From writing the President every day, to writing a letter to the editor of your local paper; from creating or signing an online petition, to creating a statewide referendum; from volunteering to make phone calls for a campaign, to running against a Congressional incumbent; it's all here.

If you're reading this review, you're probably interested in finding your political voice. Buy the book, steal it, check it out from the library, whatever. There's an idea in there for whatever level of political activism is in your comfort-zone, or perhaps these tales will inspire you to stretch a bit. Whatever you decide do, you will be an effective part of the American political process.