This article was really heartening to read. Thank you.
I like the suggestion that we report our experiences, and have enjoyed reading people’s Tea Party stories. Man, I would have liked to be in Manchester. Tina Ann, I will check out the rest of your poem, and I really like the idea of reading a poem at an event like this. Apparently some of them have had open mikes. I’ll pick my poem for the next such eventuality!
I went to the Boston Tax Day Tea Party on Wednesday, arriving at the Boston Common around 10:30. There were a few hundred people milling around but it wasn’t yet clear how many of us belonged to the Tea Party crowd. Over time the crowd coalesced. Quite a few people were dressed in colonial costumes, with tri-corner hats and the like. We’re big on this in Boston anyway–our Minute Men dress up on Patriot’s Day, for example (what, you have never heard of Patriot’s Day, April 19? I hadn’t, growing up in California). One of the most beautifully dressed guys, in a green linen authentic-looking suit with all the trappings of the era and a fine tri-corner hat, was handing out copies of the Constitution. He was definitely working the Tea Party, but he said he was there every day, as part of his job with the Plymouth Rock Foundation. I got a kick out of this overlap. Later some young people asked for a picture with this guy, and he agreed; I took the picture for them, but first the young people (they may have been 30; I am 53) put on their brand new Tea Party t-shirts (someone was selling them at the event). At the ‘say cheese’ moment of course I had to be goofy and said “say ‘free market’”. They appreciated it. It was all very festive.
It was a gorgeous day to be outside (much appreciated since we are just starting to get some fine weather). The beautiful golden dome of our State House shone brightly in the sun. Several people wearing traditional garb and red-white-and-blue positioned themselves and their large yellow Don’t Tread on Me flags directly across from the State House (whose ornate iron gates had been locked, to the derision of the protesters). These folks served as a sort of visual anchor for the coalescing crowd, with their flags and signs, and as our face to the home of our representatives, one might say. Over the course of the event, quite a few of the cars passing by honked their horns in approval, and when this happened the group would let up a cheer. The park that is Boston Common stretches out below the State House (and then stretches well to the West) providing plenty of room on the lawn for thousands of us to congregate. The crowd grew larger and larger as the day progressed.
Many of the people I spoke with said they had never been to anything like this before. There was a sense of excitement about having a chance to meet like-minded people. I felt like I met a kindred spirit when I chatted with a guy named Bob. I approached him because I appreciated his sign, which said “Stimulate Business, Not Government” and on the other side “Don’t Spread My Wealth, Spread My Work Ethic”. Bob was there to make it clear he believes in capitalism. He knows that socialism always fails. Bob recently read The Forgotten Man, a book I’m also reading, and finding highly relevant to today (by Amity Shlaes, it’s a new history of the Great Depression). The book makes it quite clear that FDR’s policies prolonged the depression rather than curing it. Bob and I talked about the striking parallels between the irresponsible policies of FDR and the policies that are being enacted today. “They took money for the public sector that should have been in the private sector,” as Bob succinctly put it. (And the parallels extend not just to policies, but ugly practices like the demonization of business in general and the vilification of individual businesspeople. I highly recommend the book. Shlaes is both a great scholar and a great storyteller.)
While I was interviewing Bob, the CNN crew was packing up. As Peter pointed out earlier in this comment thread, CNN left before the event began. At the time, I figured they were just moving to a different spot.
The charming lack of organization that Glenn keeps mentioning was certainly in evidence at our event. The sound was so bad that the speakers could hardly be heard. So a lot of the crowd was chatting with one another while others were straining to hear. We couldn’t see the speakers, as there was no stage (as far as I could tell). So it was a bit of an odd dynamic. I hope the speakers will be given a chance to have the texts of their talks made public so we can see what they said! I did hear enough of Carla Howell to get her point: focus on voting, and vote only for small-government candidates. Find them, tell them, and vote only for them. Sounds like a plan to me.
A lot of us seemed to be focused on reading all the signs, and some people were clearly there to make their points with their signs. A lot of them were very creative and elaborate. At least one had that graph we have seen lately showing the enormity of the new debt. There were quite a few yellow Don’t Tread on Me flags.
Here are some of the signs I liked:
“People weren’t made for their governments—governments were made for their people.” –Thomas Paine
“Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily overcome.” — Thomas Paine
“Stop Spending Now”
“Don’t Tax Me, Bro!”
“The inmates are running the asylum.”
“Stop tolls and pensions.” (referencing a local issue)
“We the People say: This Congress is a Toxic Asset”
“Why can’t you live within a budget?
“Stop spending money I haven’t earned yet!”
“Next time READ THE BILL”
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” — Thomas Jefferson
I left at around 1pm and asked the police officer stationed at the edge of the Common who was monitoring the event to estimate the crowd. I had guessed at least 1,000, but crowd estimation is difficult. The officer said it looked to him like about 3,000 people at that point. I asked him what they had been told to expect, and he said “Zero to 5,000.” Then he said, “but it’s mostly older people, so we aren’t expecting any trouble. No big deal.” I guess the ambulance they had standing by was for heart attacks, not riots. Should we have more pitchforks next time?
I didn’t see much anger. I saw concerned, thinking, people, who believe the country is being steered in the wrong direction, showing up to be counted.
Like Jennifer, I think this bodes quite well for the future. We older folks may not be trouble, but we are serious, and we know how to get things done. It was quite encouraging to see this demonstrated this week. And I needed some encouragement.
Happy Patriots Day, everyone!
