What I Learned From Attending the Columbus Tax Day Tea Party

I went to the Ohio Statehouse last night to participate in the Columbus Tax Day Tea Party. It was a collection of all sorts: libertarians, religionists, constitutionalists, conspiracy theorists, etc. The unifying sentiment, based on the messages on signs and the loudest cheers during the speeches, is opposition to expansive government spending. The broad non-partisan nature allowed me to attend without fear of endorsing something I disagree with.

I went armed with the corpus of Ayn Rand’s works, flyers for the Objective Standard and the Ayn Rand Center and a booklet, the Portable Objectivist, assembled by the Ohio Objectivist Society with permission of the authors for the purpose of distribution at Ohio tea parties. I vacillated on what message to put on a sign and let this indecision keep me from making a sign. I saw one "Who is John Galt?" sign, which quickly disappeared into the crowd. I realize now that some message would be better than no message. Also, being alone with all of my things kept me from circulating and looking for people who might be interested in talking about ideas. There were thousands in attendance, but I only had a conversation with the man standing next to me on the steps of the statehouse. The gentleman I spoke with said he had read Atlas Shrugged over 30 years ago and didn't remember much from it. His opinion is that the greater problems than taxation and inflation are the growth of government and the power lusting it promotes among politicians. I tried to explain to him that the widely-held view of ethics (altruism) is incompatible with limited government (capitalism) so that the government will necessarily grow in scope in order to satisfy altruism's moral imperative to put others before self. As government grows, power-lusters will naturally emerge to enforce the demands of altruism on those who still pursue the happiness of their individual lives.

The speeches, at best, appealed to the wisdom of the Founding Fathers and concern for our families and children. While the Founding Fathers were revolutionarily wise and our children are important values, such appeals have failed to advance the cause of individual rights over the past 100 years of growing tyranny. No speaker defended capitalism and limited government on the grounds of self-interest. Such a philosophical grounding is necessary to effectively confront the continuing assault on our freedom.

To summarize what I learned:

1. Prepare a sign beforehand.


2. Go with someone or pack lightly.


3. Advocate the ethics of egoism as the only defensible grounds for capitalism

Addendum: I am in the third photo of the Columbus Dispatch's slide show on the tea party (just right of center, standing on the second step, wearing a brown hat and khaki trenchcoat; my box of things is behind me one step up, but I hold no sign).