It’s been my observation over 60 years of living on this earth, that people tend to fall into one of two categories. There are the Doers and the Takers.
Doers, as the name implies, do stuff. In fact, they can be hard to nail down at times because they always have so much to do. Doers create things, build things, produce things, develop things and contribute greatly to society each and every day. Doers can be very busy people. After all, they have a lot of stuff to do… and they are all about doing it.
With that in mind, did you ever wonder why pro-gun rallies never have as big a turn-out as anti-gun demonstration? I have. Actually, I’ve given it quite a bit of thought and I think I know the answer. Honest and law-abiding gun owners are Doers. They have jobs, careers, businesses. They also have families to support, in many cases. They have neither the time nor the wherewithal to go jet-setting around the country protesting all the time. They have to be at work. They have a lot to do. That’s why we call them “Doers”. They are the people who do the things that keep our society running. Without them, our country would collapse. They are the tradesmen and women, business owners, office workers, farmers, doctors, nurses, military members, football coaches and the like. They are the average hard-working Americans who make our country go and who make our country great. They are the Doers.
Takers, by contrast, don’t actually do much of anything. They don’t create much, build much, produce much, develop much or contribute much of anything to society. Takers, as the name suggests, spend their time taking from what Doers do. As a result, Takers have a lot of time on their hands. So, they spend their time wallowing in self-pity, grumbling about their circumstances and criticizing Doers and everything that Doers do. Takers want everything to be free and easy. They want the good things of life to be provided to them without their having to do anything. For crying out loud! If they had to do something, that would make them… Doers. Yuck! Takers are the people who are constantly taking from society. They want free healthcare, free college tuition, free abortions, free cell phones, free everything! And… in order to get free everything, they are willing to give away the only “free” that really matters: freedom. Oh, they’ll happily give up their own freedom, and guess what… they’ll give up the Doers’ freedom too.
Consequently, rounding up thousands of Takers to go protest is easy! The Doers can’t do it. They have work to do. But, the Takers will go on a moment’s notice. After all, they have nothing better to do. Besides, they get a free bus ride, free plane ride, free food, free lodging, free signs to wave, free money, and lots and lots of free press. They might even rise to the level of famous Takers whom they admire. Oh my! That’s a Taker’s paradise. No wonder the anti-gun protests are so big!
Not long ago, somebody coined a great term for wealthy donors and big money organizers paying a bunch of Takers to protest. They called it, “Astroturf”. Now, if you know anything about Astroturf, you know that it’s cheap to buy and maintain (as compared to the real thing), easy to install, requires very little maintenance and, at a distance, it can even look real. However, upon close examination one discovers that Astroturf is a complete charade, a falsehood, a lie, a made up artificial thing designed to fool the casual observer into thinking that it’s real. While it is true that some Takers who engage in Astroturf protests are actually naïve enough to believe the whole thing is real, the organizers and financial backers know full well that their handiwork amounts to nothing more than political theater. The main goal of Astroturf is not to fool those who are on the field. It’s to fool those who are in the stands. It’s to sway the opinions of the Doers, who, after a long hard day of doing, plop on the couch to watch the news, only to be confronted with an Astroturf theatrical production that can only be viewed at a distance. Unfortunately, all too many Doers buy into the charade. You see, the Takers know that Doers are so busy doing, that most of them won’t take the time or make the effort to stroll down to the field and check the grass.
Joel, very well said, and a perfect analogy. Hopefully the doers will take the time to go to the election booths in November.