Now that it’s several days after the election, it’s time to reflect a little on it.

For the first time in many elections, I went to bed Wednesday morning feeling relieved.  Not necessarily happy, but relieved.

We may finally have a chance to pause, or at least put into slow motion, the headlong rush to disaster we’ve lived with the last few decades.  In a few areas, we may even turn around and step away from the abyss.  Hopefully, this will include areas such as the rush to totally socialized medicine, taxes and regulations that are stagnating the economy, and political correctness that has put the first amendment in more danger than the second.

However, the question that remains to be seen is just what Trump’s election means.  Was it a victory for a free market, of people who are seeking a consistent application of the principles of liberty?  My sense is that it was not, that it was as much a protest vote as it was a vote for anything.  I don’t sense that the values we associate with the “fly over” section of the country – which put Trump into office – still have a voice.  And without an ideological leader, whatever “movement” we’ve seen so far will simply be co-opted by the establishment one more time.

There is one way to make sure that doesn’t happen.  Every person interested in liberty must commit himself to learning more about the freedom philosophy, study how to apply its principles to current events, and help persuade and teach his neighbor.  And then, we must hold the people elected accountable to that vision.

For anyone interested in starting that endeavor, I highly recommend the book Godonomics by Chad Hovind.  Mr. Hovind has a very easy to read style that explains basic concepts extremely well.  Its combination of moral concepts applied to economic issues is rare, but brilliant.

I’d also put in a plug for my own book, Walk In It:  Essays Honoring the Eighth Commandment, (available on Amazon.)  It is brief and succinct.

Political scientists tell us that a people get the government they want, because, ultimately, government rests on the consent of the governed.  Put into a sound bite, a leader cannot fly higher in office than he flew getting there, (i.e. a leader needs the support of the people to achieve change.)  We need to create the impetus for change that will allow Trump to do the things that need done.