End of the Year and Taking Stock

It used to be (at least for me) that the end of the year meant taking things a little slower, looking back on the past year and making plans about making plans for the new year.

This year it is very different (save 2006...but that is a story for another time).

Everything seems shoe horned into the last couple of months. I have a project that I have been dreaming about for the past three plus years. I have been trying to gather a crew of people I can count on to participate and work toward a common goal of making the government in North Carolina accountable for it's actions. That goal is now in sight, and will be officially "online" in a little over four weeks.

I don't mind telling you that I am nervous. Not about the people on the left who may try to tear it down (that is to be expected), nor about the people I thought were sympathetic to my goals. I am worried about success. Success is a strange animal, and it tends to change people in unexpected ways. I hope that it doesn't throw me a curve ball I can't handle.

These are some of the things on my mind as I continue to be extremely busy in front of my computer for twelve hours and more everyday as I try to work out all the bugs, build graphics and discussion groups and provide tools for those who will share my dream of doing what has never, ever worked in North Carolina to any large degree. But if I told you that, I'd give the game away, wouldn't I?

It has been a wild ride and the next year promises to have more packed into it than the previous ten.

I am so glad that many of my colleagues in the Republican Party are finally embracing the Internet, and to a certain extent, the Social Media networks, and to a lesser degree, the Web 2.0 technologies. Some of their models are wrong, but failure is an important teacher...and has taught me well.

If you read any books this next few weeks, I would suggest that you read the following in the order presented below. This is part of the model I have been working under for the past decade (for the older books). The lessons in these books must be absorbed by conservatives (whether we agree with them or not) if we are to be successful and reverse the political and moral decline of America:

1. Future Shock (Wikipedia) (Orson Welles Documentary parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
2. The Third Wave (Wikipedia) This one is pretty solid.
3. Powershift (article at The Logic of Success) This one will blow your mind.
4. Creating a New Civilization (a simple, succinct review)

Alvin Toffler is interviewed by Newt Gingrich on Book TV. The interview has been taken down in the past few months, try this one where the couple appear on Charlie Rose, which begins at the 20 minute mark. Alvin and Heidi Toffler wrote the above books over a 35 year period. I do not agree with a lot of their politics...but I will say that much of their work has withstood the test of time. That is why I ask you to begin with a nearly 40 year old book of theirs because you won't believe it was written so long ago. I also hope that you get a kick out of some the odd ideas, too...like changing one's race, Michael Jackson aside.