Encouraging Local Activism in California

California has some of the highest taxes and most burdensome regulations of any state in America. The love of big government extends to the local level, where, in places like Santa Cruz County, radical environmentalists and socialists have pushed through policies to prevent economic development, restrict property rights, and promote egalitarian projects. TOC sponsors Joanne and Michael Shaw are fighting back, coordinating local activists who want to preserve the American way of life. William R Thomas, TOC's manager of research and training, visited Santa Cruz County on January 11-13 to teach a weekend Effective Communication Workshop for seven members of the local pro-freedom coalition. In addition to honing their public-speaking skills, the workshop participants learned to focus on fundamental principles and to speak to the context of their audience. Asked about the value of the workshop, one of the participants commented: "Objectivist principles and the TOC communication workshop can change the direction of the culture. Can it be cloned?"

On the same trip, Thomas spoke to an overflow crowd at a meeting of the Silicon Valley Objectivists, assessing common Objectivist perspectives on the choice to have children.