The Newsy Neighbour Magazine
December Issue #110
By Kyle Penn for The Newsy Neighbour Magazine
Let’s Do It Ourselves
Learning How to
Paddle Our Own Canoe
Dave Reesor is a man with a vision. “I’m totally
convinced that almost everybody in the world, by nature, wants to look after
themselves,” he told me when I sat down to chat with him. We are in a busy Tim
Hortons on November 9th, the day after Trump’s surprise victory just
south of the border. Politics is on everybody’s mind, and as bits and pieces of
conversations float through the air over coffee, it’s clear we aren’t the only
ones talking about policies, government, and reform.
“People want to look after their family,” he continues,
“They don’t want people telling them what to do, but the elites in the
socialist movement have managed to convince people that they’re not capable of
looking after themselves, that we need ‘experts’ in government to tell us how
to do everything from the time we’re born until the time we die, and it’s just
not true.” Reesor takes a sip of his coffee thoughtfully. “It just doesn’t work…it
doesn’t take human nature into account.”
So, what’s the solution? How does one break away from
government – whether that be conservative, liberal, or anywhere else on the
political scale? Reesor has an idea, and it involves an interesting blend of
old-school, do-it-yourself mentality mixed with cutting-edge technology and
messaging.
“LDIO (Let’s Do It Ourselves) is about bringing
together a community of people online with educational information – with
opinions to think about – and getting conversations started,” he explains to
me. “Ultimately, what we want is an organization where we can work together
cohesively – a place for everybody to come together to put pressure on
politicians and bureaucracies and even big businesses – so that people can work
together to get things done.”
Reesor goes on to suggest that there are too many
redundancies in the way our current branches of government are structured – too
much red tape, too much waste, and far too much unwelcome involvement from the
powers-that-be. “There are many things the government is doing that we clearly
can do far more efficiently and effectively as families and communities,” he
posits. “Minimum wage…our healthcare system…it’s not sustainable, and it’s
extremely expensive for what we’re getting. And that’s not my opinion, that’s
the numbers.”
Enter LDIO. “We are in the process of writing a
constitution that will lay out exactly what we stand for – the parameters
within which we work,” he tells me. “Right now, we need members. It’s $5 per
month – or less, if you come in as a family. We need people who see the merit
in what we’re trying to do. Obviously, the more income we have, the more we can
do.”
As for spreading the word about what Reesor and LDIO
are trying to accomplish, the answer lies in appealing to the youth and the
Facebook-savvy. “It’s so inexpensive to get a message out on social media,” he
observes. “That’s how you reach young people, and that’s what our mission is:
to give them a community to belong to. They want to belong, and they want to be
involved, and we’re going to give them all kinds of ways to be involved.”
This isn’t something that Reesor just recently
envisioned as a response to our current political climate, either – he’s spent
the past several years researching governmental affairs, spending, and
policy-making before carefully beginning to build the foundation for the Let’s
Do It Ourselves community. Not only has he devoted his time, but Reesor’s also
invested substantial amounts of capital into getting things up and running. He
truly walks the talk when it comes to what he’s looking to achieve with Let’s
Do It Ourselves – and if all these facts didn’t convince me of his resolve,
then his passion when speaking about LDIO surely did. Reesor earnestly believes
in taking a hands-on approach to governance, and in “paddling our own canoe,”
as the self-sustaining, online community’s tagline incites.
If you’ve found yourself nodding vigorously in
agreement while reading the length of this article and feel like this is a
philosophy you can get behind, don’t be shy – Reesor and his community need
your support to realize the goals and ambitions he has put so much time and
effort into pursuing. Reach out to them on Facebook, on Twitter @_ldio, or by visiting
their website at ldio.org. The more people who are involved with LDIO, the
better position they will be in to affect real, meaningful change – something
that Reesor enthusiastically believes is a long time coming.
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