By Andrew Simon

In the greatest publication ever written on Democracy, it was written that American was great because America was good; and that America was good because of it’s great patchwork of social networks.It was the churches that allowed the farmer and the banker to know each other by name. Mentorship programs gave a chance to poor children to see what success looked like, face to face, and have people in their lives to help light their path to quality educations and beliefs in themselves. More than anything, it was the belief that connecting as a family made you a better neighbour; that connecting as neighbors made you a better city; and that connecting as citizens made you a better nation.

Today, we’ve lost sight of that.

America today is world in which Big Government is trying to replace the church, Big Brother is trying to replace the family, and Big Ideas are trying to replace common sense.

The results?

The typical American family spends less than six hours of quality time together as a family per week.

The typical American home invites a neighbour for dinner less than once per year.

One in four Americans claim to have no one to turn to in times of stress or personal hardship for support.

The Democrats focus on government solutions fights to make our efforts to work together to solve our own needs unnecessary and obsolete. What they don’t recognize–or perhaps don’t care about–are the ramifications. In our isolation, we now live in a world in which we pride ourselves in being able to talk to people on the other side of the world at instant speed–but don’t know our own neighbours. In which the only time the investment banker sees those his practices may have driven to poverty are on the nightly news or an episode of COPS. In which a child in the inner city, born without a father, may go his entire adult life without a single male role model in his community to go to for support, understanding, or inspiration. In which, even in these times, our prosperity eclipses every nation on earth, and is only matched by our record setting suicide rates.

The country is sick. The Democrats squint and gawk and shake their heads at the tragedy of the symptoms. For the survival of our nation, it’s time the Republicans stood up and got to work on the cause.

We don’t just believe in less government–by itself, that’s an empty phrase. We believe in spearheading church groups, volunteer programs, and social causes which help connect us back with one another and reunite as families, communities, cities, and a nation.

The most successful efforts in the country in raising inner cities out of poverty, helping children at risk make their way to a college education, moving ex-cons from revolving prison doors to stable homes and honest livings–time and again, these have been the result of NON government organizations.

If we want to re-establish family values, stronger communities, and a brighter future, we have to stand together as a nation. The networks we build in our churches, our charity involvement, our volunteering, and our communities is the surest way to make it happen. In much the same way that social networking, known in webspeak as 2.0, has redefiined the internet with the likes of facebook and twitter, and has completely reshaped what it means to be on the web, that same 2.0 spirit is exactly what we need to remind what it means to be an American.

It means a need for active, involved citizens. It means a need to support and celebrate the courageous men and women creating, volunteering, and supporting programs to be their brother’s keeper. It means a new language for political discussion. It means the time has come for 2.0 Republicans.

Andrew Simon is a young black Canadian conservative and former Vice President 2004-2006 of the Campus Conservatives at the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alta.

Please Join 2.0 Republicans a new organization that Andrew is creating to bring change to our party.

In the days, weeks, and months to come, expect a steady stream of articles and media links. Long term, we’ll be having a full blown weblaunch (2.0 web design, of course), designed to bring Republicans together in greater and greater numbers to a future we can win.