I've been struggling with what is the right way to save the Republic.
I swing between the need to prepare for the inevitable Zombie
Apocalypse...and working to elect good people to avoid it coming.
But
what I have not actually considered is the Way espoused by Glenn Beck
and my newest political conservative hero Alfonzo Rachel of PJTV.
Both of them have said, in their individually inimitable ways, that it is not about politics, but about the culture.
They
maintain that we can't just try to elect "good people" to go to
Washington and try to change government...but that we must change the
culture, and the government will invariably follow.
That's a lot less dramatic, exciting, heroic—at first glance—than marching on D.C. with pitchforks and torches...
...but I think they're right.
And I think that we ignore their advice at our peril.
After
all, the reason that we are in the situation we are in....with the
imminent death of the Republic, is that the Left have changed the
culture in a way that ensures that people are disengaged, stupid,
uninformed, immature, selfish, clueless, dependent, angry, isolated,
frustrated, lonely...without dreams, goals, aspirations....beyond being
"hot", getting laid and getting rich.
Not a very good
recipe for independent, hard-working citizens living mostly
self-sufficiently in a world of small, non-intrusive government.
Look.
Even if we win the Zombie Apocalypse...we still end up with a bunch of
Zombies to feed and clothe and babysit. Zombies without a clue as to how
to take care of themselves...always at risk of bringing forth a new age
of government nannyism.
We need to change the nature of the American Citizen.
The question is...how do we do that?
I
actually got a little inspiration from a weird place this past week
while the media was endlessly examining the motivations and history of
the cretins who bombed the Boston marathon.
Someone
talked about the attraction that radical Islam has for young men who are
looking for something "heroic" to do with their lives. Who are seeking
to matter, do something important...make a difference. To be part of
something bigger than themselves.
Why isn't the Tea
Party reaching out to young men and giving them that sense of purpose?
Surely we can make LIBERTY at least as attractive as Radical Islam to
the testosterone poisoned youth looking for something manly and exciting
to do.
Almost every really fun, heroic Hollywood movie is
about the individual fighting the herd, the oppressive culture, the
art/heart/spirit/freedom killing "man". They have had the right idea for
decades...they just have the wrong labels.
People - which
actually includes young men are hungry for something of substance to
believe in, in this soulless secular age — something great to sacrifice
for, to live and die for...
For God's sake, let's give it to them!
/Gunslinger
Joebama American citizens 2024 print
9 months ago
I hope you don't consider this a "shameless plug" so I'll take the risk and put the link here. What is in the linked article concerns mostly cultural changes that must be effected over several generations. Education and especially the treatment of US history are the most vital elements.
ReplyDeletehttp://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/8777
(If you delete this post, no hurt feelings on my part but this says what I would write here to address the culture war.)
Just one more comment and I will go silent. We do have a cultural problem but acknowledging the problem isn't enough. We need nuts and bolts solutions, which is what I tried to start listing in the article I linked. It is not a complete list of the nuts and bolts things we can do but it is a start.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that there is no historical precedent for fixing a degraded culture short of total collapse, and I'm pretty sure that everyone from the time of the Sumerians really tried their best.
ReplyDeleteDo you really plan on taking care of the left over zombies if you win the apocalypse? Seriously?
Anon has a good, if depressing, point. Human beings are--by and large--lazy...and it's a lot less effort to be stupid and dependent. For most people, 'fat, drunk and stupid' is their ideal way to go through life.
ReplyDeleteNot saying it's not worth a try, but it seems a Sisyphean task. :(
Both you and Anon have good points but I would note some differences from historic precedent. With possibly one exception, the empires that collapsed were authoritarian and mostly totalitarian states, grew complacent and corrupt in their power and were carved up by rising states. Great Britain dismantled its empire and the decline that followed is not solely due to the loss of empire. There is a significant difference between the fall of Rome or Sumeria and that of Great Britain.
DeleteOur worst enemies are within and more difficult to deal with than our external enemies. We are going the way of Great Britain and not Rome, though all share similarities for the cause of decline.
Our culture celebrates "fat, drunk and stupid" and a few other vices as well. The culture is clearly at war with traditional morality, but I think it is a war Conservatives can win, but not immediately and not without considerable effort.
I'd have to respond that Rome did not collapse militarily until corruption in the government destroyed the economy, Plus even though at the end they were totalitarian, given the communications and transport of the day, they probably had a relatively high degree of personal freedom, i.e. if a law was too annoying everyone outside of Rome would just ignore it. They probably have a lot to teach us. Probably one of the most important being that the Empire lasted until 1453, but only by splitting into separate parts.
DeleteYour last statement about fat, drunk, and stupid reminds me of the writings of Seneca. Unfortunately, he didn't have solutions except at a personal level.
But the point is that whatever led to the cause, Rome collapsed militarily,first the west and then the east. I doubt even an economic collapse of the US would invite an external invasion. No such invasion is needed since we freely admit the invaders.
DeleteBut yes, we have a lot to learn and economic destruction by currency devaluation is certainly one of the lessons. We should also learn that contempt for oppressive laws breeds general contempt for government and an unwillingness to defend that government.