Monday, I linked to an article by Glenn Reynolds about how to deal with the attack-wokies.
To wit – never apologize, bring your friends, and punch back twice as hard.
I’ll come back to that.
One of conservatism’s great mistakes was forsaking the small, independent blogs that dominated (along with, naturally, conservative talk radio) the alternative media scene in the 2000s.
During the heyday of the independent blog, there was a natural, organic network of supporters that would rally – almost always online – when one of the left’s droogs started dishing what was, at the time, almost always some pretty pathetic smack.
Since then, two things have happened:
- Altogether too many conservative content producers took their game to Twitter and Facebook – and either got censored into nothing, or just atrophied.
- Big Left invested in turning their attack machine from a pack of chancred losers into a pack of chancred losers with venal, dull but constantly practiced teeth. Cancel culture has become the norm across swathes of society that were still fairly open and healthy a decade ago when Andrew Breitbart warned us about losing the culture war.
So – how do the good guys ‘n gals start to organize, to fight the dirty part of the culture war again?
Ten years ago, when it was still good, clean fun, we had it down. Today, the jackals are running rings around the good guys.
It’s two-minute warning time at the state cuture war finals, and we’re down by two touchdowns.
How do the good guys get back in the game with the game that matters – organization, organic institutions that fight these battles, and the will to fight and win?
(While I run an open discussion at all times, lefties are urged to sit this one out).
Back in the day, we used to gather socially. It was fun, but it also served to introduce us and give us the opportunity to exchange phone #’s. There were several interesting discussions regarding the topics at hand, and that led to not a few gatherings at political events.
Today, all of that stuff could happen again, with the added benefit of gathering a group of like minded people together to defend one another, irl.
Pick a spot, this time I’d suggest a suburb like Woodbury for the safety of women that might want to come unescorted.
That’s more or less what I”m talking about.
The Left wins because the Left has unlimited financial backing. They peddle stupidity for a living, but they do so because they get paid for it. We don’t have a Soros on our side. There’s no comparable support system on the right, and even those entities who are presented as conservative have to toe the line in some way. Our ol’ pal Ed Morrissey has made a living from blogging, but he’s had to make a lot of compromises and Hot Air isn’t especially conservative any more; his principal co-blogger Allahpundit is pretty much on the Left now.
You have been by far the most intellectually consistent and prolific blogger on the starboard side in this state, Mitch, and you’ve been at this for a long, long time. At no point has it been possible for you to do this as a day job. Brad Carlson is still blogging on a regular basis, but the list of active conservative bloggers has dwindled substantially. We have let it slide away. True North is gone. The MOB doesn’t exist any more. Not trying to cast aspersions here; I still have my blog, but it’s mostly moribund. I have written more than 6000 posts over the years, but my readership has never been more than a few hundred people, who mostly come and go. My current readership could fit into Mickey’s Dining Car with a seat or two to spare — it’s not surprising, because I don’t produce enough content these days to give people a reason to visit.
There’s still interest in conservatism and conservative commentary — your comment section features a variety of people who were bloggers at one point, but many have left the battlefield. You know who you are, and you all have your own reasons for doing so. Again, I’m not casting aspersions — facing the blank computer screen every day is damned hard work, especially when there’s no remuneration involved.
Dr. Pete is right — to start, we do need to get together and talk again. We are, in the main, a scattered and atomized bunch. We have to think about how to change that, but the discussion has to start somewhere and some time soon.
Maybe I’ll see what I can do. Never had that many consistent readers, but it was fun.
On the other side, I sent notes to Major League Baseball and Delta to point out that as they spoke against Georgia’s election laws, they were acting on false information. Hardly what they want to do if they want to keep a business going, and especially not what they ought to do if they want my business.
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Not Justa Cafe in Somerset is a nice place. No idiotic restrictions over there. Good food. Generous portions. Convenient to the Twin Cities.
I’d shop locally IF I COULD, so instead, take the money where it’s appreciated.
There are indeed two Americas. And the only thing that makes both run is money. Cut off the money supply and either side dies. Boycotts work. When they are coordinated and there is an alternative. Fuck MLB. Fuck NBA. Fuck NFL. Fuck Alphapbet soup networks and their FB, Apple, Amazon and Scroogle overlords. You like sports? Support your local teams. You shop? Support alternative means other then Amazon – there are plenty of alternatives. You like interfacing with your friends? Pick up the fucking phone and use it as a phone! And support alternatives being put out on the market. And for cripes sake – fight at the local ballot box (which I hope is more secure than the national one) and hold politician’s feet to the fire. And what the other America does? FUCK EM ALL. Let them fester in their depravity and filth – build the wall around them. Maybe it is time that United States become less united.
I like where jpa is coming from
jpa….YES!
jpa missed one that’s particularly applicable to Minnesota (which is locked-in Democrat and will never change): give up your job, your business, your home, your family, and move somewhere more congenial.
It’s hard to do. It’s especially hard when we don’t know if it’s actually necessary. If the lock-down had been two weeks to flatten the curve, well, tough it out. If it had been over by Labor Day so kids could go back to school, well, tough it out. I sometimes feel like I’m living in Germany in 1938 – must I flee now or is there still time, and where can I go to find work in my field but isn’t being poisoned by other refugees?
I know, it’s my fault. If I had invested in the money market under Carter, if I had bought lakeshore lots with the E Collective, if I had gotten out of the stock market or the real estate market faster . . . but here we are. And now, convince the spouse to pull up stakes and head out for parts unknown, leaving the grandkids behind.
Sucks.
I guess maybe I am the only that thinks that we are winning.