The conscience of a restorationist, II
Start the restore with your own values
Today, the American “news” media is waging what amounts to a new propaganda (or advertising, or marketing… you decide) campaign. The mainstream media is overwhelmingly “progressive” and no longer sees itself as a watchdog of the American people, but as a tool in the service of the nation’s continuing march toward statism (a march against the very people who journalists once aspired to protect). Today’s new media campaign is promoting what they call the Republican and Conservative “war on women.”
This is what happened: the economy continues to falter and President Obama (leader of the progressive statist movement) began to suffer in the polls… rallying to his defense, the media changed the subject, doing everything they could to focus on the nation on “social issues” and away from the economy…as part of this diversion, Democrats in Congress invited (in a last-minute change) a young Georgetown Law School student, Susan Fluke, to address to a congressional committee on what he calls the “women’s health problem” of government-subsidized contraceptives on campus… conservative talker Rush Limbaugh, reflecting on Fluke’s call for the committee to subsidize its contraceptives for a sum of one thousand dollars per school year, called Fluke a “whore” and a “slut”… the media, delighted to continue the distraction of the economy, fired all its considerable weaponry at Limbaugh for using those words (and nothing against Fluke, who, at a cost of about a dollar a condom, was asking taxes yesterday to foot the bill for about three sexual encounters a day, somehow to work around the nominal study of the law)…Limbaugh issued a detailed apology, acknowledging the inappropriate choice of words and the distraction from his overall message about the central folly of Fluke’s appeal…the media fought each other to declare the apology insincere … Limbaugh and other speakers kept talking about it … and the progressive media were then able to create this new campaign, declaring that their opponents had declared a “war on women.”
Phew!
Over a long career, Rush Limbaugh has been called every bawdy name in the book…and this is far from the first time he’s been called a sexist. Anyone who listens to his show for more than a couple of days in a row no doubt knows it’s nothing like that. But that is not the point. For daring to oppose the progressive march, Limbaugh is found guilty of every petty motivation and ruthless opinion the media can think of. He’s not politically correct, that’s for sure…and for that, he gets punished by the political machine at every opportunity.
The same is true for all those who oppose statism.
The United States, the leader and engine of the world, is deeply divided. Most Americans know in their hearts that a free citizenry, sovereign in a worldly sense, exercising entrepreneurial aspirations, is what the nation is supposed to be. However, a minority opposes this idea in the interests of radical egalitarianism controlled by an all-powerful state. Because statists control every major institution that influences opinion in the nation (from academia to the media to the unelected federal bureaucracy to Hollywood), and because they have been persistently obstructing the appeal to the inner “Victim” of every American, are able to make the division of opinion seem much narrower than it is. And now they have enough power, willingly surrendered by a previously free people, to come perilously close to replacing the American constitutional republic with a totalitarian state in the name of ensuring “justice.”
You have to do your part in the great project of our time: the restoration of America. You need to develop the conscience of a restorationist. The bad news is that we are faced with a daunting task; The good news is that the United States has always worked best on a project basis (see World War II) and that, working together and separately, we can change this.
At some point, he must undertake a project to fight the “progressive” movement. A political campaign you could support… a new book or song you could create… a class you could teach… a business you could start… even a letter you could write to the editor of your local newspaper. But first, before any other project, you must begin with a restoration of your own personal values.
My guess is that Rush Limbaugh is able to resist withering attacks on his character from statists because he is very clear about his personal values. He knows that he is not a sexist, or a racist, or a greedy elitist, or any of the other things that he tends to call it. And that’s why your first project has to be a complete inventory of your own values. When your later projects expose you to the same kind of criticism, even if it’s at a lower level and more local, believe me, that criticism is going to hurt. But his sting will be greatly diminished by two things: your values and your friends. You’ll eventually discover that he has many friends who share your beliefs and who will join you in the fight…but you won’t last long enough to find those friends unless you first establish a foundation of personal values.
When someone calls you a racist, you know, without a doubt, that they are wrong? Because they will call you a racist. The fact that they have no evidence to back up that accusation (or the fact that there is, in fact, plenty of evidence to the contrary) will not stop them, or even slow them down. Statists must convince anyone you can influence that you are worthy of their attention. They will shoot you, without fail. So you have to know that you really are NOT the bad things that you are accused of being. And that means you have to be clear about your own values.
Keep a journal… talk to your closest friends (especially your spouse)… read and view information that reinforces your values, and write and talk about your reactions to that material. Make a list of the top ten things you believe in, or the five key principles that make you who you are. Find whatever method works for you, but find a way to restore your own confidence in your personal values. It’s Job One.
You have many important projects to undertake in the near future, just like the rest of us who need to make a contribution to the new “resistance”. Those projects will put you under attack from the well-funded and well-practiced statists who will work hard to bring you down. So start by building your strongest and best immunity: a solid foundation of personal values and a clear understanding of your own beliefs and character. Make it your first project. If you do, you will find in yourself a strong drive to make sure you are not the last.