Do you ever feel like those on the more rational, normal, and good side of the political spectrum can never get a break?  Are you confused as to how policies so radical to the real will of the people are so successfully taking hold throughout the country?  Does your backside feel like it has taken a beating?  

I think some serious introspection and self-criticism is needed before we can improve our current situation.  Is it a hapless situation?  Of course not; there are things we can do right now to set ourselves and our children up for a better future in this country.  But in order to do so, we have to move beyond simply ringing our fists at the “dumb” leftists and the incompetent people in our own party.  As a good athlete reviews his own film in the off season and solicits candid criticism from respected coaches, we must understand our weaknesses and improve on them if we are going to start winning again.  

That said, I would like to present the top five reasons conservatives are currently losing.

1. Division

While this is a minor issue compared to the rest, there is still too much unnecessary infighting.   In particular, I find a lot of infighting within Catholic media.  And this goes for authors as well as their social media followers.  NEWSFLASH… we don’t have time to bicker about every angle of the liturgy, old vs. new.  In a time of peace, there is a lot more room for spending significant time on these squabbles.  Yet, in such a time of distress, we still spend hours on social media arguing over liturgical differences, which Catholic groups aren’t perfect, and even the offensive demeanor and style of otherwise good men doing necessary fighting against the enemy.  

Yes, this is small.  All the more reason for us all to work on improving in this area.  The more we can put aside presently inconsequential differences, the better chances we have to strengthen one another and work successfully, side by side,  against the real enemy.
 

2.  Inability to Unite

Following point one, I would like to address a similar, but more serious concern… we struggle to unite in action against singular obstacles in order to yield mutually desired ends.  In order for us to divide and conquer our enemies, we have to come together as a single force ready to take out one Gaul tribe at a time.  Sometimes we fail simply from of a lack of courage and the task required is too intimidating.  Sometimes, this is because we conservatives like to do things ourselves.  We think of ourselves as cowboys or lone wolves.  Not only is it romantic, but rugged individualism prepares one for embracing a world that doesn’t always play nice.  One should be proud of the ability to make his own way, but when it suddenly becomes necessary to gain strength in numbers, lacking the skills that the left has gained (they believe, by necessity) is a disadvantage.  

The left does not lack this ability to unite and strike.  For a good illustration of this, I recommend taking some time to listen carefully to some legendary Critical Theorist revolutionaries such as Dotson Rader and Saul Alinsky.  Rader stated in 1972 that one of the best things the left had going for them was that they had been pushed underground.  It gave the left an opportunity to morph from a bunch of unconnected affinity groups into a large force united, not  actually under the banner of Marxism, but under the banner of seeking “justice” attained at whatever price, irregardless of whatever comes next.  Fifty years later, it looks like they may be thinking “mission accomplished” while the right scrambles in disarray.

At this very moment, getting thousands of signatures for worthy petitions is difficult, let alone applying real political pressure  against governors and other leaders in one’s community.  The good news is that there are many opportunities now present to rethink our need for dependency upon one another.  Solidarity will sound better and better as the New World Order continues to strip you of your ability to defend yourself individually.  And even now as I use the word “solidarity”, many on the right reflexively and ignorantly shudder.  “Solidarity?  Isn’t that a liberal thing?”  No, it’s how medieval Christian Europe defended themselves against Viking raiders in their walled castles.  More recently, it’s how anti-Communists have done a half decent job of defending themselves in countries where Communism has taken over.  

Let’s get a head start on this, shall we?



3. Normalcy Bias

“Everything is fine.  It’s not that bad.  Things will get back to normal soon.  If there was voter fraud, it was minimal”.  Though I do not have friends who talk this way, I am acquaintances with PLENTY of delusional conservatives who tell themselves these things as a way to cling to false comfort and optimism.  Things will never be the same again in this world.  Nor in your country.  When leaders of the top companies in the world predict a pandemic, offer prepared solutions for this pandemic, fund the politicians who serve the extension of fear over the pandemic and optimize control to be gained over it, you now live in a world that has found a whole new way to be broken.  If you listen to the likes of Klaus Schwab and the rest of the Great Resetters, it’s pretty obvious that the fixes offered for this broken world are about as effective as fixing a broken relationship with porn, a jammed plugged in toaster with a fork, or a damaged teenage psyche with a gender transition.  Seriously, just think about the types of solutions the most powerful people on the planet constantly roll out… the world is in for a lot of trouble.  You and the people you love are in for a lot of trouble.

We cannot begin to fix this problem if we refuse to see it.  It’s understandable, Conservatives are used to everything balancing out and for cooler heads to ultimately prevail (until the next democrat pulls the “stunning victory” in your town).  But this is a paradigm shift.  Five states halting vote counting, in sync, at around 2:00 am is not normal.  A cop found guilty of murder for arresting a man dying of a Fentanyl overdose is not normal.  MRNA vaccines ready in 9 months, that will probably be forced on you, is not normal.  Nothing in the last year has been normal.  

The fact that you are reading this blog is a good indication that you already get all of this.  So what are you doing to witness to your conservative friends who still can’t handle the truth?  More importantly, what actions are you taking to combat the New Normal?


4. Inability to Adapt

Another thing conservatives struggle with is adapting.  I don’t know, perhaps we  just naturally avert any solution that sounds like it gives credence to Darwin.  But even before Darwin, a good soldier has always known that changing circumstances, different enemy weapons, or even a change in wind direction requires adaptation in order to survive.  Those conserving a culture tend to be people who don’t see making major changes as a necessary key to victory.  Most of us prefer the coach with the slight southern draw who tells his boys on day one that they are going to hit the weights every day all summer long, run the ball consistently, and play smart and fundamentally sound defense.  Sure these new fancy “read option passes” can have success, but we  conservatives know that is not the only way to win and it’s not the “right way” to win.

I don’t know how many times or in how many different ways I can tell people that, ironically, the new gadgets that we all got so addicted to over the last ten years need to be reassessed.  Some of the crap we (somehow) cemented into our daily lives should probably be done away with entirely.  If you are still watching Netflix, you are dropping the ball.  Stop rationalizing a paid subscription to a service that shows a series where Our Lord is depicted as a homosexual and another series about twerking 11 year old girls.  Hell, man up and stop watching TV all together.  

One of the smartest, most joyful, and saintly men I know still has only a landline phone and has no computer or internet in his home.  When I go over to see him, I take the battery out of my flip phone and we have peace of mind that big brother literally has no way to exist in his home.  We don’t even discuss things that would need to be “hidden”, but try for a second to remember the world before practically every conversation you had was listened to and stored.  Take a moment…….. now try to tell me that world was worse than the world you live in today.  It shouldn’t be so hard to convince conservatives that they should try, as much as they can, to return to that life before social media and oceans of internet porn practically turned humanity into collective quasi-sociopaths.

Your cell phone is a trinket, your 70 inch TV is a trinket, your smart watch is a trinket that may or may not be storing your monitored heart rate in walled data gardens.  You may not be able to step out of the matrix entirely, but control the things you can control.  Heck, prove you are a real conservative and adapt back to some of the things you used to do.  Combine that with adopting new technologies and means of communication away from the watch of the transhumanist big tech giants, and you suddenly have a much more realistic and respectable game plan.



5. Too Much to Lose

In many ways, this is a matter of perception.  I can understand feeling like your kids are too much to lose.  But if I’m being honest, I think many believe the door so large at the front of the house that it could kill a man if it fell on him and the swimming pool in the back are “too much to lose”.   Many of us subconsciously tremble at what the neighbors might think if we were frank about what’s really going on and took real action.  But if history has shown us anything about life under totalitarianism, your compliance and silence do not guarantee that you will keep your stuff or your status.  

This is not advice meant only for those perceived as well off by American standards.  After all, Compared to most of the rest of the world, the vast majority of us Americans are probably clinging way too much to things that we need to learn detachment from.

One way to learn that detachment is to become active.  If we do not stand now for truth, justice, our conservative values, and simply Western Civilization, then material crap will be all you will have left… if you are lucky.  Are you okay with a world where you or your children may be hauled away for re-tooling?  Man up and stop caring so much about what others think.  Potentially sacrificing the things that Our Lord tells us to be detached from now will help you defend the things that actually matter.


The good news

The good news literally is the good news, i.e. the Gospel.  We have all the tools necessary to rebound and to conquer the forces of evil around us.  It’s all found in following the way of Our Lord, Jesus, and in living holy lives.  

Additionally, it’s encouraging to be part of such a large number of people who have used this past year to reassess their priorities, become active in the fight, and to re-commit themselves to deeper holiness.  While there are still things to clean up, I actually believe the majority of us real conservatives are better people now than we were one year ago.

Let’s strive for perfection and let’s continue to up our game in the fight.  Improve your spiritual disposition always so that your actions for good on the natural level reflect your good interior disposition.  And then find those posts you are called to man and those arenas you are called to fight in and move forward with your brothers toward the enemy.  

Unite, adapt, dare to be canceled, and be not afraid.

God Bless,

Gadfly