The Fraying Part 3: Action And Reaction

     Through the first and second pieces, the news has all been bad. Now it’s time to review the other consequences of the sociocultural assault on American norms: the ones that hold out some hope for a future of freedom and decency.

     As I’ve written before, word gets around. What people need to know, they will know, albeit not always in time to stave off nasty consequences. Now that we have two years’ worth of COVID-19 hysteria to survey, we can trace the patterns that run through it and reach some fairly confident conclusions about it all.

     And Gentle Readers, be aware: when I write we in this context, I mean to include you. Yes, I have a gift for spotting causal connections, but anyone who pays adequate attention to developments will spot them just as readily…and of course, will recognize them when someone else points them out, as well. Indeed, at this point only the willfully blind could miss the patterns that political skullduggery has made in its peregrinations in our recent past. Have a list of significant elements:

• Open encouragement of left-wing violence, especially in major cities;
• Valorization of black criminals entirely because of their race;
• Assaults on law enforcement and the administration of race-blind justice;
• Aggressive promotion of racialism, transgenderism, and sexual deviance;
• Distortion and disparagement of American history and values;
• Propagandistic slanders of President Trump and his Administration;
• “Gaslighting” and perverting or destroying the meanings of words;
• Coordinated efforts to magnify alarm over the COVID-19 virus;
• Contemporaneous efforts to impede research into the virus’s origin;
• Resurrection of an undeservedly respected medical bureaucrat to champion the “crisis;”
• Unprecedented restrictions imposed in the name of “fighting the pandemic;”
• Use of the “pandemic” as a rationale for destroying the integrity of the 2020 elections;
• The theft of the elections themselves, with the collaboration of the mainstream media;
• Use of slander and intimidation to obstruct serious investigation of the frauds;
• Treatment of the 1/6/2021 protest at the Capitol Building as “terrorism” and an “insurrection;”
• Immediate crippling of the American energy industry by the Usurper Regime;
• Recourse to extreme deficit spending by the Regime, thereby weakening the dollar;
• Coordinated action by the Regime, the media, and Big Tech to suppress dissenting opinions;
• “Cancel culture,” promoted by the Regime and assisted by the media;
• And most recently, the frenzied beating of the war drums over Ukraine.

     That list might not contain everything you’ve noticed. Feel free to add to it.

     Not everyone has been alert to the significance of this train of abuses. However, the more alert have drawn the lesson: the Regime intends our subjugation. It will use a string of “emergencies” to “justify” the suspension of Constitutional constraints and guarantees of individuals’ rights. In particular, it will suppress protests against Regime overreach and foolishness through whatever means are expedient. It’s reaction to the “Freedom Convoy” aimed at Washington will prove highly instructive.

     Combine the above with the sociocultural poisons enumerated in the first two essays. In sum, we have tolerated the intolerable: socially, culturally, technologically, and politically. The consequences were swift to arrive. The Intolerable, in all its awful majesty, now stands over us: censoring our speech; restricting our movements, associations, and commerce; degrading our culture; and destroying our society, our economy, and our standing among the nations.

     At this point, only three choices remain to us:

• Accept serfdom;
• Stage an armed rebellion against the Regime;
• Withdraw from the hostile culture – perhaps even physically – into protected spheres.

     The third choice is the one an increasing number of intelligent Americans have been making.

     I’m acquainted with a number of persons who’ve executed such a withdrawal. In a way, I and my wife are among them. We’ve cut off all contact with the channels of cultural corruption. For news, we ignore the ones with the loudest voices and look to sources that have proved reliable. We do business only with persons of like mind, to the extent possible. Our entertainment is carefully selected – and none of it comes from the broadcast media.

     Others find that they must do more, especially families with minor children. Children are more susceptible to propagandization than adults. Removal from the schools in favor of homeschooling or “learning pods;” vetting of the kids’ associates; refusing them smartphones; and careful supervision of their entertainment choices are all important measures for the protection of their minds. Even physically moving the family away from corrupting influences may be necessary.

     Some persons are building physical retreats from the chaos. I know of at least two such efforts. The organizer of one compound has invited us to join. I’ve been thinking about it, though it would involve considerable difficulty and expense.

     Hopeful in a way that requires contemplation is the widespread, intensified recourse to Christianity, and to parishes and ministries that have remained faithful to the teachings of the Redeemer. Christianity has always been hated by the power-lusters, for it proclaims strict limits on what they can justly do. Many “fallen away” Christians have returned to the pews, seeking there a refuge from the madness outside and a renewed armor with which to resist its assaults. There is more hope here than one might suppose after a casual glance.

     The refusal to be polluted or subjugated is gaining speed. It’s a good man’s part to get behind it and push.

     Action equals reaction. Thrust equals recoil. Newton was talking about bodies clashing with one another, but the pattern applies just as well to social, commercial, and political developments. The despoilers have made a mighty thrust against traditional American society. In consequence, it’s granulating into a number of smaller societies, each of which offers a degree of protection from the influences beyond its borders. Not all such mini-societies have visible form. Indeed, some of the formless ones are of the greatest value.

     The despoilers will pursue us, of course. That’s in the nature of power-lust: it cannot be sated and so must perpetually seek new targets for subjugation. In particular, they’ll strive to corrupt and destroy our channels of communication with one another and the alternative media we prefer to theirs. But the burgeoning awareness of the agenda involved will assist us in preparing to resist and counter further assaults…if we remain alert and flexed to react wherever a new front might arise.

     So while the fraying will continue, individual segments of the American braid will retain their integrity, learn from experience, erect defenses, and prosper. At least, we can hope so.

     An anecdote has it that an admirer once asked fabled economist Ludwig von Mises to describe what he foresaw for the future of the market economy. Von Mises smiled and said “I don’t know…but whatever it is, it will be different.” So also with a society under stress and in transition. We cannot foresee its ultimate shape; we can only know that it will differ from what we have today. The challenge is to ensure that the differences will be to the good.