Who’s Silent?

     I’m likely to be away from the computer for most of the day, so I’ll post one more quick thought before I toddle off to my chores.

     The 1968 Presidential campaign, in which Richard Nixon won a narrow victory over Hubert Humphrey, was the first such to feature statements from conservative-leaning activists about a “silent majority.” The idea at issue will be familiar to contemporary readers: that the greater part of the American electorate was far more aligned with the Right, represented by Nixon, than with the Left, represented by Humphrey. However, the argument ran, such persons don’t get the media attention their numbers and sentiments deserve. It’s unclear whether the proposition had any great effect on the subsequent voting.

     The “silent majority” concept is with us today, albeit from a different perspective. The rise of independent, largely Internet-based media and “citizen journalism” have made it possible for voices to be heard that the old media ignore. In consequence, the only way persons who differ with the old media’s sentiments can be called “silent” is by a resolute refusal to look beyond the old media to the new ones. Voices that the old media ignored or dampened are now being heard.

     And of course the old media, furious at its loss of “gatekeeper” status, is frustrated as hell. Its reporters must bend over backwards to avoid noticing the enormous number of Americans who’ve massed behind conservative banners. Its commentators can’t keep up the pretense that their emissions are representative of what Americans generally believe.

     The rise of the populist-conservative Make America Great Again movement, spearheaded by Donald Trump, is the greatest threat ever posed to the hegemony of the Left, the Deep State, and the barons of the old media. Despite the difficulties, the media still labor to avoid noticing… and if they must notice, they strive to defame, as illustrated by this piece. But Trump isn’t having it. Remember this iconic moment, from the 2016 campaign?

     Even the old media, which were one and all hostile to Trump, had to take notice.

     The crux of the thing is hope. He who believes himself to be alone in his convictions will struggle to retain them, much less to speak of them. While the Left-dominated old media were able to squelch the voices of the Right, many conservatives felt themselves isolated, and therefore without hope. To an extent, the old media remain able to perpetuate that illusion. Though the number has decreased many Americans in the Right place too much credence in the statements and attitudes of the old media, with a consequent diminution of their hope that the country can be returned to what it once was.

     The old media are the bastion we must reduce. They must be diminished at least, bankrupted at best. Moreover, they know we know it, and it makes them even more furious:

     The MAGA movement, ignited and inspired by Donald Trump, is our source of hope. It’s proved that we are not few but many millions. But while Trump won’t be with us much longer, the MAGA movement can have great longevity. Ours need not be a last gasp for freedom, a flickering flame the Left will soon extinguish. For as long as we retain our hope, we cannot be silenced.

     Being in a minority, even a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad. A yellow beam from the sinking sun slanted in through the window and fell across the pillow. He shut his eyes. The sun on his face and the girl’s smooth body touching his own gave him a strong, sleepy, confident feeling. He was safe, everything was all right. He fell asleep murmuring ’Sanity is not statistical,’ with the feeling that this remark contained in it a profound wisdom. [1984]