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Politics Will Never Save You; You Need to Save Yourself
Biden might have mouthed the word “unity” in November but whenever he gets the chance to act on it, he refuses. Today, he decided to stoke racial grievance again.
Biden: "No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they wouldn't have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol. We all know that's true, and it is unacceptable. Totally unacceptable." pic.twitter.com/TfWa25VzEt
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 7, 2021
Every official on both sides condemned the Capitol Hill riot and four “protestors” died. When BLM protests/riots hit DC, a street was named after them. As @PostmodernHoplite wrote, reacting to the Capitol Hill mob was a lay-up for Biden but, as always, he chose to divide.
Kamala continued in the same vein, poking and prodding at the nation’s racial divisions.
.@KamalaHarris: "We witnessed two systems of justice when we saw one that let extremists storm the United States Capitol, and another that released tear gas on peaceful protesters last summer…We know this is unacceptable. We know we should be better than this." pic.twitter.com/Uc1FC8aZKg
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 7, 2021
No one in DC wants unity or healing. No one wants to calm the waters. Be it Trump or Biden, they just want to ratchet up the divisions until it all breaks apart. This isn’t some grand conspiracy; politicians are too incompetent to launch one. Instead, they are hyperfocused on winning this day’s news cycle, then 2022. A few bold visionaries look all the way to their 2024 prospects, but no thought is given to the long-term implications for the country.
Our institutions are failing us day after day. We’re still in Afghanistan 20 years later. We’re $27 trillion in debt. Cuomo and De Blasio are blaming each other for not delivering vaccines instead of, you know, actually delivering the vaccines. Blue states watch their lockdowns fail so they mandate stricter ones.
None of this is sustainable and our political class couldn’t care less. They want us to keep yelling at each other.
My humble suggestion for all Americans is to detach yourself as much as possible from governmental dictates. This is far easier in red states and rural areas, but do what you can. Prepare also to be detached from corporate politics since cancel mobs are on the march. Accept that you might have to live below your means and certainly below your desires.
Get involved with your neighbors and with local groups — especially non-political ones. Many small businesses in my area only survived 2020 by working together and building support communities with their customers. (My wife and I are basically ad agencies for our local favorites and we happily accept their products as compensation.)
You need to build Russell Kirk’s version of “little platoons.” Edmund Burke’s version was class-based, while Kirk pointed to countless small institutions for every walk of life. As a severe introvert, this is tough for me, but I’m making an effort.
If you’re a believer, build up your faith communities. You might need to move to a new one that refuses to blow with the winds of culture. Same goes for schooling.
There are many great ideas for all of the above in Rod Dreher’s The Benedict Option, which I just read. When the book was released a few years ago, it was criticized as “alarmist.” Today, it feels downright optimistic.
None of the above is a “The End Is Nigh” screed. I’ve seen it coming for many years and it becomes more obvious every day. As I’ve made several of these adjustments over the past decade, I’ve noticed that I’m happier, freer, and have far more opportunities to help others. No one in politics, tech, or big business notices, which is just how I like it.
America is made great from the bottom-up, not the top-down. And while politicos in Washington are distracted by their self-destructive turf battles, We The People can get a hell of a lot done.
Published in Culture, Politics
Radical.
Let us know if you’ll be adamant that Biden be impeached and removed from office for bribery, graft, and money laundering with Ukraine, Russia, and China.
Excellent! I was telling my friend (not on Ricochet) just that last night. She was pretty much disillusioned with this past year. And I saw Biden’s speech moments ago on FoxNews. Yes it turned my stomach. Politics is a stale alternative to filling your free time. There are many more avenues to satisfy your interests. Over the last ten years I’ve increasingly keep minimizing my time toward politics.
Edit was for correcting typos.
“while politicos in Washington are distracted by their self-destructive turf battles, We The People can get a hell of a lot done.”
Mr Biden is right. BLM rioters WERE treated differently. They were coddled and encouraged, not shot dead by a cop who was in no danger at all.
Police did use tear gas on protesters yesterday. A “federal employee” shot and killed an unarmed woman. Three other people died from unspecified “medical emergencies”. The National Guard and Virginia State Police were called in almost immediately, in contrast to BLM and Antifa riots when it’s often taken days for municipalities to call for reinforcements if they even bother.
The Doublethink here is astounding.
Try: “Biden will never be impeached or removed from office because of the make-up of the House and Senate but that can change if enough We The People vote for Republicans because the integrity of our election process can be thoroughly trusted then we can get adequate GOP majorities to enable impeachment and removal. It’s all about community efforts especially through social media that never censors conservative ideas or organizations.”
Then we can all have a good laugh.
You remember the summer of 2020, right? Remember how they closed churches and threw people in jail for going to the beach? Some of us fought against the people responsible for that. I guess I’m glad you’re on board now though.
Been on board for a long time, sir.
Detach yourself from DC while you still have a chance.
You assume too much…on many fronts.
I’ve expected cancellation for years and have set in place several mitigation efforts when it inevitably comes. I have joined several real-life communities outside of institutional controls — business, religious, and social. I have accepted many financial hits to assure freedom and independence. I assume difficulty will increase and I’m hoping others are ready to hear that message.
Yes, you should vote for the best (or least-worst) candidates to stave off decline. But conservatives must accept that politics is only one minor area. Voting for Candidate X will not save you, and if Candidate Y takes office, you can mitigate the damage to your life. It takes a lot of work compared with yelling at Democrats on social media.
Assumes your mitigation strategy will be tolerated.
Gotta protect the political class at all costs. Private businesses are on their own.
They won’t be aware of most of my mitigation strategies, just like no one sees the strategies I’ve already adopted. There’s a lot of freedom if you’re fine with anonymity and few luxuries.
Stoicism and asceticism bring great rewards.
I hear what you’re saying. Why I might even be tempted to rush to judgement on an evolving news event and write something hysterical. Good advice.
I didn’t find your comment hysterical, don’t worry about it.
Ah, the tried and true ‘I know you are but what am I’ reply. Brilliant.
Biden and his VP are just as bad as the current president. Pray for our country.
“Impeach. Remove. Bar from Office.”
Even Politifact contradicts Harris’ narrative:
https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/jan/07/ask-politifact-did-capitol-police-let-mob-trump-su/
How do you know the cop was in no danger? Are you a mind-reader?
There is video of the shooting.
Kamala must have been smoking dope & listening to Tupac again and therefore didn’t see the events at the capital.
Sorry Jon, too little, too late. You’ve discussed your ADD before, but apparently you still sometimes let it get the better of you.
Are you the same Jon Gabriel who posted that terrible screed yesterday?
Indeed.
I saw the videos. She was struggling to come through a broken window 8-10 feet from him. She did not threaten him, raise a gun at him or raise a knife at him. He did not warn her, accost her or tell her to stand down. He sighted on her for 5-6 seconds as she wriggled through the glass and shot her right in the head. He was in no danger, and he killed her.
You figure it out.
Only God can save you.
Yes. And?