A Curious Convergence

     A convergence of seemingly unrelated cultural, social, and political currents is under way. The consequences are likely to be positive, but the convergence itself is what really tickles me. You wouldn’t think, a priori, that those currents would have a great deal in common...yet they do.

     The cultural current of note is attached to what we might call “traditional American entertainment:” stories, movies, television, and video games that feature clear clashes of good versus evil, and that celebrate the virtues traditionally associated with masculinity. Entertainment of that sort is becoming uncommon today – hey, I’m doing my best, but I can only write so fast – and those who prize it are being subjected to campaigns of vilification and marginalization in those fora dedicated to cultural things.

     The social current pertains to varieties of public conduct and their correlations with particular races and ethnicities. While sensible Americans will remind themselves when necessary that correlation is not the same as causation, patterns in public behavior cannot help but impress themselves on one’s mind and influence one’s subsequent behavior. This is partly responsible for the demographic redistribution from the coastal states to the American interior currently under way, though there are also other drivers for that phenomenon.

     The political current, while not perfectly coherent in all ways, is a reaction to the steadily broadening and intensifying governmental intrusions on the lives of peaceable Americans. Persons who would have called themselves apolitical or “open-minded” a few decades ago are becoming increasingly vocal, and thanks to the Internet are finding that they’re not alone, the screechings of various activist groups notwithstanding.

     These currents are finding one another to be like-minded allies in many things.

     What brings this to mind this fine Sunday morning is this thread of conversation from a nominally preparationist forum. Timebomb2000’s FAQ describes the site as “an Internet forum for discussion of world events and personal disaster preparation,” which I find to be accurate. Yet the membership took an interest in this piece on the Sad Puppies contretemps, which makes it clear that the members aren’t monochromatic in their interests.

     Those who are repelled by these folks call them “everything but white:” e.g., racist, sexist, nativist, ageist, lookist, ableist, Christianist, and so forth. The epithets hardly matter. The rising power of these currents, now that they’re starting to find one another and make common cause, is what counts.

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     It’s not easy to hold one’s head high under current conditions. The news reports could make anyone fear that a swelling, all-encompassing disaster will soon overcome him and all that he loves. In many parts of this country, an hour or two in a public place, or behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, would reinforce that conviction near to impermeability. The effect on me has been frightening, such that I rarely leave home these days...and when I do, I go armed. I doubt that I’m unique in that regard.

     Yet to a large extent, our fears derive from the sense that “it’s me against the world.” It’s easy to acquire that premise, and hard to dispel it. But awareness of persons near and far who agree with you on virtue in entertainment, on standards of public conduct, and on the limits proper to government, even if the other person’s primary interest isn’t identical to yours, will help mightily to restore your confidence and resilience. Indeed, it’s essential to the process.

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     There are plenty of reasons to be pessimistic about the near future. This isn’t the nation it once was, and we certainly aren’t the men our grandfathers and great-grandfathers were. Even so, to detect a trend like this, in which persons who don’t share one another’s main focus come together for mutual support and encouragement, is a heartening thing.

     The great secret, the one our adversaries have always feared we would learn, is that we’re not alone. There are many of us, probably many more than are ranged against us. Our adversaries are more active, more vocal, and without moral or ethical inhibitions; that’s a large part of their disproportionate influence over the media. But as we find one another and realize our numbers, our influence is rising to match them. The powers that be, who’ve kowtowed to the noisy, disruptive minorities for years, are waking up to this fact right along with us.

     There remain reasons to hope. We are more than we knew – and if you’re a regular reader of Liberty’s Torch, so are you. I had to remind myself of that this morning, for reasons I’d rather not discuss. And it makes it possible for me to carry on.

     I hope it does the same for you.