Though I wrote the book "Enjoy the Decline," my 37 years of life previous to its authoring still left some semblance, some nagging ounce of hope, and love for this country. That perhaps, through spectacular luck and unseen natural economic and political forces, the country would wake up, vote against the state, and pursue a new path towards freedom, liberty, and greatness. Of course, I have no genetic skin in the country's future game, but still, it was a dormant hope that kept popping up, and one that (though appreciated) I still managed to keep in check.
Sadly, that hope is now officially gone as I've realized even the majority of conservatives do not deserve America.
This final nail in the coffin came in the form of a new podcast I was listening to over my Memorial Day travels. It was clever, it was intelligent, it was libertarian, it had 35,000 subscribers. And so I was hopeful I could run some ads for my own books on their show resulting in a mutually beneficial arrangement. Of course, when the segment came up where they'd normally run advertising, they did the most non-conservative, non-capitalist, 100% NPR thing - they asked for donations. This then sent me into a tirade as not only were my hopes at future profit and a better life dashed, but this was just one more of the many "conservative, libertarian, pro-freedom, pro-capitalist" social media sites that proved to be only capitalist in theory.
This experience then reminded me of the exhausting, wasteful, pointless, and sometimes outright costly experiences I've had doing business with effectively "not liberals."
When I was on my "Worthless" book tour I was sponsored by a young conservative college group. I took a full week of vacation and a week of leave of absence to tour the country, giving a speech about the risks of majoring in worthless subjects. Hoping this would prove mutually beneficial (I would profit, young college students would invest wisely in their education), I was instead greeted by impossibly inept republican, conservative, or libertarian college students which made the entire tour a waste.
They'd only book the room for 15 minutes, while the speech was an hour.
They forgot to bring an LCD projector, and one time chairs.
Some conservative college groups failed to advertise the speech altogether, and thus...
We'd have a whopping 3-4 people in the audience if anybody showed up at all.
Then there was the two speeches I gave to the MN GOP and Tea Party. Thinking these were wiser, older, more mature people, I expected we would not endure the same youth-caused logistical problems that plagued my book tour. Which we didn't. We did, however, get to deal with a whole new problem. It fell on deaf ears.
Not that the speech wasn't good. Not that the audience didn't love it (they did). But the whole point of the speech was how to get young men interested in conservative politics. At best, both audiences had 20 years left of life expectancy, and they wanted to bring new blood into the GOP. And after delivering a rousing speech, which clearly and cleverly laid out a brilliant strategy to do this....nothing. Not a single thing.
No call.
No inquiry.
No follow up.
I even called MULTIPLE chapters of the GOP to volunteer only to NEVER have a single call returned. I even attended the republican caucus HANDING MY CARD TO THE INTERIM CHAIR, EXPLICITLY STATING I'D LIKE TO HELP only to once again, never hear back. It became apparent to me that this ineptitude and laziness is so rife and complete within the republican party, that its presumed most ardent cheerleaders don't even care about freedom enough to expend the 2 calories of energy it takes to call people back.
Then there's boycotting. Boycotting is very simple to me. If you as a company, an actor, or some other agent in the US is/are going to advocate an action that lessens my freedom and life, I'm not going to give you any of my business, money, or time. I don't buy Apple. I don't shop at Target. I don't buy Starbucks. I don't bank at any bank that took TARP money. And I'd Napster U2's music (if I wanted to listen to very bland, very beige, baby boomer tripe).
But oh no, that's too much of an inconvenience for 95% of the conservatives in America. They will line up for every Leonardo DiCaprio movie, get their daily starbucks, fork over their children's college fund for the newest iPhone, bank at Bank of America, and will support communism directly by getting gas at Citgo. Of course, the hypocrisy is if the 50% of the American public (which is presumably conservative) were to all cut off these agent whores of socialism, then there'd be more REAL change overnight than there was during Reagan's entire administration. But that's just too inconvenient to drive the 5 minutes down to Dunn Brothers, the 6 minutes down to Wal-Mart, and geez, we SWPL republican suburbanites just can't let the neighbors see us with a Samsung!
Then there's my personal experiences with so called "capitalists" in my own life. Related to my frustration over the "non-profit capitalist" podcast that didn't run ads, most conservatives, libertarians, capitalists and free marketers I've meet in my life just lack the hustle and desire to achieve excellence. They just plain lack the work ethic and hunger it takes to push themselves, and thus as a group, society to new levels of success, innovation, achievement, and accomplishment. And so when I try to employ them, either through contract work, reaching out to them to conduct business, or perhaps offering them money outright, the responses I get are...
never calling me back,
6 month delays,
lethargy,
a completely lack of hustle,
a cluelessness about the opportunity that is being wasted,
no appreciation for the insane value of time,
no appreciation for the potential of profit,
shoddy work, or
no work at all
They, like the aforementioned podcast, are merely academian, theoretician, Monday morning quarterback capitalists. They like to claim they are, but never put forth the effort to become actual capitalists.
This, among other things, has forced me to conclude that the majority of conservatives (not all) are very much like most liberals and leftists. They view politics and economics not as the key to unlock and unleash the total potential of human kind, allowing us to drastically improve the lives of future generations, and achieve untold levels of greatness in our own. They view it as a religion, a therapy session, and a substitute for real and genuine accomplishment in life because they're too damn lazy to put any real work or effort into it. This is why after 40 years of Rush Limbaugh and 35 years of conservative talk radio, nothing has been achieved because, just like going to church, it's easier to bitch, whine, lament, rue, and mope, than actually put forth the work and effort. And just because they claim to be conservative doesn't meant they have a harder work ethic or know better. They just happened to be lucky to choose the political model that actually works.
All these drawbacks aside, however, there is a silver lining.
The epiphany that most conservatives are just as inept and lazy as leftists has allowed me to achieve great solace, serenity, and calm in my philosophical and political-psychological-life because, frankly, the vast majority of Americans do not deserve America. Democrat or Republican, conservative or socialist, capitalist or communist, the majority of people are just too damn lazy and incompetent to deserve something as great as America. This should be of great alleviation to both you and me because we no longer have to:
worry
fret
or burden ourselves with the future of this country because...
this country and its people will get PRECISELY what they deserve. It is perfect justice, it is right and correct, and for us to get in its way is not only wrong, but a waste of what few and precious moments of life we have on the planet. Cheer it on and...
Enjoy the decline.
Dr Kelley Ross made a similar point about conservatives. I have not myself followed politics in the USA for some time because it seemed to me to be waste of time to comment on it.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the decline, but be ready for the fall and the hard landing. It will only be this period of time that the survivors will pull their heads out of their collective asses.
ReplyDeleteNope, the cuckies don't deserve this country. Many have been exposed over the past few months as having the same suckitude of the liberal fascists. It's called work for a reason, sometimes it's hard and yes sometimes it's fun (if you like what your are doing for the work). For me the "fun" part isn't always the cash, but doing the best dam job possible. The cash is the reward for doing the best dam job possible. Taking pride in what you are doing or creating through your labor. If the people doing these podcasts/utube/blegs are too stupid to monetize their labor/work for the product they produce, they are stupid. Granted, some bloggers don't monetize their sites, because they treat the blog as a hobby? Okay, but at least do an Amazon affiliate link, it's not hard to implement (I try to help you out Cappy by using your Amazon link when I need to buy some crap, it's the very least I can do).
ReplyDeleteDon't buy things off Amazon since I don't want one cent of my order going to Jay Carney.
ReplyDeletePrefer Chick-Fil-A to KFC.
Refused to join HOG, because their preferred insurance company is Progressive.
Haven't been to a theater or rented a movie in years.
Won't go back to TGI Fridays until they take down the posters of Che.
and the list goes on.
Rush Limbaugh is a bought establishment whore; I stopped listening to him in the late 90's in my late 20's since he was so full of crap. Not that I did not agree with educating one's self and such, but the establishment hacks who ran on great promises of low taxes and limited government but just can't seem to deliver even when they have all of Congress and presidency. I guess we know who's pockets they car about. And don't forget Rush pissing on the great Congressman Ron Paul who has done more than any other politician to bring these problems to light and offer a reasonable solution. And this is from Rush, an alleged Constitutionalist.
ReplyDeleteI'm also sick of alleged conservatives pissing on Ron Paul and these are the ones who whine incessantly about their liberties infringed but perfectly okay with another stupid war that provides a pretext for bigger government all the time.
Cappy
ReplyDeleteI’m not even on the same continent but yes the sentiments are pretty much the same and I do try the “consumers right to chose and spend my hard earn’t where I think it does the best/worse/least harm.
Just a small pedantic point "I don’t do Apple” scroll down and Clarey podcast on iTunes …….. errr OK.
DSV
You are so spot on with this one, Captain. I gave up hope not long after the bailouts of Chrysler & GM. I thought it would be a given that these two parasitical entities would be boycotted out of existence by the remaining sane folks who still held on to their core beliefs, ethics & morals. Nope, not even close. Both companies still manage to thrive in this upside-down world. Most Americans today are, by far, lazy, decadent & comatose. Their minds have been so polluted by the never-ending around the clock propaganda from the usual suspects of govt, the MSM, & the education industrial complex. Their ability to think rationally is so completely impaired that they have become permanently deluded, misguided & confused. Trying to rehabilitate them is beyond reality.
ReplyDeletePlease, someone tell me where I can find “Sanctuary”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0Amt30_QVQ&index=4&list=PL2EC839AB1E5FA72A
Maybe everyone you meet lacks hustle, liberal and conservative alike...
ReplyDeleteOr...
You have a hyperactivity disorder.
You are so spot on with this one, Captain. I gave up hope not long after the bailouts of Chrysler & GM. I thought it would be a given that these two parasitical entities would be boycotted out of existence by the remaining sane folks who still held on to their core beliefs, ethics & morals. Nope, not even close. Both companies still manage to thrive in this upside-down world. Most Americans today are, by far, lazy, decadent & comatose. Their minds have been so polluted by the never-ending around the clock propaganda from the usual suspects of govt, the MSM, & the education industrial complex. Their ability to think rationally is so completely impaired that they have become permanently deluded, misguided & confused. Trying to rehabilitate them is beyond reality.
ReplyDeletePlease, someone tell me where I can find “Sanctuary”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0Amt30_QVQ&index=4&list=PL2EC839AB1E5FA72A
"Why Even Conservatives Don't Deserve America"
ReplyDeleteSecond. A recurring thought I had when I used to travel the country trying to turn out the vote for republicans is how they were likely to lose because it was only a handful of us out there and the organzing of supposedly a political group known for being responsible was usually pathetic.
This led me on to one of the facts of life that most people will do nothing unless they have to, will never plan ahead and just want to enjoy the party but dont want to do any work beforehand.
imo, the only people that really deserve a good america are the vets. true, many of them served but never in combat; but they at least put their name on the line to defend the usa if that time came on their watch.
Nobody I can think of deserves America as it was envisioned by its founders. On the other hand, nearly everybody I can think of more than deserves America as it actually is and where it's headed.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the decline indeed.
Don't forget conservatards/Christians incessantly bitching about 'socialist' Obama care but perfectly okay with truly socialist public schools where they are taught icky stuff about sex sometimes and other stuff they disagree with, but have yet to sponsor a referendum in any state to abolish them.
ReplyDeleteIt also makes it easier for those that have hustle to get ahead.
ReplyDeleteI spent 15 years in the Navy, working harder than I have ever done in my life. I am a Constitutional right wing conservative as are most of my Navy friends. I read your book "Enjoy the Decline" and was impressed with it. In my own 16 years of life after retiring from the Navy, I have not run into one conservative. Only self-styled "conservatives" who are actually liberals who seem to think things are owed to them by their employers and the government. They whine about taxes and the high cost of living, yet go out and buy brand new second cars and go out a lot on the town. They save nothing and live from pay check to pay check. They describe themselves as conservatives because they don't like Obamacare or threats to free speech. But they don't vote because it is too much trouble to stand in line at the polls. Besides, they say, the candidates are all worthless anyhow and they don't want to vote for anyone. They hate their jobs, yet don't look for a job they would enjoy because they say the jobs can't exist in the poor economy. I sit on a comfortable retirement and actively defend my money from the liberals sticky fingers. I vote to try and get rid of all the socialists and communists in the political system. I write, I phone and I vote, but I seem to be outnumbered. One big reason is the "conservaliberals." The people I have written about above who talk conservative and walk liberal by accepting the status quo and not voting. I learned in the Navy that if you want something, go out and get it, make it happen. We need less conservaliberalism and more conservatives to live and vote like conservatives.
ReplyDeleteWe've lost our vision.
ReplyDelete"Men did not love Rome because she was great. She was great because they had loved her." -G.K. Chesterton
No one loves this country, and so it dies.
While I agree with every conservative principle, it's conservatives themselves who are spineless and have let this country run itself into the ground.
ReplyDeleteThese sniveling blowhards refused to vote against Pelosi's gang in '06, thereby ensuring enemy victory. Since then, by their sheer gutlessness and dereliction of duty, the country has fallen steadily back against the onslaught of leftist barbarism. When those who are supposed to be strong and just become weak and decadent, what does history tell us?