So many articles… so many podcasts… so many books… so many nonprofits… and so little time.
One of the greatest failures of the modern anti-establishment/anti-deep state movement is that many spend so much time reading, writing, and talking… and doing little else.
It is easy to read and forward podcast links… it’s even easy to write, especially if little research goes into it. Peruse any of the popular websites today and you will find a vast array of articles and posts, everything from what foods to avoid to how China is reacting to the recent tariff war. We can watch videos of leftists having meltdowns, and listen to populist pundits talking on podcasts ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
And unfortunately, that’s what most of it is… talk.
British General JFC Fuller once wrote about military officers who spent their time in secure headquarters but doing little.
“In the World War nothing was more dreadful to witness than a chain of men starting with a battalion commander and ending with an army commander sitting in telephone boxes, improvised or actual, talking, talking, talking, in place of leading, leading, leading.”[1]
When I went through basic training back in the 1970s, we had a motto: “Deeds not words.” Talk is cheap, and we have a lot of it today. I know this all too well… I have a host of folks who repeatedly talk to me about how bad things are, yet never once… not once in their lifetime… lifted a finger to help somebody run for office, save for perhaps donating a little money. I know of only a few exceptions to this trend.
Unlike talking, leading involves real action. So many folks talk, talk, talk, but precious few work, work, work.
It takes much more commitment and serious effort to engage in the political war we are in. Working in local politics often involves late nights and long hours to get somebody elected to the city council or school board, or to stop bad state house legislation from becoming law. Moreover, you make plenty of enemies, including people you thought were friends and allies, and some of these live just down the street from you. And the financial rewards are meager… or none at all.
What is truly astonishing to see today is how many folks, who recently retired after full professional careers, now do a lot of talking about how bad things are. In particular, we have the “professional politicos,” those people that run organizations and travel the country, wringing their hands, saying “ain’t it awful.” They assume that we can just educate ourselves out of the mess we are in by telling people how bad everything is. But beyond talk, they rarely, if ever, do any constructive work. Even worse, they glad-hand with politicians and publish photos with them (“see how important I am!”)… typically, the same politicians who later betray us. But they will be happy to take your money when you subscribe to their podcasts, buy their books, or donate to their “nonprofits.”[2]
Don’t get me wrong. I’m thankful for the many people out there highlighting the bad stuff that is coming down. The internet has been a real blessing in this regard. And there are a handful of folks who are very active at doing local political work, beyond just going to meetings and listening to speeches. And we do need those who have full careers donating money to good candidates.
But there’s an important question we really need to ask: where were many of today’s talkers 25-30 years ago? That’s when they were desperately needed, especially to do real field work, even if only on a part-time basis. Why, many were engaged in their careers of course. They were making money, raising families, and living the good life building their retirement portfolios.
And now, suddenly and out of the blue, they realize we are in trouble, and seek a new career by talking.
Recent electoral defeats in Wisconsin and Iowa underscore our current problem. First, we need to actually get out and vote, especially in local and state elections. So many in our movement get comfortable when they win a big victory at the national level, and then they go home and sit on the patio with a cold one. In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with this… it’s wonderful to savor victory. But just down the street, there’s somebody running for school board who now needs help. Meanwhile, our triumphant hero is cooling his heels.
Second, we need to understand that all of us have our little foibles, and there is no candidate out there that we can agree with on everything. And yet, I have seen people who just got done voting for somebody like Trump say, “I’m not going to vote for so-and-so because he doesn’t line up with me on everything.” Remember… what we need are people who start from the ground up as strict construction constitutionalists. We may at times differ with them on a few things, and they may at times seem inconsistent, but look for the foundational thinking of the candidate.
Third, we need people, especially young folks, to learn how to run campaigns and get good people elected, particularly at the local level. This is not done as a career, but as a form of community service, and even then, only for a season because, as I’ve already noted, there is little money in it at the local level. And while they do this, they need to recruit others to help… and teach them how to do it and do it right to carry on the fight. As an aside, retirees and fulltime professionals can do this work part-time, even if they help just one candidate. Solid, constitutionally oriented candidates are often heavily outspent. They need smart and properly trained people to heed the call and help them run for office to defeat such well-funded machines. Good candidates do need money, but also need good people to do real work.
But sadly, many are far too comfortable today. We write… we complain… we philosophize… but few pick up the tools and weapons of politics and wage political war. And if they do, it’s typically at the federal level… where the money is. But we need to forget the federal level; that realm was lost to us many decades ago. The only way we will right the Ship of State is at the state and local level, to balance out the federal nonsense.
When one is stuck in a deep pit, they can get all the education in the world about the nature of the hole they are in. But it takes real work to shovel one’s way out. Sadly, many just won’t do that. And thus, despite all our talk and education, our enemies continue to gain ground…
…and the nation slides deeper into the abyss.
Russ Rodgers has several books published on Amazon.
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[1] Fuller, JFC. Generalship: Its Diseases and Their Cure. A study of the personal factor in command. Harrisburg, PA: Military Service Publishing, Co., 1936, p. 61.
[2] Many folks running nonprofits make astonishing salaries. For example, Richard Stearns, the former head of World Vision… an organization supposedly dedicated to helping the poor… had a salary approaching half a million dollars. Indeed, helping the downtrodden never paid so well. With that said, there are nonprofits out there doing real work. These are the ones that deserve our support.