Save the Republic - walk away from the oligarchy

 

The inimitable Prof. Angelo Codevilla, whom we've met in these pages many times before, has written another outstanding analysis of our current political situation, and suggests ways in which the oligarchy currently ruling America can be sidelined and ultimately defeated by simply refusing to engage with it.  Here are some excerpts from a much longer article, which should be read in full to grasp the full dimensions of his argument.

Composing the differences between traditional America and our new woke oligarchy is impossible because their conflict is asymmetric. The American Revolution, the Constitution, and two centuries of custom endow traditionally minded Americans, conservatives and others, with the preference and habit of living as they please and letting others do the same. They understand concepts like virtue, righteousness, and leadership in terms of the duty to live exemplary lives themselves, not to force others to do so. The enlightened oligarchy and its elite servant classes follow Woodrow Wilson’s progressive dogma: “If you will think about what you ought to do for other people, your character will take care of itself.”

By this century’s second decade, the oligarchs who occupy the commanding heights of American life had ceased trying to persuade. Self-government has declined as corporations have wielded public powers with private discretion. America’s ruling class—bipartisan, public and private—grew to disdain the rest of America’s religiosity, patriotism, and tastes. But until our own time, most Americans either had not noticed their loss of status as citizens or assumed that they could vote to regain it. But the rulers inspired no confidence and ruled by pulling rank.

. . .

The ruling class—Wall Street, K Street, Washington grifters, the educational establishment, the media, and the corporations—saw the alienation that Trump embodied as the mortal threat that it is to their own power and positions. Unable and unwilling to change their way of governing, or the system of heavily bureaucratized crony capitalism from which they so massively benefit, these people resolved to secure the votes of Blacks, Hispanics, women, and the young by encouraging them to make war on whites, men, and conservatives. “Hate thy neighbor and stick with us!” was their program. Hence the four-year campaign leading up to the 2020 election was all about hating Trump and beating down his voters on the basis of race, sex, the Russians—anything to divert from what the rampant oligarchy was doing to the rest of the country.

Hate-as-identity was key to the ruling class’s victory in the 2020 election. For the elites, indulging sentiments of moral superiority, promoting hate, and rubbing “deplorable” faces in the dirt is a means to secure and mobilize supporters, which itself is incidental to securing the material benefits of power. For those who deliver the votes, indulging hate is affirmation of identity.

. . .

The [oligarchy's] irrevocable alienation of and from at least half of Americans has canceled much of the oligarchs’ moral legitimacy and left them obliged to rule by further alienating and punishing—to rule a house that they divided against itself ... In the first few months of 2021, it is clear that widespread compliance with institutions and leading personages on which the American system of government has long rested is no longer possible. The oligarchy ... has placed itself beyond the reach of argument. It can neither admit those it deems deplorable to real citizenship— never mind to society’s commanding heights—nor can it set bounds to the next round of exactions and humiliations that, having ditched persuasion, it must visit upon them.

. . .

Some sort of mostly peaceful exodus is within our powers to achieve ... We can withdraw our compliance, go our own way, and build anew.

Separation from our oligarchy requires stripping it of its claims of legitimacy. Their means of control—from making and breaking careers to control of institutional machinery—are daunting. Individuals may be penalized easily. But every bit of this power vanishes in the face of mass resistance. The oligarchy is frightened of this, with good reason. Nor can they stop an exodus by using force, sensing that they might well lose the ensuing civil war.

. . .

The oligarchy’s cancellation of ordinary working people—of those who actively participate in forms of organized religion, and are otherwise attached to the common norms and values that prevailed in America and shaped the civilization in and by which most of us live—signals an alienation deeper than that between citizens of different but friendly nations. Asking how this cultural chasm has come to be detracts from the hard task of understanding its depth and making the best of it. Like married couples who have lost or given up what had united them, trying to work through irreconcilable differences only drives Americans’ domestic quarrels toward more violence.

That is why going one’s own way, while paying no more attention to the woke than is absolutely necessary, should be the agenda of the country party, which in this case includes all of those who still feel an attachment to the ideals of republican citizenship that we once shared in common as Americans.

There's much more at the link.  Highly recommended reading.

In my opinion, there's one element lacking in Prof. Codevilla's analysis.  It's that the oligarchy, and/or its representatives, will not allow us to disengage from it without a fight.  In their eyes, there's no such thing as "a right to be left alone".  Instead, they'll try to stick their grubby little fingers into every slice of every pie in America, in an attempt to force us into compliance whether we like it or not.

The answer to such coercion is simple, and more kinetic than intellectual.  If someone insists on sticking a finger into your pie, cut it off.  Make it clear that if you're not left alone, those interfering in your life will pay a price for doing so.  It starts with those trying to enforce the oligarchy's national diktat on the local level.  Shun them.  Refuse to have any dealings with them.  Harass them until they have to move out of your community altogether.  If they keep coming, then use even more kinetic measures against them.  Make their lives unlivable in your area.  If they aren't around, they can't interfere any more.  If they call in outside reinforcements, make their lives miserable, too.  No service in shops, no cooperation from local authorities, no sympathy, no collaboration.  If local politicians and officials won't adhere to that policy, kick them out of office as soon as possible and elect those who'll do the will of the people.  "All politics is local", remember?

(If you were wondering why the oligarchs and their pet politicians are trying to neutralize the Second Amendment and disarm Americans, that's why.  They know that an armed citizenry can't be intimidated - instead, they'll fight back.  That's why so many so-called "blue states" and "blue cities" have already made it as difficult as possible to own and/or carry a firearm.  By contrast, the "red states" welcome both.  Vote with your feet, and make sure you move to an area where your right to self-defense is respected and upheld - otherwise you might find yourself in the situation that one Salem, OR motorist encountered yesterday, as I reported earlier this morning.)

If the oligarchs find themselves ignored, and and their orders disregarded, as they sit in their self-constructed ivory towers, they might learn something and back off.  If they don't, they'll fall in due course, along with their ivory towers.  That's something history confirms in every age.  Those rulers - elected, appointed, or self-appointed - who lose touch with their people will fall, sooner or later.  In our case, let's make it as soon as possible.  In an age of instant communication, where we're no longer dependent on "authorized" media or systems to understand what's going on, that should be faster and easier than it has been in the past.

Make no mistake - we will have to organize to achieve our objective, and take back our Republic.  I'll give Max Morton the last word.

Somehow, America ended up with a ruling class. A government instituted by and for the people now considers the people its most dangerous enemy. Ruling elite, a term that was used derisively a few decades ago to describe the small self-important coastal aristocracy is now accepted to define a large wealthy class of robber barons and their loyal government apparatchiks. If the American citizen is to regain control of his country, this class distinction has to go the way of the segregated lunch counters at Woolworth’s and “let them eat cake” French queens.

If we want to disband the ruling class and restore America to a constitutional republic, if we want to have a functioning representative government, for the people, and by the people, then we have to do it ourselves. No politician or political party will do this for us. 

At this moment we are the weaker side in this asymmetric struggle. Right now, we are 80 million couch potatoes and keyboard warriors with rifles in our bedroom closets. This is not a force to be reckoned with. And the ruling elite know it because they control the information flow and own the power institutions. Traditional Americans will have to organize and band together to help each other and fight in this struggle. When we become 80 million strong, organized citizens with a tangible agenda, when we know where we want to go and what we want this country to look like, and when we can see the path to achieve this, only then will we become the lions we need to be to achieve victory.

Amen to that!  Go read the whole thing.  It's true.

Peter