Again, from January 2014:
The phrase “political industrial complex” has been used often in recent years and it is usually referring to the work of political campaigns and the many consultants that get rich through the process. One source estimates that it’s a $10 billion dollar a year business in the U.S. I’d like to both narrow and expand the definition of the “political industrial complex.” Narrow it to just the Republican and conservative side — and — expand it to include those that work for think tanks, issue advocacy organizations, work as legislative staff at the state and federal level, and those who populate the commentary and journalist field right of center. After all, greed and small-mindedness isn’t only found in the shady campaign consulting class.
I’m not saying greed is a dominant characteristic of those who work in the Republican and conservative political industrial complex. I am, though, asserting that small-mindedness does define this industry, and in my humble opinion it’s the number one problem in the nation. Until our side understands how it is losing the information war nothing will improve.
Part of talk radio pioneer Rush Limbaugh’s shtick is his claim to “make the complex understandable.” That is not my goal at all. On the contrary, what I write about are things that are frustratingly simple and that should be apparent to all, especially those who work in and/or pay attention to the political arena.
When I write about the need for a political counterinsurgency in the United States — it’s as obvious as the nose on your face. The Founding Fathers had a vision that through the 19th century advanced through a great civil war and an industrial revolution. Then the progressive movement arose as an insurgency and those who should’ve been aggressively defending the principles of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution mostly sat on their hands. Now to save the nation we need a counter-insurgency.
When I write about the fact that the problem in politics is a personnel problem, well, what can I say but — tell me, what is complicated about that? It’s not just the quality of our candidates and elected officials that matters. It’s everyone from party leaders to activists to those who work in think tanks and for conservative news outlets. These are the very people that seem the most clueless when it comes to the failure of our side to reach the uninformed and the misinformed. How can that be?
When I write about the connection between the culture and the economy I am not writing about something foreign or complicated. Fortunately, as you can see from the links posted here, I’m not the only one writing about this. Unfortunately, however, too many people are still convinced that you can have a healthy, growing, and prosperous economy while the nation is ever-more populated with people that are increasingly separated from a viable moral code.
When I write about what it is the Republican Party should be doing at the state and local level I realize that the topic is a little vague since few people give it much thought. When I ask people to tell me what they think the “tea party” actually does, or what the “tea party” should actually be doing on a practical level, I’m not discussing quantum mechanics, but I might as well be — in light of the glazed look in the eyes of those to whom I pose the question. To suggest actual outreach today is to run into the same kind of reaction probably experienced by those who first pushed for the construction of aqueducts thousands of years ago.
My argument that we’re going to need more than magazines and websites and social clubs to counter the political left should be clear — but for some reason it hasn’t been. The notion that we’re in an informational war and that the left dominates the battlefield isn’t some newly revealed fact. Anyone who has lived their life in American should already be aware that the schools at all levels, the popular culture, and the dominant media are committed to disseminating the liberal message. Yet, strangely, I don’t hear many people on the political right discussing that — or what to do about it. There’s plenty said about the problem — just not the solution.
Let’s continue this tomorrow.
Image credit: quietmike.com.
