Political battles pass so quickly that it's hard to focus on specific events: boycotts, elections, school shootings, waves of illegal immigration, riots, pandemics, foreign wars, inflation. There may be cases.
Journalists write passionate articles, experts voice outrage, and this week's crisis draws media attention. Whenever the public's consciousness focuses on a particular event, politicians feel the need to consider or take superficial action before the next “current event” captures the hearts of voters. This rapid succession means that the public rarely notices whether real change has occurred before moving on to the next crisis.
If you cannot capture an enemy's castle, the next best option is to reduce its power or destroy it.
That is why political rights are so easily suppressed. Conservatives tend to focus on “issues” in the news cycle rather than securing structural wins that can be built over time.
I don't think I'm crushing anyone's illusions here, but political power in America no longer functions the way we learned about it in high school civics class. The idea that persuasive arguments can win the marketplace of ideas and organically shift public opinion to the point that politicians are forced to take meaningful action is laughable at this point.
In fact, public opinion is shaped by the constant consumption of mass media, which is almost entirely controlled by the left. This forms the boundaries of any political discussion.
Media personnel are not omnipotent. There are events beyond their command to which they must react. However, progressive journalists generally control the level of attention that news items receive and the duration of their focus. The media draws public attention from one crisis to the next, but at the same time empowers various institutions to solve those problems, and this is where power resides.
politicians come and go
The American political system is no longer limited to three powers, as the framers of the Constitution intended, which is why it is felt that the Constitution no longer limits the power of government.
Political power in the United States currently functions as a decentralized bureaucratic oligarchy, with various specialized institutions acting as nodes in networks run by the ruling class. Universities, social media, and the press shape public opinion, and NGOs, financial institutions, and unelected government officials create public policy. These institutions determine American politics and set the terms within which elected officials must play. Each represents a “castle” on which the left can project power, despite the rise and fall of the democratic process.
If the right wants to win meaningful victories, it must stop chasing the issues the media dangles in front of it and instead focus on capturing the castle for itself.
While senators, congressmen, and even presidents come and go, institutions persist through election cycles, and their strongholds enable the accumulation of durable political power. Progressives have known this for a long time and have begun a “long march through the system” with the goal of securing these castles so that they can always govern, regardless of the outcome of the election.
This idea has finally penetrated mainstream conservative circles under the name “deep state.” It recognizes a permanently unelected government bureaucracy that wields far more power than a single elected official. Acknowledging the deep state is good, but the right needs to expand its understanding of power far beyond official government channels to include soft power such as the media, educational institutions, and financial institutions.
Political theorist Curtis Yarvin, who was a guest on my show, says that while the right focuses on individual issues, the left focuses on securing power to impose their will no matter what issues arise. he pointed out. Yarvin believes that political will is a finite resource and should be used to capture castles rather than chasing media-driven trends. Real political victories are those that secure power and increase the likelihood of future victories. Election victories can be important, but only if they actually result in substantive structural changes to the broader institutions that govern the United States.
win a substantial victory
Luckily, you don't have to guess what it's like to take over a castle because we have a perfect example: Elon Musk's Twitter takeover.
Progressives have relied on America's hegemonic control over information distribution, but Mr. Musk's control of social media websites will break that monopoly. Twitter (now X) is more than just a social media website.It is place There, regime journalists came to craft a narrative that would be disseminated through other media. While other platforms control larger user bases, Twitter wields tremendous influence over the chatterbox, which in turn sparks public debate.
Many wonder how far right-wing Musk really is, but his willingness to remove many of Twitter's major censorship regulations has already had a major impact on the right's ability to shape public discourse. There is.
Musk's Twitter takeover is clearly the most substantial political victory the right has won in a long time, and it was achieved without a single vote being cast. Twitter is a castle, a bastion where the right can influence public discourse even as censorship increases on other social media platforms.
The acquisition of Twitter also meets the criteria for a true win for Yarvin, as it increases the likelihood of future wins. By giving the right a stable base to organize and influence public opinion, Musk has ensured that conservatives have the tools they need to win power in the future. .
Conservative activist Christopher Rufo understands how to effectively utilize these tools and which targets to aim them at. Mr. Rufo has used a consistent and persistent message to draw attention to the plagiarism allegations surrounding former Harvard University president Claudine Gay, who tendered her resignation on Tuesday. Although conservatives are unlikely to retake Harvard any time soon, by applying massive public pressure Rufo has sought to undermine the authority of the gay-represented DEI establishment and the prestige commanded by elite universities. .
If you cannot capture an enemy's castle, the next best option is to reduce its power or destroy it. By concentrating political capital on victories like those won by Mr. Musk and Mr. Rufo, the right could be more effective in gaining the leverage needed to change America's trajectory for the better.
