Political power is not a toy. It’s not a trophy given to the winner of a debate club. Power is a game, but it is a king’s game. It’s chess, not checkers. If you’re going to play this game, you should come with some serious strategy and the will to win. This is because you can expect your opponent to be playing all the time.
For too long, conservatives have approached politics as if it were professional football. It’s something you watch for entertainment while sitting on the couch so you can complain about your team to people at work on Monday. But the left understands that political power gives it the ability to reshape society. While conservatives complain about losing yet another playoff game to an out-of-town rival, the left is trying to change the rules of the game so they don’t lose again.
The left understands that political power is currency, and the best thing to buy with that currency is more power.
Many conservative commentators criticized Donald Trump this week after he announced that he intends to maintain the decades-old position conservatives have held that abortion laws are a matter that should be left to individual states. I turned my anger on him.
After the Supreme Court issued a surprising ruling in 2022 overturning constitutional disaster zones; Roe vs. Wade, the question of whether and how to restrict abortion returned to states with mixed results. Conservatives who had expected a reassertion of federalism to lead to a blanket ban instead found that public opinion had changed significantly since 1973. egg was decided first. Regulations have proven unpopular in many states, even conservative states. Seeing their hard-fought victories stall at the state level, many pro-life activists decided that federal action was the only solution.
President Trump’s decision is Dobbs It’s all about winning the presidency again in November in order to pass the verdict as a victory and move on. Most Americans don’t like the idea of federal restrictions on abortion. Not only is it unpopular, but it is a powerful incentive for Democratic voters to vote.
If you want to secure unprecedented turnout and donations from the left, your best bet is to make abortion law the central issue of your election. Many pro-life activists have decided that this is a matter of principle and that electoral calculations should not factor into decisions about whether to bring abortion to the fore.
I fully respect its dedication to its principles. But in the end, this is not a matter of principle. That is a lack of understanding of how political power works.
power is currency
as Political theorist Curtis Yarvin explained it on my show., Conservatives have a bad habit of acting like heroin addicts when it comes to political power. Even though conservatives crave political power, they are not used to having it, and as soon as they have it, they want to throw it at the first political problem that comes to mind.
In contrast, leftists understand that political power is currency, and the best thing to buy with that currency is more power. Victory on an important issue may feel good, but that victory is often quickly undone if the opponent regains the upper hand. Securing power not only ensures victory today, it also ensures that victory is retained and promises to make it easier to obtain further victories in the future.
Did Democrats campaign on open borders and transgender children in 2020? No. Did America open its borders and accept transgender children in the end? surely. why? The left understood that the most important thing was first to secure their own power and then to advance their own agenda. This did not mean abandoning their progressive principles. In fact, the left needed to put these principles into practice far more simply by understanding that there is no substitute for victory.
There’s good reason why pro-life issues arouse passion. So let’s consider another less emotional but equally relevant example. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris recently announced their administration’s intention to implement widespread student loan forgiveness. Biden made the same promise in 2022 to rally support during the midterm elections before the illegal program was struck down by the Supreme Court. it doesn’t matter. The votes were cast, the election was won, and the Biden administration regularly boasts that it is dedicated to avoiding the courts whenever possible.
Will Democrats achieve full student loan forgiveness? Maybe not, but they believe this is a winnable issue and their base doesn’t care how it gets done. , I understand that you only care that it gets completed.
Providing viable alternatives
Older Republican voters love to ridicule college graduates with huge debts and tell them to get a real job, but the loan crisis is real. Most decent jobs in the United States are now restricted to expensive college degrees, and young people who would once have married, had children, and voted Republican are now starting their first home. He spent his down payment on attending a progressive seminary instead.
Employers are essentially required to use college degrees as part of the selection process for new employees, due to different standards affecting civil rights laws. It is a ruthless villain who wants young people to live a life of debt slavery, while the left created the market, controlled the ideology of the system, inflated the market, and now sells the solution to its victims. This means that the cast includes conservatives.
The right wants to discuss this issue on the basis of principles. What the Biden administration is doing is immoral and illegal. Democrats are stealing money from Republican voters who are less likely to have college loans and using it to bribe voters, but this principle is still a losing strategy. Student loan holders correctly understand that they are already stuck in a rigged game, and they don’t care if someone has to break the rules to make things right.
Instead of trying to appeal to the better qualities of an administration that doesn’t have better qualities, Republicans should offer alternatives that will secure their power in the future.
To alleviate the student debt crisis and gain power, Republicans should first impose a huge tax on college endowments. These institutions are almost uniformly left-leaning and amass vast amounts of cash by stealing money from students and abusing tax laws. Take that money, eliminate all federal aid, and use it to pay off student loans instead of just allowing them to be discharged through bankruptcy.
Removes the Civil Rights Act and its disparate impact provisions and allows employers to once again use simple aptitude and IQ tests to screen employees. This plan may not immediately provide the catharsis of woke college students debating the merits of gender studies degrees, but it will fundamentally shift the balance of power in the United States by eliminating the left’s monopoly on employment qualifications. will be changed to.
Joe Biden is a sad joke and the mask his administration wears to hide its face, but the people actually running his administration are a disaster for this country. The right can spend this election cycle focusing on issues that are popular and will secure them more power.
Closing borders is good for the country and increases the right’s chances of winning elections. Reducing crime and putting criminals in jail is good for the country and increases the right’s chances of winning elections. Breaking the university stranglehold on jobs and solving the student debt crisis will be good for the country and increase the right’s chances of winning elections. These issues may not provide the immediate catharsis that some activists seek, but by tackling these issues and winning, the right gains power and, with power, much greater change. becomes possible.
