So, I had my little outburst the other day. And I guess it was cathartic because I feel better, cheerful even. I think it’s good to be able to resolve a dilemma. Two years is a long time to wait for clarity. Good.
As I said, I’ll almost be disappointed if there is a red wave. Having to worry about all the subsequent actions and the vicissitudes of political war is exhausting and when your team is the Stupid Party it can be maddening.
So, let’s not go there today. Let me think about the other outcome. Suppose on Wednesday I wake up and the Democrats still control the Senate. Maybe it’s still 50/50 or maybe they’ve padded their lead. What does my world look like? What is my mission?
Well, remarkably little will change right away. I guess the first fruits will be a long post on the reality of living in post-America. Hopefully I won’t make it too morose or vitriolic. But it will certainly be an acknowledgement of the position of the Dissident Right’s motto, “We’re not going to vote our way out of this.”
After that I will take some time and try to formulate my own agenda in this “brave new world” of post-republican American life. Right now, I don’t know many details but I have a sense that mostly it will be making as many separate connections with like-minded individuals and organizations as I can and try to support all the things that used to be the business of our society to support. I think I’ll change my writing schedule to provide much more time for fiction writing. Conservatives are grossly underrepresented in the arts and producing works that reflect our values and sensibilities might be good for morale.
Beyond that I’ll be making a minor foray into local government. It won’t be much but it’ll keep me involved with my neighbors. Beyond that I intend to see if I can find some like-minded people to form a social club. Currently I’m thinking it could involve a rotating weekly poker game. But we’ll see. Billiards is also possible.
So, you see, it’s actually not so bad being a man without a country. First off, you’re no longer responsible for justifying the bone-headed actions of the government to foreigners. And if you happen to live in a deep blue state, you can pick and choose which individuals and groups you consider your community. So, if Barack Obama says that doing something is “not who we are,” your answer would be, “What “we” are you referring to?”
One other thing that will change will be the contents of my posts. All of the uncertainty and speculation on the political happenings of the day will sort of fade away. I’ll restrict myself to practical considerations like how to avoid the real-world problems faced by people like me living in a dystopia. No more discussions about Washington politics unless they have a direct bearing on day-to-day life. Probably more attention paid to what is going on in the red states and whether any progress is being made to resist the feds encroachment of their sovereignty.
So, this is the first step at figuring out what comes after a November fail. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it’ll go our way. But if it doesn’t Plan B exists. And right now, that’s good enough for me.