Some People Still Don't Get It
If you were at all like me when you were a kid, once or twice you decided to hang around with someone who was a bad influence. It didn’t have to be someone who peer-pressured you into drinking or smoking. You could’ve been standing next to them when they decided to throw a rock through a window and you were blamed just for being there. Associations matter. Even more so as an adult.
I posted this meme to see the responses I’d get:
Let’s face it, nothing is as polarizing as a good Hoppe meme.
Responses to a meme as harmless as this let me know who I’d want to be a part of my community and who is excluded. The belief that the Left and the Right are culturally the same lets me know where one stands. I’ll take that a step further; if you disagree with this meme, it signals that you still desire to be around the people who forced masks upon you, tried to or did via threats, force a needle into your arm, attempted to or did lock you in your homes indefinitely, etc. These same people want tomboys to transition to males and encourage them to. They are fucking insane! Many still believe there’s a conversation to be had with these people. I see them as the enemy.
This week we saw the return of the “left-libertarian” to social media, who, when commenting on the Roe v. Wade news made statements like, “It's not even close. No one tries to control people more than conservatives.” Do you believe you can make a community with these people? Think about it, if you were starting your own community with others of like-mind, would you include them? If the answer is yes, why? Because of some bullshit appeal to inclusion you’ve been sold? It will fail.
I would hope by now most people would realize that you should be looking for your natural allies. These are people you share values with, who you know you can count on, and you’d want as your neighbors. Strength in numbers is essential. But you can have the biggest army in the world, but if there are infiltrators you will lose every battle. Allying with people who share your values is non-negotiable. You would think it would be common sense but the responses to a harmless meme tell me otherwise.
Growing up with democracy pounded into your brain at every level of schooling makes one believe that you need a "big tent" to get shit done.
Burnham cures that. We know that one hundred men all on the same page can dominate a thousand men who aren't united.
Understanding this means alienating the wrong types is better than persuading them. Gatekeeping is good. If you have to defend yourself from a person then they won't make a good ally.
Build the community, but build the gates first.
Looking forward to the Cato institute releasing an article explaining why anti-abortion laws are more libertarian than forcing people to wear a rubber.