Reading this article brought on an epiphany, or else confirmed something I had long held subconsciously but never acknowledged. People who thrive in national politics are a different species of animal who think, breath and do nothing else 24/7/365, who can, as F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said, hold 2 opposing viewpoints at the same time without going insane. In politics it’s called “talking out of both sides of your mouth”.
Conservatives from outside of politics who have rationally thought things out, studied history and seen the same mistakes repeated over and over throughout the millenia, attack the problems politicians create with the idea of solving them. Nothing could be further from the aims of the creatures who’ve made careers of staying elected.
My first political campaign at age 12 was for the reelection of a Goldwater conservative in the heart of George Wallace country, Alabama being at the time (tho’ not since) locked up by the Democratic Party. He was swept into a first term on the wave of the Goldwater revolt within the GOP, but lost resoundingly in his bid for a second term. Later I campaigned hard for Sid McDonald’s gubernatorial run there too. Sid on the campaign trail took on the AEA, the NEA tentacle that called the tune in the state legislature. This David vs. Goliath stance resonated with me and I racked up 100’s of miles as a volunteer trying to get him elected. He lost too, but eventually found a niche in Montgomery as…the state secretary of education.
Fast forward to 2008 and 2012 where I volunteered for the Ron Paul campaign in Georgia. I remember a stump speech by Rand for his dad on the steps of the state capitol (probably where Rand caught the bug to later run for office himself). I was weaving through the crowd handing out free copies of Aaron Russo’s dvd America: From Freedom To Fascism. Throughout his Washington career I know Ron Paul brushed off repeated pleas to run as an independent, countering them by saying if he left the GOP he’d lose his high-profile committee assignments where he could regularly grill the Fed chairman and other bureaucrats in front of the cameras and leave them stuttering for a decent answer before the eyes of the nation. At least Ron is still around to be the nagging persistent conscience of true conservatism on the national scene.
As Gary North has perceptively said: national politics is hopeless. When principled libertarians announce they’re no longer going to vote because it makes no difference and merely validates a rigged system, I understand where they’re coming from.
The best thing to do is to lead one’s own life honorably, not be a burden on society and raise kids who will in turn be self-sufficient and successful. If one ever gets the urge to run for office and try to change the system from within, one should fight it. All else is dross.