It’s 2021: Welcome to the Thunderdome and Get Ready to Fight
Happy New Year! 2020, the worst year in recent memory, is finally over. I hope you enjoyed celebrating last night and are ready to make the most of this year.
While we should always remain positive, even in “times that try men’s souls” such as these, it is also important to remain realistic. 2021, much like 2020 before it, is shaping up to be a highly contentious year and one that will require us to engage in many battles.
For one, the battle over the election is still ongoing. Rep. Mo Brooks and Sen. Josh Hawley have both pledged to contest the election in Congress, which will set up a fight over the 2020 election results to suspicious. With ~68% of Republicans believing that the election was stolen from Trump (along with 26% of independents and 10% of Democrats), it is unlikely that the fight over the election will end satisfactorily for anyone.
Either Trump will pull a rabbit out of the hat and remain in power, or Biden will end up in the White House. No matter who ends up in the executive mansion, about half the country will think they got there illegitimately. Because of that, America is likely to be shaken by protests and torn apart by mutual suspicion and enmity regardless of the ultimate outcome.
Then there is the culture war, which has only heated up and has become even more pressing as of late. Most every social issue has become a battle and the subject of numerous op-eds, vitriolic protests, and unsatisfactorily decided court cases. While Republicans have confirmed many judges, few of them are willing to make wide-reaching decisions and instead confine their decisions to specific circumstances. They might think they are “lowering the temperature,” but all they are really doing is creating a scab on the body politic that will be constantly picked at over the years to come.
And, of course, there are the radical policies that the (potentially) incoming Biden Administration appears intent on pursuing. His campaign pledges included an erasure of student debt, new gun control policies that would infringe upon our right to keep and bear arms, and dramatically higher federal income taxes. Additionally, Biden’s stance on immigration changes by the day, making it hard to determine what battles that issue will lead to.
What does all of that mean for conservatives? That we need to get ready to fight the culture war, as I wrote about recently. I hope Trump will remain in office, but at this point, it is looking less and less likely. Similarly, the Georgia Senate races remain in the air, largely because Gov. Kemp won’t clean up the voter rolls.
So we’ll see if Republicans retain any sort of federal power. I doubt it. Whatever the case, we need to be ready to fight for what we believe in on a personal level. We know voter fraud was a concern; why not say so? We know Biden’s tax plans would wreck the economy; that also needs to be screamed from the hilltop. Gun control is unconstitutional; demand that your right to keep and bear arms remains protected. When any other issue arises, don’t be afraid to state your opinions and fight for justice and liberty.
For far too long conservatives have been the “silent majority.” We have strong beliefs that are almost always the correct ones, but we are afraid to state those beliefs in public because we shy away from contentious arguments and public controversy.
That attitude has allowed the left to triumph in the culture war arena. Because leftists are the only ones who openly share their opinions, they appear both more confident and more numerous than conservatives to the undecided middle. They have successfully shifted the Overton Window dramatically to the left in the past few decades simply by being vocal about issues that the average conservative won’t speak up about. Conservatives could win the culture war and public policy battles about abortion, welfare, free speech, individual liberty, economic liberty, crime and punishment policies, and drug policies. Our views align with the general mindset of the American electorate and would prove popular if we properly stated and defended them.
America is, after all, a center-right nation. But it doesn’t always vote that way or think that way. Why? Because conservatives often refuse to fight the battles they need to fight. The left wins because it never self-censors and remains silent on an issue. It won’t go down without a fight. Conservatives often do because they fear being ostracized or having to fight a contentious and public battle over a particular issue.
2021 is the year we need to make a firm stand. If we don’t, America might be radically altered by far-left politicians and bureaucrats. We need to stand up for our God-given natural rights and let them know we won’t accept their policies. Those battles can be won, but only if we embrace the battle.
No matter what we do, 2021 will be contentious. The election showed that Americans are split about 50-50. The battle lines have been drawn and there are few things Americans agree on anymore. The only question is if conservatives will recognize that chaos is a ladder and take advantage of the opportunities to win battles that this year brings.
Doing so will be difficult and will likely cost you a few friendships. It will stress you out and weigh on your mind. At times, all might seem lost. But fighting back, fighting for traditional American values and the Constitution, is your duty as an American.
As Lenin once said, “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” This coming year is a year when decades will happen. Decades worth of public policy decisions could go either way, battles in the culture war could be won or lost for a long time to come. Little has been definitively decided since the Reagan Era, the battle has raged back and forth, but the outcomes of the battles fought this year might decide things for the foreseeable future.
Let’s try to win those battles and shift public policy toward our ideas. The worst thing that could happen is that we lose, which will certainly happen if we refuse to even fight. It’s 2020. Welcome to the Thunderdome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRS8a8HjqFs
By: Gen Z Conservative
