On Conservatism's Future

Of late, you have seen me talk about what I believe is the necessary internal battle we, as conservatives, will need to face and are facing.  I have also addressed my beliefs on what President Obama, the Democrats and the progressive movement in general will try to do in the coming years to discredit and destroy us.  This leaves only one real question.

Once our internal affairs are sufficiently sorted, what do we do to stop the progressive cause?

Honestly, there is really no easy answer to this question.  While we most certainly have short term goals, such as taking the Senate in 2014 and the Presidency in 2016, that will not nearly be enough.  They are important, but small goals.  They do not solve the bigger problems the movement faces.  Almost every true solution is long term.

For decades, everything from the media (both news and entertainment), education and the society in general have steadily slanted left, to the point where conservatism is shut out almost entirely today.  Immersed in curriculums that emphasize "self-esteem," our institutions of learning churn out leftists by the millions.  Our young adults have been told what to think, not how to think.  News corporations continually ignore stories that do not fit their agenda.  The media fills our minds with ideas that are not ideal from a young age in a constant bombardment of loose morals.  Our society has been desensitized to the deciet foisted upon it and the evils in its midst.

Yet, none of these problems can be solved in the short term.

It will require a slow creep by conservatism to counter progressivism in the culture.  As much as it pains me to recognize this, it will easily take years, maybe even a generation, to gain a respectable amount of parity in the media and education.  That's not to say there will not be advances on any front, or that some aspects of the culture will not see greater advances by us quicker and sooner than others.  However, to see all of those elements I mentioned (and those I forgot) present a unified conservative counter-balance to progressivism will take a long time.

It is truly a shame that any of these areas, let alone all of them, have been allowed to slip so far against us.  In many ways, it is a testament to the enduring nature of conservative principles that they have managed to endure under the pressure from progressivism.  Indeed, conservatism is the political equal of progressivism, despite being shut out and slandered for so long elsewhere.

Now the movement is at a tipping point.  With many institutions in the country unabashedly progressive and emboldened by the election to start actively pushing conservative thought out completely, we must begin reversing the course now.  We already have millions of people my age who believe all the wrong things.  It will require starting now to change that for the next generation, to a point where conservatives are more than a silent minority.

The long road is only just beginning.

Why is this here, you ask? Well, I couldn't think of a more appropriate picture.  I'm sure I'll be talking about the misfits before long.  They are part of that future...and I don't say that just because I contribute articles like this to them.