Winning elections is great…

…but that isn’t going to assure victory over the left, not in the long term.

A counterculture will have to grow to counteract the left’s longstanding cultural dominance in America.:  Note my choice of words, I specifically avoid declaring we “need to take back our culture,” or “we need to create a counterculture.”:  It has to grow, organically, on its own.:  This isn’t something that we’re going to force to happen.

What a writer can do is write, and encourage his political and cultural sympathizers to be themselves, be positive and enthusiastic, and to bring others into your world, your culture.:  Talk about our ideas and things we enjoy and love.:  A fatal flaw of leftism and statist ideologies is that they can never provide the quality of life and vibrancy that free people and free markets can, beyond those of a few select elites and political lackeys.:  A society based on centralized governmental control can not accept the level of risk that a free society can, so they have to impose controls on society.:  This especially becomes true when a government takes over the health care system, as unhealthy or risky behavior soon becomes a huge drain on a system too weak, corrupt and inefficient to handle risk.

What are you passionate about?:  Is it art?:  Is it music?:  Is it theater?:  Is it sport?:  Is it the finer things in life?:  Embrace those things, enjoy them, and get others to enjoy them too.:  Not everyone will enjoy the same things you enjoy (I recently have taken up smoking pipes, which isn’t gonna be for everyone), but perhaps seeing you seek out and enjoy the finer things will make them do the same.:  It may also show them of not only the need to defend their own interests from the threat of a power-grabbing authority, but to defend the interests of others, too.:  Work to show them that leftism and statism cannot allow them the kind of lifestyle they wish to have, only the free market and a free republic can.

My presence has been somewhat scarce in the right blogosphere lately, in part because I’ve been adopting this change in my own life.:  In prior months, I found myself in a bit of a funk, I was exhausted and miserable.:  Frankly, I was living to work, and truthfully, blogging was becoming work too.:  I think the living to work pattern is one of the most effective tools the left has against us.:  It unbalances us, and balance is a critical component of conservatism, not societal stability, as John Feehery argued a few weeks back.:  Societal stability is a result of balance, and leftism is anything but balanced.:  Conservatives should seek a healthy balance in all things.:  So I’ve been finding things to enjoy.:  I can say with authority, don’t let work or politics completely consume you, the balanced you is a much healthier, more dynamic and powerful one.

As I said earlier in the post, I recently took up smoking a pipe.:  I’ve smoked cigars on and off for some time, but had fallen away from it for a good while, and had sort of grown apathetic toward them.:  If you’ve never smoked a pipe, or never known someone who has smoked a pipe, one thing you will quickly learn is that there is a element of ritual to process of preparing, packing, smoking and cleaning a pipe, and a relaxed pace that comes with it.:  One also learns that when smoking a pipe, especially a briar pipe, you’re very much on the pipe’s time and the tobacco’s time.:  Smoking too fast not only will probably give you an ill-tasting smoke, maybe a nasty case of tongue bite to go with it, but you can also scorch and ruin your pipe as well.:  Ruining a good pipe is a painful thing, not only because of the cost of replacing it, but a good pipe is often a beautiful work of art as well.:  But I, and anyone who smokes a pipe can tell you, done properly, it is easily one of the most pleasant, relaxing things you can do, and you grow to appreciate the ritual involved with smoking a pipe.

The world of pipes and pipe tobacco is an endlessly diverse one, there are tens of thousands of tobacco blends to choose from (on top of the fact that you can make your own blends pretty easily) with enough varieties that one should have no problem finding a blend that satisfies. :  There are many small, independent producers of both quality pipes and tobacco.:  It is not an industry dominated by a select handful of large companies, though there are certainly larger producers.

If you’re a cigar smoker, do a little homework, and give pipes a try.:  I find it to be a much more mellow smoke than a cigar, almost like comparing scotch to bourbon, both absolutely enjoyable, but different characteristics from each one.:  If you’re a never smoked a pipe, or anything else, but may be interested, seek out someone you know in real life to show you the basics, or there are plenty of good sources and people online to guide you as well.:  Understand the risks involved with smoking as well before you start.:  I have a hard time imagining anyone doesn’t know them by now though, considering you’re bludgeoned with warning labels, PSAs and advertisements regarding tobacco use daily, but a reminder never hurts.

Liberalism and statism promise a better, sometimes utopian life to all through the use of state power, but can never deliver on those promises, the media, liberal pundits and Democrats have already been talking back their health care promises in a big way already.:  Make damn well sure that the left can’t live up to your expectations, or anyone else’s, fight the tendency to accept mediocrity and crushing nanny authoritarianism, eat, drink, be merry, maintain your right to do so, and encourage all around you to do the same.

You can read more of doubleplusundead and his co-bloggers scribblings here.

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