I am a red-pilled normie. At least that’s what I think the “Dissident Right” would call me. What does that mean? I’ll break it down.
“Red-pilled” refers to having discovered a hidden truth. The reference is from the movie, “The Matrix,” where Neo takes the red pill and discovers that what he thought was reality was only an illusion. Here the illusion being dismissed is that Republican leaders are trying to conserve traditional values. Once you put the dots together, you’ll realize that these leaders are flim-flam men harvesting cash and influence from their constituency. They conserve nothing except their own privileges.
“Normie”? Well, that means I still haven’t given up hope for restoring the American project. The dissidents have already declared America dead and buried. Their only concern is how the American Balkanization will proceed.
And how is a red-pilled normie supposed to behave? Well, let’s make a comparison.
Red(pill)-Blue(pill) America
If you’re a wholly woke alt-righter you’re only waiting for the revolution to start. Then you can take part in some kind of Armageddon which even those who long for it admit might not go so well.
But according to the script, crashing the system is the only way out. So, all’s going according to plan. Trump is just an early stage of the project and there’s nothing to say or do except organize, cache supplies, and prepare for the crash. Clear path ahead, check.
If you’re a blue-pilled normie, all is despair and confusion. You must not only negotiate the continuous retreat before the Left’s agenda but it is also your solemn duty to battle Trump with every fiber of your un-woke being. This should be a familiar scenario to any Republican who endured the Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, and Obama regimes. So, nothing to do but wail and gnash your teeth. Clear path ahead, check.
But what about me? What’s my deal? Well, I live in the territory between these two populations. I interact with both and actually empathize with both. Until about a year ago, I didn’t even know there was anybody else in here with me. But then I read “The Flight 93 Election” by Publius Decius Mus at American Greatness and another article by Angelo Codevilla, and I knew I wasn’t alone.
It’s been a giddy couple of years since the beginning of the remarkable campaign that put Donald Trump in the White House. Every week or so the roller coaster that is the mainstream media ratchets up Impeach Trump Mountain only to come crashing down on the other side and around the track again. The thrills and chills provide enormous entertainment value and so far, the ride has managed to stay mostly on the tracks. Yet all this entertainment comes with a price tag. Most of it is measured in dyspepsia and loss of civility around the water cooler but that’s just par for the course now anyway. The other price is the continuing ebb of trust and tolerance, and a palpable desire for some kind of reckoning.
Split the Difference? Don’t Bet on It
But is the path ahead clear for the red-pilled normie? I’d say no. We have a challenge. We must avoid the traps to which the blue-pilled normies succumb daily. The endless hand-wringing over Trump’s latest tweet or some fabricated headline proving that the Right is conspiring with Putin or preparing to hurl American womanhood into some “Handmaid’s Tale” type of bondage. You have to stop trying to split the difference with the Left. We share no common ground.
So that’s one side of the challenge. But the other side is to maintain morale and the conviction that we can restore the kind of country we believe in. We must be courageous enough to believe we can eliminate the largest injustices of the government programs under which we live. Affirmative action and all other forms of government coercion against free association are unconstitutional and must be eliminated. Simply put, these are all discrimination against Americans for being either white, male, normal, or all of the above. Millions of unassimilated immigrants and punitive trade agreements are stealth attacks on the sovereignty and economic health of Americans and must come to an end.
That’s a tall order. The Dissident Right has decided that this restoration is impossible. They might be correct. The trick for us is to prove them wrong, if we can. We have to be willing to use the tactics of the Dissident Right (which are actually the tactics of the Left) in the service of restoring reason.
So that’s the needle red-pilled normies need to thread. Recognize the enormous extent of dysfunction that has become embedded in our institutions but don’t allow the despair of either the blue-pills or the dissidents to stop you from working to overthrow it and restore the America we remember and desire. We can get back to a normal world—a place where the values that affirm life aren’t readily questioned, mocked, or disparaged. Where even though people don’t always do what’s right they at least know what right is.
We are embarking on a long journey and we need to be prepared for that. But we have nothing to lose. If the blue-pills are right, then we’re doomed anyway. So, we might as well go down swinging.
If the dissidents are right then the world we know will be turned upside down. It will just be a continuation of the struggle on a smaller and sadder stage.
If we’re right, then we can look forward to seeing a better place for ourselves and our children. And defeating the Leftists would be a truly satisfying revenge. That alone will be worth the effort.
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