What To Do Now

Thriving in the Age of the Pharisees and Philistines

This is an update, by request, of an essay originally posted on 20 Jan 25.

And here we are. The day has come. It is time to take stock, and to enact plans for the future.

If you believe in "Power to the people," then you have to accept the possibility that the people want what they voted for. It avails you nothing to argue that many people didn't vote, the majority of those who did choose to wield that small, diluted power voted for what is coming, eyes open. The junta's intentions were neither hidden, nor subtle.

A decadent society - one that values comfort, amusement and vengeance against their perceived enemies over civic virtue does not have the moral strength to maintain a free and open society. Those freedoms they do have, they will lose. This is the invariable verdict of history.

Yes, they were hoodwinked. But they were hoodwinked while intentionally turning away from the knowledge that would have protected them. The power hungry and the greedy knew their weakness, their laziness, and their resentment, and played those things expertly. But it wasn't just the evil and selfish intent of Trump and his cabal. The moral and intellectual laziness of the electorate, and the society as a whole made that possible.

If you believe in civic virtue, in the idea that society exists for the sake of all of its members, you need now accept that you are in the minority. The "will of the people," as we establish that fact - through elections, is not on your side.

So, what to do? Where the vulnerable are being trampled, resist. Where your rights are disregarded, denounce and defy. Never, ever march under their banner, or pretend that they are legitimate or just. Refuse to enforce or support those who advance the agenda of the junta. But know that you are likely to be defeated, at least for the foreseeable future. Vae victis.

When the moment comes, when the oligarchs overplay their hand and their grip loosens in the face of the horrific outcomes they will bring to pass, it may be possible to sway those whose lives have not improved. When the oppression and exploitation touches them personally, they may be willing to listen. Perhaps.

But the canoe is over the falls now. They are not going to listen until it hits the rocks below. Maybe then, they will hear you. But most of them, not until.

These are not the times we would choose to live through. But we do not choose when we live. Only what we do. We are entering a time of darkness; one we cannot see the end of. Perhaps not in our lifetimes.

Defy all that. Be the good. Protect those you can. Do what you can to keep faith in Liberty and Law alive, even if only in your heart.

More than this, no one can ask of you. But I do ask it, my friends. From all of you.