The question I'm asking myself: Knowing what I know now and faced with the same election choices we had in 2024, would I have voted for Trump? If my vote didn't count, absolutely not. If my vote would have swayed the election to Kamala? I'm not sure. Trump has done some good, necessary things. Popping the balloon of wokeness (somewhat) and the religion of climate-change by themselves were almost worth the price of admission.
Let me see, do I want the blue suicide pill that will kill me in short order...or the mauve one that's going to kill me over a longer span of time?
Here's a happy thought: Our great hope turned into (or manifested as ) an insidious dope, one that could possibly self-immolate and incidentally (or more, providentially) deliver the true red pill we so desperately need. Veil lifted, multitudes (and I'm talking most specifically to the Church, both visible and invisible) realize our Republic has been thoroughly hi-jacked, the old order is kaput, and we've got to finally stop "healing the problem only slightly, saying "Peace, peace!" when there is no peace." (Jer. 6:14) And then, and only then, can we get around to strengthening the things that remain. (Rev. 3:2)
With men like Massie weaving and bobbing around the periphery of the gladiatorial games, we can hope.
If we begin with the premise that these elections are real in the sense that participation offers a chance to move the system in a meaningful way away from its multigenerational trajectory and toward something at least resembling true freedom and all of the other good things we are pitched during campaign seasons, then we will invariably restrict ourselves to thinking in the binary paradigm of Right v Left candidates. Once we choose that box, the macro truth that the whole system is inherently Blue Pill will be replaced with the box-friendly alternative notion that one political party/candidate is the Red Pill and the other is the Blue. This is the false premise that has doomed generations to actively support the very system that opposes true Red Pill awareness at every turn.
In keeping with the whole Blue Pill/Red Pill illustration, I would argue that by clinging to the Kamala v Trump narrative (or any of the other A/B false dichotomies that came in previous system cycles) we are clinging to the Blue Pill and avoiding the Red. This is the problem.
One primary reason we tend to justify doing this is that the thought of pursuing real change outside of that box is too daunting.
"But what do we do if we can't vote our way out?" is often asked rhetorically as if the Blue Pill political sandbox must be presumed as the only *real* option that we have, when nothing could be further from the truth.
What makes rejection of the controlled political puppet show approach so awful for most of us is that the system box gives us a fictional path of progress that we want to be true, where rejection of that system's legitimacy outright forces us to start from square one and figure things out from there.
We hate that.
And we fear it. A lot. (For good reason.)
Another deadly false presupposition underlying this approach is belief that the present American Empire system is something that can and should be "saved". Without diving too deep into that idea here, I will oversimplify with the simple illustration of The One Ring from LotR. We see the evil, all-consuming power of The Ring (DC-based power) and we think that if one we or "the good guys" could take The Ring, it's power could then be used for good. This is how the Blue Pill phone political puppet show wants us to approach the American Empire (not to be confused with the American Republic, which dies long before you and I were born).
All of this leads us to accept the tiniest bits of progress as confirmation that the system really can be made to work if we'll just tough it out and hang in there. Just one more campaign! Just one more election! Just one more "outsider" to propel to power so he can "drain The Swamp."
Yet no matter how much we do this and no matter how clear the net loss of freedom, liberty, and quality of culture, we just stay in the Blue Pill box and ramp up for the next fake push for the next pseudo-savior who always disappoints in the long run, if not the short as well.
As for Trump "popping the balloon" of wokeness, whatever credit he might get for that would have been during his first term. That balloon was popping already, and whatever his contributions along those lines have been, they certainly didn't require his election in 2024, so that is no point in his favor as far as the last election is concerned, at least as far as I can tell.
Regarding his rhetorical opposition to the religion of climate change, he definitely pours on the rhetoric about all sorts of things via social media and speeches, but what does he actually do?
Review his old tweets and Truths about war, ending wars, tariff-funded checks to everyone, locking up Hillary, draining The Swamp, etc, etc., etc.
Then look at what he's done.
The guy is a total sham. He lies about everything.
Epstein at the top of the list.
The one great thing about Trump has not been his pushing back in any meaningful way against The Swamp, Deep State, or any other core evil of our system.
Trump's greatest accomplishment - by far - is that he has exposed it all as a sham as none before him could have, precisely because he positioned himself as the anti-Swamp guy before getting elected and then, after election, revealed himself to be Swamp Emperor, looting and screwing over America as bad or worse than any previous puppet President.
All o' that said, if someone wants to play along and cast a vote for Massie or anyone else, that's one thing. I voted for Trump in 2024 the same way I might root for pro wrestler in an obviously rigged match that I'm watching with my kids just to have some fun in the moment playing along with the drama, but I have no illusions that any of it is real in the greatest sense.
The phrase "we're not gonna vote our way out of this" is becoming more and more popular for a reason, especially with younger generations.
And it's not an overstatement.
It's the real Red Pill realization that we are going to have to figure out for ourselves an entirely alternative route to building a future worth having.
1. Power is not the problem. When I use the One Ring illustration, I am not even remotely trying to suggest that power is inherently evil. My point is that centralized power (Empire), which exists for subjugating the masses to evil, is inherently incompatible with true freedom and the power of free people to do good.
2. If one insists on playing in the Blue Pill sandbox of the contemporary American political puppet show, perhaps a party or candidate dedicated to eliminating DC control could be viable, if for no other reason than to get the conversation going in the right direction and to inspire the masses to consider the existing system as what it actually is.
Something like a Freedom Party whose singular issue is allowing for states or smaller localities the freedom to simply vote their way out of the DC Empire entirely.
Great post, one of your best.
The question I'm asking myself: Knowing what I know now and faced with the same election choices we had in 2024, would I have voted for Trump? If my vote didn't count, absolutely not. If my vote would have swayed the election to Kamala? I'm not sure. Trump has done some good, necessary things. Popping the balloon of wokeness (somewhat) and the religion of climate-change by themselves were almost worth the price of admission.
Let me see, do I want the blue suicide pill that will kill me in short order...or the mauve one that's going to kill me over a longer span of time?
Here's a happy thought: Our great hope turned into (or manifested as ) an insidious dope, one that could possibly self-immolate and incidentally (or more, providentially) deliver the true red pill we so desperately need. Veil lifted, multitudes (and I'm talking most specifically to the Church, both visible and invisible) realize our Republic has been thoroughly hi-jacked, the old order is kaput, and we've got to finally stop "healing the problem only slightly, saying "Peace, peace!" when there is no peace." (Jer. 6:14) And then, and only then, can we get around to strengthening the things that remain. (Rev. 3:2)
With men like Massie weaving and bobbing around the periphery of the gladiatorial games, we can hope.
Thank you for the kind words.
If we begin with the premise that these elections are real in the sense that participation offers a chance to move the system in a meaningful way away from its multigenerational trajectory and toward something at least resembling true freedom and all of the other good things we are pitched during campaign seasons, then we will invariably restrict ourselves to thinking in the binary paradigm of Right v Left candidates. Once we choose that box, the macro truth that the whole system is inherently Blue Pill will be replaced with the box-friendly alternative notion that one political party/candidate is the Red Pill and the other is the Blue. This is the false premise that has doomed generations to actively support the very system that opposes true Red Pill awareness at every turn.
In keeping with the whole Blue Pill/Red Pill illustration, I would argue that by clinging to the Kamala v Trump narrative (or any of the other A/B false dichotomies that came in previous system cycles) we are clinging to the Blue Pill and avoiding the Red. This is the problem.
One primary reason we tend to justify doing this is that the thought of pursuing real change outside of that box is too daunting.
"But what do we do if we can't vote our way out?" is often asked rhetorically as if the Blue Pill political sandbox must be presumed as the only *real* option that we have, when nothing could be further from the truth.
What makes rejection of the controlled political puppet show approach so awful for most of us is that the system box gives us a fictional path of progress that we want to be true, where rejection of that system's legitimacy outright forces us to start from square one and figure things out from there.
We hate that.
And we fear it. A lot. (For good reason.)
Another deadly false presupposition underlying this approach is belief that the present American Empire system is something that can and should be "saved". Without diving too deep into that idea here, I will oversimplify with the simple illustration of The One Ring from LotR. We see the evil, all-consuming power of The Ring (DC-based power) and we think that if one we or "the good guys" could take The Ring, it's power could then be used for good. This is how the Blue Pill phone political puppet show wants us to approach the American Empire (not to be confused with the American Republic, which dies long before you and I were born).
All of this leads us to accept the tiniest bits of progress as confirmation that the system really can be made to work if we'll just tough it out and hang in there. Just one more campaign! Just one more election! Just one more "outsider" to propel to power so he can "drain The Swamp."
Yet no matter how much we do this and no matter how clear the net loss of freedom, liberty, and quality of culture, we just stay in the Blue Pill box and ramp up for the next fake push for the next pseudo-savior who always disappoints in the long run, if not the short as well.
As for Trump "popping the balloon" of wokeness, whatever credit he might get for that would have been during his first term. That balloon was popping already, and whatever his contributions along those lines have been, they certainly didn't require his election in 2024, so that is no point in his favor as far as the last election is concerned, at least as far as I can tell.
Regarding his rhetorical opposition to the religion of climate change, he definitely pours on the rhetoric about all sorts of things via social media and speeches, but what does he actually do?
Review his old tweets and Truths about war, ending wars, tariff-funded checks to everyone, locking up Hillary, draining The Swamp, etc, etc., etc.
Then look at what he's done.
The guy is a total sham. He lies about everything.
Epstein at the top of the list.
The one great thing about Trump has not been his pushing back in any meaningful way against The Swamp, Deep State, or any other core evil of our system.
Trump's greatest accomplishment - by far - is that he has exposed it all as a sham as none before him could have, precisely because he positioned himself as the anti-Swamp guy before getting elected and then, after election, revealed himself to be Swamp Emperor, looting and screwing over America as bad or worse than any previous puppet President.
All o' that said, if someone wants to play along and cast a vote for Massie or anyone else, that's one thing. I voted for Trump in 2024 the same way I might root for pro wrestler in an obviously rigged match that I'm watching with my kids just to have some fun in the moment playing along with the drama, but I have no illusions that any of it is real in the greatest sense.
The phrase "we're not gonna vote our way out of this" is becoming more and more popular for a reason, especially with younger generations.
And it's not an overstatement.
It's the real Red Pill realization that we are going to have to figure out for ourselves an entirely alternative route to building a future worth having.
Two quick points of clarification:
1. Power is not the problem. When I use the One Ring illustration, I am not even remotely trying to suggest that power is inherently evil. My point is that centralized power (Empire), which exists for subjugating the masses to evil, is inherently incompatible with true freedom and the power of free people to do good.
2. If one insists on playing in the Blue Pill sandbox of the contemporary American political puppet show, perhaps a party or candidate dedicated to eliminating DC control could be viable, if for no other reason than to get the conversation going in the right direction and to inspire the masses to consider the existing system as what it actually is.
Something like a Freedom Party whose singular issue is allowing for states or smaller localities the freedom to simply vote their way out of the DC Empire entirely.