We\’re entering a period of Democrat rule — a period of time in which all conservatives, libertarians, and Republicans will be tested. Living under Democrat rule means stupid, petty people hold power. It also means you’re going to encounter a lot of things you don’t agree with. You’re going to be irritated a lot. You’re going to be annoyed.
It’s important to remember that being upset about things doesn’t solve them. Don’t get upset. Living under Democrat rule, in between elections — or living under Democrat rule when you find yourself in a state that has an impregnable Democrat super-majority of voters, like New York — means there are a lot of things you simply don’t have the votes to change no matter how hard you try.
A lot of my friends, over the years, have urged me to move out of the state. Unfortunately, family obligations keep me here. That means that until those obligations change, “just move” isn’t an option. I’ve got to find a way to live behind enemy lines every day. Getting upset about what Democrats do won’t make that any easier.
I like to say that there’s no point in being upset, because being upset isn’t a solution. It’s okay to be annoyed, though, I get annoyed all the time. And believe me, whenever the garbage Governor of New York is on television, yammering away in his gangster accent and saying stupid and insulting things, I am plenty annoyed indeed.
The point, though, is that I can either spend my days chafing under the yolk of Democrat oppression, raging and railing at the sky while shaking my fist… or I can simply accept that I live in a fallen world and keep going about my business.
Accepting conditions you can’t change, however, is not the same as rolling over, giving in, and giving up your rights. I work every day to oppose my Democrat rulers, through every legal means possible. Accepting what you can’t change is like acknowledging weather you don’t like.
I don’t like snow storms. When a blizzard hits, though, I don’t spend my time screaming into the storm, telling it I don’t approve. I put on warm clothes and then shovel out the driveway, so that I am better prepared to deal with the problem.
Likewise, accepting that you live in a Democrat’s fallen state or city means simply that you acknowledge conditions that were here before you and will likely be here long after you are gone. It’s like the way people used to live their lives under the Soviet Union or other despotic regimes. They knew their state-sponsored news was lying to them, so they ignored it. Sometimes they acknowledged it with wry knowledge of the obvious manipulation. That didn’t change the fact that they weren’t fooled.
When I get news alerts from biased outfits like Yahoo News or Google, I know they’re pushing an agenda. I can see the lies in the headlines, the editorializing in the stories, and the obvious prejudices of the people who wrote the articles and who curated the content that was pushed to my phone. I could spend hours every day being angry about these things. Instead, I acknowledge that they are lies and manipulation, sometimes afford myself a wry smile for identifying the specific ploys involved, and I go about my day — occasionally writing a column about these very topics.
What I’ve just described is a pretty good formula for getting through the day-to-day business of living under Democrat rule. You go through your life awake and aware, paying attention to what’s happening. This will sometimes make you unhappy because you’ll have to recognize when you’re losing freedom and when Democrats are enacting self-destructive policies. But just like recognizing bad weather, there is little you can do to change these things (even as you take steps to mitigate them and prepare for them in your own life). So you do what you can, wryly acknowledge the rest, and continue after your goals and dreams as best you are able.
There’s a famous short story about a man who smuggles butter in a dystopian future in which “lipids” are banned. In his inner dialogue, we hear him refer to his Democrat rulers as “giraffes.” He is smarter than a bunch of giraffes, he tells the reader, and while he doesn’t like what the “giraffes” have done to his world, he seems to be living his life and maintaining his sanity in the face of tyranny.
In the Bible, this is “rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.” Paying taxes to the authorities even though you acknowledge those taxes are theft isn’t giving in; it’s acknowledging the reality of your situation even though your oppose it.
Another good example can be found in Atlas Shrugged, a book that depicts government regulation run wild in a way that destroys the economy. When Hank Rearden is told he must sell a shipment of steel to the government against his will, he tells the representative who shows up that he won’t participate in the pretense of a sale. When the rep stammers and says he doesn’t understand, Rearden tells him that sales are voluntary. Since Rearden doesn’t want to sell, but must or go to jail, he orders the rep to pull up a truck and take the steel without paying for it. If the government is going to force Rearden to sell against his will, he says, he won’t pretend it’s not simply a robbery.
This is the kind of compliance-within-defiance that will help protect your mind while you’re living under Democrat rule, too.
What you\’ve just read is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, Living Under Democrat Rule: A Survival Guide For Republicans, Conservatives, And Libertarians. If you\’d like to be notified when the book becomes available, check back with Red As Hell often. The book will be available soon.
