Do The Warhol—Part 4: The Manhattan Project of the Culture War
by Scott GravesWhen preaching to the choir, one directs one’s lessons to those who already agree. Conversely, those who otherwise might listen and gain something useful get nothing. More on that as this inter-connected series of observations comes to an end.
American Icon: “If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There's nothing behind it.”
Vast, determined, highly successful forces and superior technologies dominated the theaters of WWII prior to America’s entry into the conflict after Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Manhattan Project began in August of 1942, a couple of months before General George Patton invaded North Africa. Character, strategy, and tactics played as large a role in dealing with Panzer and Tiger tanks as did Patton’s Shermans, of course, because firepower alone was insufficient in itself. But the defeat of one totalitarian threat by 1945 was not apt to make much difference in taking down another in a place where school children were being trained to fight to the death for the Empire— with sharpened sticks. The Manhattan Project, through funding, research, experimentation, design, development and production, met the challenge and made the difference.
The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, Andy Warhol’s 17th birthday.
“Progressive” revisionist history would have it that the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were atrocities which rank with the Holocaust. An accepted general estimate of the death toll for both cities is about two hundred thousand, as compared to projected casualties for both sides of the conflict resulting from an invasion of Japan, which number, conservatively, in the millions. Do the math. Then again, a prolonged invasion with Stalin’s help costing more lives and helping establish Soviet hegemony in the region might have been nice, by progressive standards, but American victory prevented that.
Victory in the cultural theater of the war of ideas is the contemporary problem, however, and what is commonly called the “elite media” is the dominant, overwhelming force. In contrast, for example, talk radio’s audience for conservative and independent ideas forms the choir who hears the sermons and appreciates the alternative viewpoints to the left-leaning MSM. This is not to minimize talk radio’s importance, by any means, but to point out the need for developing a potential audience throughout the media, and everywhere the purveyors of “progressive pop” have the lion’s share of cultural impact. Nothing less than a “velvet revolution” brought about by combined intellectual and production efforts on the scale of a Manhattan Project can be expected to effectively change the situation as it now stands.
The Andy Warhol Museum
The potential audience for such change, which includes a lot of kids who have nothing better to do, trends toward merely exercising the right to yell “F***” in a burning theater, the fire having been set by the aforementioned elites. This audience’s attitudinal aesthetic is effortlessly absorbed, so predominant is it in their everyday experience. The thought of TARGET stores selling merchandise featuring Ernesto Guevara’s iconic mug is as cool as anything else. Thus children at the private Black Pine Circle School may delight in their identification with the proletariat and the belief that capitalism will fail by marking the watershed event of their middle school education with the symbol of the hammer and sickle— on their publicly-displayed class mosaic. We all may be predisposed, if appropriately educated, to enjoy the irony. Or not.
But minds can change, particularly if there’s something better to do than passively absorb propaganda. It can be just as much fun to oppose it, even in subtle ways.
As an artist and a capitalist, Andy Warhol had a different take on such communist icons. One needs no highly refined eye to be struck by ways in which he presents them, for the most part, as graphically superficial or devoid of power. Perhaps this speaks to his cultural heritage from “the old country”. Somewhat surprisingly, Warhol, in fact, never created any version of the “Che” portrait, though he did once authenticate a forgery done by a Factory worker— not surprisingly, for all cash involved.
The general attitudinal aesthetic, or as one might have it, the interaction between culture and viewpoint, is critical in a democratic society. It revolves to a great extent around the prevailing culture. Right now leftist cultural hegemony holds the whip-hand over political processes and “correctness” generally. The press, the schools, the intelligentsia, the liberal arts, and pop culture are particularly saturated with progressive, collectivist, elitist thought. While the USSR rose and fell, and freedom was regained in the Bloc states as mentioned in the previous correspondence, such hegemony has had more than enough time to take hold in the West.
That these wretched, obsolete ideas, elsewhere cast into the trash-heap of history, are worthy of no more than mockery and condemnation is beside the point. They’re alive, baby. Why else would people be singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” every time the ball dropped on New Year’s in Times Square for the past four years, and likely forevermore? Refer back to the link on “irony” above for a concise description of long-term processes, as envisioned by Antonio Gramsci, by which such outdated leftist influences survive.
Interestingly, while the process of saturating the West with Marxist ideologies took nearly a century, the Warhol Factory redefined the cultural landscape in a decade or less. The progressive left had to surreptitiously fill academia, the press, and the entertainment industry with their supporters over time, since ingrained American values— and the Second Amendment— precluded other, quicker options. That goal seemingly accomplished, the capitalist economic system can now be overburdened by the demands of special interests to the extent that it collapses. The nature of the State can then be modified to control the economy and create a more ideal, pacifist, utopian system on the euro-socialist model. Everyone can be “free” to lower their expectations and be happy with less, and the “world can live as one.” Especially under the global caliphate likely to come next, if Western Europe is any indicator.
Warhol’s influence on culture, in contrast, might be seen as promoting freedom of expression and personal, autonomous vision in a social context. As American history often illustrates, one person, acting with the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, can move mountains, especially with the support of other individuals. Collective, progressive groupthink, however, has currently forced the issue that the idea of human freedom is a matter of dispute between those who favor individual liberty in Jeffersonian terms and those who demand collective “power to the people.” Is there any doubt that the people in question are of the enlightened progressive left, who will be glad to dictate their demands to all? Such thinking reduces everyone to second-class citizenship. It replaces upward mobility with that of a lateral kind, in a totalitarian class system which might just as easily leave an Andrew Warhola few better options than sweeping factory floors in industrial Pittsburgh all his life.
Instead, he built his own Factory.
"Those who talk about individuality the most are the ones who most object to deviation, and in a few years it may be the other way around. Some day everybody will just think what they want to think, and then everybody will probably be thinking alike; that seems to be what is happening." —Andy Warhol, 1963
To recapitulate, Warhol’s was a commercial enterprise; it ignored boundaries between the fine arts and popular culture; its influence on everyday consumer culture, society, and even political resistance to totalitarian ideas was immense, shaping attitudes as well as images. It is not Warhol’s content, but vision, methods, and means of manipulating media that provide lessons for those who would have an impact on pop culture and attendant attitudes. Finally, and of critical importance, his was an American vision, based on that enemy of progressive thinking, that “cowboy” mentality of individualism, so despised by collectivists wherever they hold power, yet within the reach of all who are willing to think for themselves.
Collectivist, progressive conformity is the enemy of freedom everywhere. It is the politically correct “enemy within” democratic governments, and it is exerting force throughout American culture and society. It can ultimately gain total power— it can happen here— decades after it has been proven unequivocally rotten to the core among free peoples. Its supporters have more money than they can spend, with billionaires on their side. Power and money will bring it to pass if nothing is done.
Free and independent thinking is a common, potentially unifying factor among conservatives, libertarians, classical liberals, and large numbers of artists, producers, musicians and consumers of popular culture. Many of them may not like traditional viewpoints very much, but they still cannot stand the idea of being under the collective thumb of progressives. There are more than enough such people capable of working together as critical thinkers for the cause of personal liberty, and they have more than enough reasons to do so. As in the case of Andy Warhol’s Factory, they can have the impact of a Manhattan Project on the culture wars, facilitating a swift and irrevocable change in fundamental ways of seeing and thinking which reflect —and re-assert— American exceptionalism as a standard of excellence the moribund predictability of collectivism will forever fail to approach.
“The surest defense against Evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even — if you will — eccentricity. That is, something that can’t be feigned, faked, imitated; something even a seasoned imposter couldn’t be happy with.” —Joseph Brodsky, Nobel Prize Winner and 1991-92 Poet Laureate of the United States.
YouTube : Andy Warhol August 6, 1928 - February 22, 1987
The contemporary pop cultural idea of a hero is everywhere draped in progressive, underdog guise. The contrary, rebel image will be that of a new anti-hero, one who refuses to accept the collective will and all its commandments, one who is, in fact, the real underdog of the real underground.
No other ideological self-examination necessary. It’s a simple question: Do you want to be free, or not? Heed Andrew Breitbart’s warning about pop culture. Learn from Warhol as well as Reagan. Create and support what you believe in. Connect. Let those who control the system compete with the new realities brought into being. Work from the outside or the inside, but make it happen. Make it accessible to the greater audience beyond the choir-loft. Find the money, lots of it, and be smart with it. The culture war needs a Manhattan Project, and it will not be government-funded. The future must be redefined. It can be done.
It has been done before.
—SG
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32 Comments
This brilliant series of essays should be required reading for all conservatives. Thanks Scott.
I love it, this has been my feelings for years, as a child of the ‘60s and ‘70s we must realize these barking-moonbats …that in our youth seemed so prescient, hip had an agenda, and as promised so many years ago are now charge. When I was a kid I loved being “counter-culture – sticking it to the man,” Abbie Hoffman’s “Steal this Book/Movie,” were cool. We are at the promised egalitarian utopia, and whether it was Barry of Hillary, we’d be facing the same thing leftist anti-American dogma that hates individual or American exceptionalism. We must for the sake of our kids and grandchildren put ‘60s radicalism away once and for all …they’re loud and vocal but, their real support is a mile wide and an 1/8 inch thick, start pushing back using freedom and liberty as your muse and they will evaporate, as will their insipid ideology. Inspirational essay Scott, and thanks for the artistic jolt — Viva-la-Revolution, …isn’t that fun.
Thank you for the series Scott. It was well written, well considered and the most expressive and accurate manifestation of our dilemma I have seen. There are many of us out there trying to make the 'revolucion!' a reality. I am working myself into a state of exhaustion trying to find and organize the people who will make this happen. Now we need support. Not just in money, which is vital, but in networking and moral support, exposure and promotion. I spend endless hours trying to communicate the message of Liberty and the impact of the art and entertainment industries on our culture. Every hour I spend at the computer is an hour I am not painting.
I have listened to Conservatives bemoan the state of our culture for years, and cry out for an alternative they can support. Now, here we are, and Conservatives won't step out of their comfort zone and help us achieve our goals. For some, it is a prejudice against anyone who isn't a buttoned-down, clean shaven photocopy of themselves. How you can expect creative people to conform is beyond me. For others, they're too busy wondering what people will say about them if they step outside the box. Many are simply too busy working and caring for their families; I am guilty of that myself. But, these are all reasons we are in this position and we are loosing.
The future and freedom of our children depend upon the actions we take against the Progressive agenda. If there has never been a better time or a better cause, I can't think of it. To those of you sitting idly by, complaining and waiting to be 'saved' – put up or shut up. To those of you who want to help, drop me a line frances@machinepolitick.com . I can't do this by myself, and I'm happy to help as many of you as I can. That's the great thing about Capitalism and freedom – if we create a market, there is a potential for all of us to succeed.
Thanks again Scott, and good luck in your own endeavors. If you would like to sign on to my art movement and manifesto, by all means, get in touch! We need writers and any other creative personalities you can bring with you. Right now, I'm just a stay at home mom with aspirations of leading an artistic revolution. I hope one day to look back and say "Look how far we've come and what we've accomplished".
Say it loud and say it proud. Vive La Revolucion. We can make this happen.
On a side note, I get compliments nearly every time I wear my anti-Che shirt. 60's era Conservatives are very happy to see a young, funky person standing up to the accepted lies that Che was a hero.
Spread the word and keep up the hard work.
The great cultural hegemony is due in large part to the monopolistic economic structure of mass media. Without anti-trust legislation to break up the types of lateral conglomerates that control the pipelines of entertainment/information, the control of what is communicated on a mass level will continue to be held in the hands of an elite.
The direction of progressive thought is towards globalization. Economic/Cultural/Social intergration followed by world-wide governmental institutions is their true aim. I've seen Bill Clinton say the problem with terrorism will exist until we all "share common vaules". Well, I don't think his plan is to embrace the terrorist's values. Human freedom is not the goal of these people. As long as they can monopolize the economic structure of the mass media, they will be difficult to defeat.
"…It’s a simple question: Do you want to be free, or not? Heed Andrew Breitbart’s warning about pop culture. Learn from Warhol as well as Reagan. Create and support what you believe in. Connect. Let those who control the system compete with the new realities brought into being. Work from the outside or the inside, but make it happen. Make it accessible to the greater audience beyond the choir-loft. Find the money, lots of it, and be smart with it. The culture war needs a Manhattan Project, and it will not be government-funded. The future must be redefined. It can be done."
For me, the end, is the beginning.
Thank you Scott for a great series of articles here @ Big Hollywood. I hope other artists will find ways to share your work and will come away inspired. I wish you continued success in all you do.
Boycott, we are an extremely powerful part of the economy. Don’t buy their magazines, papers, or watch their newscast, etc. Let all of their sponsors be aware we will not buy their products and though tuff their attitudes will eventually change by market pressure. Even if they become Government Run Entities or GRE’s they’ll have to have the support of the people, and remember Carter gave us Reagan.
One of the things I take away from this series is to lend my economic support to those I believe in. In recessionary times, we are all likely watching our discrecionery spending. While I have always disliked not engaging art simply because I disagree with the artist, I am already doing things like supporting folks such as John Burge, Jack Ellstrom, and John Ziegler. If that means not supporting Meryl Streep and Sean Penn even though they are talented. I can live with it.
Nice video of John Cale and Lou Reid BTW. One of my favorite singer/songwriters J.J. Cale is also John Cale. Early in his career, he was playing in L.A. and Velvet Underground had just been there, so he was told he could not use "John Cale, so he became known as J.J. Cale. Since the above video reminded me, I've linked to a nice video of this artist, 10 years to the day my senior.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8uk7vlk0sE&feature=r...
Not sure what the shirt looks like Frances, but one of my favorites is the one with the skeleton face Che and caption which reads, "Che is dead, get over it"
On a side note, publicly I want to say how cool it has been to connect with you and Alvaro via the Net. I remember how we first met on a comment page from an article Andrew Breitbart had written many months ago at the Washington Times. I am both optimistic and inspired concerning vast opportunities in store for those of us willing to continue to do good work, which will lead to greater success not only in our lives but in the lives of others.
[...] rest is here: Do The Warhol—Part 4: The Manhattan Project of the Culture War [...]
A couple of things come to mind.
One is that we must demand better standards for the next generation's education. A possible good idea would be to set standards for an elementary certificate, required to finish elementary school and gain admission to high school. This could stem the declining quality of high school and college education. Then make the main goal of high school the graduation of independent adults. We treat people like adults when they turn 18, coincidentally that's about the same time they graduate high school, and yet here we are torpedoing their independence by encouraging the brightest of our youth to take AP social studies courses and plunge into massive debt without the skills to make the kind of money it takes to pay it off in a reasonable time. Imagine what would happen if every high school graduate had one or two certificates in something, whether or not they went to college.
Second I wonder if there is a potential market for a new breed of film/TV studio that involves the public more directly in choosing what gets to be produced. Suppose you could go to a website, review a list of proposals with synopses and script excerpts, and vote for which one(s) you would most like to see taken to production, and then later maybe do some of the screening via invitation-based webcast. Give extra voting power to paying members just to make people demonstrate genuine interest and be less vulnerable to something like… the Kos/DU crowd deciding to drop in and spam the system.
I don't know if this is what you meant to say…
I see Talk Radio as an A-bomb tech. A-bombs are something new and devastating that the other side doesn't have. Of course, we need to go further, find our new A-bomb.
I also see the need for Tiger Tank tech. They have X, and we all too frequently don't have X. This is where I'm trying to work because I'm trying to take artistic forms they've utilized so often they've been burnt into our brains, and turned banal (like Da Vinci Code with its gnosticism), and find a way to flip it around on them.
I have the olive drab version with the iconic Che photo in black. The difference being the the red NO symbol(circle with slash) over the face. There is also a smaller version of the same with the caption: Commies aren't cool. I opted for the larger graphic for increased impact, and have not been disappointed. I love making the lefties uncomfortable.
As to our building relationship, I am glad to have your continued support and praise. I have devoted a large portion of my time and intellectual energy to the concept of building a Conservative art community. It is my intention to succeed and take as many people with me as I can. Hopefully we can make some real change and create some monumental art in the process. I look forward to keeping in touch here and on a personal level as well.
At this point, we need only the participation and patronage of the larger Conservative community. As Andrew points out, we can't do this alone. It would be a shame for such a significant and worthy project to die for lack of will power and financial support.
I don't know if I'm in total agreement with the idea of boycott, Stan. In select instances, yes, I can appreciate individuals choosing to boycott as a way to make a strong statement concerning the issue at hand. Vote with your wallet.
In general, I would rather not champion boycott as a whole.
As artists, in all spectrums, we have a tremendous opportunity now to create art that in some cases satisfies, pleases, in others, nourishes the soul. There is a hunger in this country, people are starving for work that can inspire and lift you up. I've played for the other team, I don't want to be like them. We have the power, if we create good work, the marketplace will take care of itself. We won't need to boycott.
Cream will rise to the top and garbage will slowly disappear.
These can be exciting times, it's up to us.
Warhol? You're kidding, right?
Warhol? You're kidding, right?
By feeding money into a system that beats us about the head and shoulders, we are simply giving leftist a stick to beat us with. You start to effect these leftist lifestyles and bank balances and the attitudes will begin to change. They love the sheen on their Bentley more than they love their Barry, IMO. Letterman made his faux apology, not because a sudden change of heart, but pressure from the network, who had received pressure from their sponsors, who had received pressure from their customers, “us.” The Tea Party movement alone would rock board rooms from coast to coast, if we put our money where our mouth is, coalesce and boycott …ala Jesse Jackson. We are a powerful constituency group, not ACORN rent-a-mob-nar-do-wells, but the people that pay the freight. I for one, will not intentionally put one more dime (knowingly) in the pocket of a America hating ba$tard, I love you Jimmy, …but on this one we’ll have to agree to disagree.
I've always preferred "This Shirt Brought To You By Capitalism". For all the Left's love of ironical, detached humor, it must really get under their skin when someone turns it against them.
I could not pass up this opportunity to follow Jimmy and Frances and say that I personally can't wait till both my kids are in school-'cause I need to start working on some of that (hopefully) good work everyone knows we need-I have some great ideas! To the person who said do the work and don't worry about it being conservative-I agree! Do it from your heart and do it as well as you can, it doesn't need to be about anything other then what moves you. Support for your cause can come from elsewhere-financially, for instance, when your work sells no matter what form it takes.
Frances is remarkable in her activism/painting/parenting and support. I have to take care of my kids, my wife and other things before I can devote any time to anything else. That includes art these days or maybe I'm just old and can't work by artificial light till the wee hours anymore. Just know I will be painting soon and I have some stuff that will hopefully not be able to be ignored! Not that I should be complaining, after all I am currently in my first group show in a museum and was asked to be there by one of Atlanta's finest artist/educators…so I must be doing something right. We certainly could use financial support now, but more importantly, I think we need to create good work and have a no quitters attitude-the support will come-sooner or later. To me it looks like it's starting to happen sooner. On a side note, thanks Jimmy for the kind words and Frances, I'll see you Tuesday night.
It's cool, my friend. I don't think we're miles apart on our thinking. I understand and can appreciate where you're coming from.
Yes, the Letterman event was a good example which you correctly described. Each situation, calls for a different action and response.
However, I never want to operate like the Jackson's and Sharpton's of our country. There must be other ways, as Scott has touched on in this series, support what you believe in, find the money to make it happen and be smart with it. Like you, I will be selective in which artists and projects I choose to support but the idea of general boycotts, isn't my thing.
Agree to disagree.
Take care.
If the market place is a monopoly, it will not take care of itself.
Come on Mike, you can do better than that.
Let it rip.
This has been a very thought-provoking series, Mr. Graves. I've gotten a lot from it ……and also from the comments.
I look forward to it. I always find inspiration in dealing with other artists. I know my opinions are not always welcome in forums about art and social issues, but I find I always walk away with ideas. I know I often offend people, but we can't understand each other if we don't share our opinions. Besides, if I can handle being called a fascist, other artists should be able to handle my assertion that the government shouldn't fund art.
I'm sure the discussion at MOCA GA will be fun on many levels. If any of the readers live in Atlanta, I encourage them to join us.
I have a toe in the world of classical guitar because I play solo nylon string (And a few standard repertoire classical pieces), but I'm considered by the purists to be… well, impure – iconoclastic really – because I play electric nylon string guitars with digital effects and even MIDI and synthesizers. I was invited to join one of these groups – I don't know why – and I posted there that I thought many mainstream classical guitarists were so up-tight that their butts squeaked when they walked.
It really is a very restricted world where there are arbiters of what is and is not artistically acceptable, and those who deviate from the accepted path are derided and expelled. In that sense, I pointed out, traditional classical guitarists are ultra-conservative and akin to religious fundamentalists. I concluded by pointing out that any musician who is not a radical libertarian individualist isn't a fully developed moral, spiritual, ethical, political, or artistic agent and that Jesus, if you bother to actually try to understand the mission of His ministry, was a small-l libertarian by the current modern definition. I actually got a friend request out of that, but just one. LOL!
The classical guitar world isn't unique, of course, in fact it is emblematic of the art world at large, which is fractured into many cliques with their own rules for what is and is not acceptable to be considered a member of the group. Not astonishingly, these groups don't produce great artists, despite their numbers.
You may or may not take it as a complement Jimmy, but …on BH I always like what you have to say and we are of like minds, but. No we won’t operate like the Jackson’s or Sharpton’s of this country, …we’ll do it better because there’s some real a$$ in what we say, and our love of country, freedom, liberty will be an easy sell, and not to be overly dramatic, …but if not now when. As Scott stated in his “tight– in-the-pocket,” …expose’ we must regain control of not only Pop Culture, but we also IMO gotta grab the country by the ball$, in a Free Market Society that means the money. That is the ultimate arbiter of who wins in the USA. This country is at a very dark precipice, and we must join the fight, or watch the America that we grew up in, …perish.
That is a very interesting comment, Huc. Thanks for sharing. While I don't completely disregard the notionthat certain relatively objective academic guidelines can be used as a guide in critiquing music, arbitrary rules about what is or not acceptable is ultimately a losing proposition. There really is something to the notion that listeners are the ultimate judge. You may compose and play a piece and I may enjoy it. If so we connect on a level that actually transcends any arbitrary restrictions placed on your music by others.
While reading your comments, I couldn't help of thinking about the outcry from the "folk" community when Dylan first picked up an electric guitar. Now, I am the first to admit at times I think many of Dylan's songs are better when performed by others, but by no means does that apply to all or even most. Either way, economically and popularly wise, he certainly had the laugh last didn't he?
One of the things I take away from this series is to lend my economic support to those I believe in particularly when they are struggling to gain broader distribution. In recessionary times, we are all likely watching our discretionary spending. While I have always disliked not engaging art simply because I disagree with the artist, I am already starting to do things like support folks such as Chris Burgard, Jack Ellstrom, and John Ziegler that deserve a wider audience. If that somehow means in tougher economic times not supporting the likes of Meryl Streep and Sean Penn with whom I disagree even though they are talented, it is a compromise I can easily live with.
BTW – nice video of John Cale and Lou Reid. One of my favorite singer/songwriters J.J. Cale is also John Cale. Early in his career, he was playing in L.A. and Velvet Underground had just been there, so he was told he could not use "John Cale" as a stage name so he became known as J.J. Cale. Seeing the above video reminded me of J.J., so I've linked to a nice video of this artist, 10 years to the day my senior.
<a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8uk7vlk0sE&feature=r…” target=”_blank”>www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8uk7vlk0sE&feature=r…
Talk Radio was a new and devastating asymmetrical technology in 1994, but it maxed out its influence a decade ago. Now we're in the H-bomb era of the Internet, and the best we can say there is that we're not getting crushed.
The fatal flaw I see in this plan is that in the culture today, the biggest threat to individual freedom is perceived to come from the Christian Right rather than the Progressive Left.
Personally, I'd love to see the GOP pick up the Liberty banner with real feeling–let's talk about tax cuts and guns for sure, but also about drug legalization, incarceration rates of young black men, and why government helps drive up the cost of college. The Republican Party was a radical party once, long long ago, and perhaps it can rediscover that side. I'm skeptical.
In many ways , Colin, you are right. I consider myself somewhere between the designations of big and little L Libertarian. I disagree on the points of closed borders and military intervention, making some Libertarians as angry at me as the Liberals and Republicans. I think one of the biggest challenges we face, regardless of our core philosophy is the larger perception people have of us. Those of us who are truly Conservative prefer to leave others to their own designs. Consequently, the louser fringe portions of the Conservative movement have made themselves the mascot for our views, making us susceptible to stereotypes and derision. I would say that most Conservatives tend toward Libertarianism, but shy away for a few reasons we must address.
1. We have allowed ourselves to be painted as pot heads and anarchists. 2. Republicans, who are often big government counterparts to the Liberal competition, are more mainstream. They have convinced people that because they call themselves Conservative, we should accept their pork spending, corruption, nepotism, et al because the alternative is a Liberal controlled nanny state. 3. It is a weakness of human character that most of us feel a need to fit in. Stepping out of the clique to vote for a third party is inconceivable to most people.
Until we address these issues and submit some viable solutions, we will continue to loose the battle for America. That is why I think it is vital for us to address these issues through the arts and entertainment industries. We need to approach young people on their level and get a message out there they can understand and relate to. The Liberals make their agenda look trendy and hip, and the kids eat it up without looking beneath the surface.
It's the negative, stinkin' thinkin' hyper-critical mindset that I object to. After all, it's only natural for artists to self-segregate to one degree or another based upon their likes and dislikes. That's just human nature in action. But when that understandable human filtering morphs into a condescending and dismissive attitude toward anything and everything that is different from what is in your little bailiwick, then you're dealing with unhealthy conceit that is usually, I think, based on fear of what you don't understand and, perhaps more importantly, can't do yourself. As per usual when human beings are involved, jealousy is what's usually at the root of it.
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