In the third Rocky movie Rocky lost his edge.  He was comfortable with his technique and his fame.  Clubber Lang wanted it more.  Yeah, it’s a classic, but dated, movie from 1982.  However, it raises a good point.  Who wants it more?  What am I willing to sacrifice in order to win?  What are we willing to do, how far will we go, in order to win?  In this ideological fight for the heart and soul of America the left is doing much better than the right.  They are winning.  Sure, the right has had some victories.  We even score major victories.  Unfortunately, we are losing more small battles than we win.  All those battles lost are eroding our ability to raise the next generation of patriotic American voters.  There is a daily battle going on at an individual level.  There is a daily battle going on at the corporate level.  Finally, there is a battle going on at a societal level.  Patriotic America is losing all three of these battles. 

I have a group of close friends. These friends are all over the political map: conservative, libertarian, liberal, anarchist, neo-communist.  Starting about 10 years ago I began to notice a disturbing trend.  Those on the left began to distance themselves from, and eventually cut off, those who didn’t share their political beliefs.  I’ve lost people from my life that I love like brothers or sisters, whom I have supported through all of the good and bad that life has thrown at them, because of a difference in politics.  My commitment to them should be beyond question.  Because I don’t believe in systemic racism, identity politics, Q (otherwise known as LGBTQMOUSE or whatever they are calling themselves today) rights, or any other liberal platform I’m dead to them. For them, politics is more important than a near lifetime of history and friendship. They are willing to sacrifice those who are closest to them because they believe so passionately that their politics is more important.  I’m passionate about my love for America. They are more passionate about their politics. I stay quiet about politics around them because I respect them.  That favor is not returned.                       

In 2016, Target announced that all their bathrooms and changing rooms were going co-ed.  There were immediate calls for a boycott.  While Target did suffer losses the first year their policy didn’t change and the last news story I could find about this boycott was from 2017. Throughout the late spring and summer of 2020, we’ve all seen advertisements from numerous corporate entities endorsing or supporting the BLM movement.  The majority of the legacy media outlets, both print and broadcast, are nothing more than the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party.  Corporate America does not fear conservatives.  There are a few possibilities for why this is: they are true believers in neo-communism and aren’t afraid of taking financial losses, or they are more afraid of the left’s social media mob, or we are not able to organize effectively enough to make it count.  How many of you even knew that there was a Target boycott in 2016?  Of those of you who did participate, how many are still boycotting?  (For the record, my wife and I still are.)  All that America sees is many major corporations, all major social media companies, and nearly every news source in lockstep to support liberal causes, and to suppress the voices on the right.           

How many news stories have you seen about a Trump supporter being attacked?  How often are traditional American ideas called racist, sexist, or hateful?  The left is doing a very good job of making this a binary issue.  Either you are with them or you are against them.  To be with them means you are a good person.  To be against them means you are an evil person, and not deserving of civil rights.  As people we want to belong to a group, we want to fit in.  All across our society people with traditional American values are being ostracized. Not just by our friends, but by the social groups we find ourselves associating with, either by choice or by default (as in our workplaces).  The HR department in many workplaces is complicit in redefining bigotry and enforcing the newspeak definition.  This is a huge attempt at social engineering that is so far largely successful.  When social pressure doesn’t work, random violence is being employed.  I would love to wear a MAGA hat around town, but I don’t want my wife or small children attacked.  I, and I’m sure many others, have been effectively silenced.  This has happened through social pressure, fear of losing a job, or by fear of random violence.

So, what do we do about all of this?  The left is willing to sacrifice the relationships with people that care about them, give up things that they enjoy, lose their jobs, use violence, and go to jail, for what they believe in.  In no way am I endorsing, suggesting, or condoning violence.  Our approach needs to be peaceful.  The first place to concentrate our efforts on is corporate America.  We could have an impact if we can get 5% of the people that support President Trump to tell a corporation that they will be boycotted if they don’t stop supporting propaganda agencies (the legacy media).  Then we need boycott them if necessary.  Right now, corporate America is scared of what they think the left can do.  They need to be more scared of what we can do!  Without advertising dollars how long will the legacy media last? 

After the legacy media we need to go after social media.  We need more patriotic Americans to get jobs in tech, the media, and education. We need lawyers willing to sue universities, and schools that threaten free speech.  We need lawyers that are willing to sue companies that have unevenly enforced, or downright politically discriminatory, HR policies.           

At the same time, we need to be in lockstep in publicly shaming the left every time they try to play the bigotry card. Every time somebody brings up a socialist or communist idea, they need to be reminded that those ideas have always failed and have only led to totalitarian regimes and mass murder.  People should feel ashamed and embarrassed to embrace socialism/communism.  There will always be a segment of society that believes that the race card is legitimate and that socialism/communism is good.  We will most likely never change their minds.  However, we can influence the majority of Americans that are not on the far left that these ideas are bankrupt. 

As a conservative with libertarian tendencies, I just want to be left alone.  As long as I’m not infringing on anybody else’s rights I should be free to live my life as I choose.  The Left want people like me thrown on the ash heap of history.  Right now, we are in a battle for the soul of the United States.  Those of us that believe in the ideas that made America great, that made us the beacon of freedom opportunity and liberty around the world, are under a concentrated, organized, and effective attack.  That attack is being carried out by people that passionately believe in what they are doing.  They believe that the end they are trying to achieve justifies the means they are using.  They are willing to sacrifice nearly everything to achieve their goals.  We need to want it more. 

James Lopez is the pen name of a retired military officer who is now a schoolteacher.

Image: Montecruz Foto