It's time we conservatives wake up from our self-induced semi-comatose sleep state and realize that if we are going to win any elections in the future (to say nothing of saving the country from the rack and ruin politics of the progressives), we must stop pushing our business-as-usual, boulder-up-the-hill model onto the electorate.

For too long we have put our faith in our countrymen's ability and willingness to step back from the brink and do the right thing whether that right thing was defending our interests abroad, or safeguarding life in the womb, or protecting our national borders.

In short, we've given the Left too much credit for possessing even a scintilla of common sense or a faint smattering of patriotism. That's why we must replace our naive faith in our fellow citizens to vote conservatively with a firm resolve to fight for our endangered rights… and our beloved nation.

Next year will be an election year. Many of us believe that it will take place during one of the most dangerous times in American history. Outside our borders, wars are raging, while inside our borders, anger has vanquished hope and optimism about America's very chances for survival. Our streets and schools are unsafe. Our children's education - at primary and secondary levels as well as universities - has been compromised by ideologues masquerading as teachers. Our leaders are old and decrepit men who should be playing pickle ball or going bass fishing instead of pretending to be our legislators or the commander-in-chief.

We trust no one. Our Congress has a 17% approval rating, and it's a wonder that it's that high considering its inability to function as a deliberative body. Our economy is floundering with high inflation, excessive national and personal debt and our competitors are eating our lunch at the very lunch counters that we built! Certain evil forces within our society continue to separate us into tribal units and sub-demographic groups and then sow seeds of hatred and envy to keep us from unifying under the very beliefs and concepts that made us the world's most "noble experiment of freedom." And based on what we see in the press, we trust the media least of all.

These forces are possessed with an all-consuming hunger for power - not for its benevolent use to improve our society - but for their own personal and malevolent control. Their aim is to upend the status quo of our traditional values and turn us into a Potemkin Village where facades replace reality. Theirs is not an American quest; it is an anti-American one bent on eradicating vox populi and substituting it with an elitist-controlled collectivism that will reverse our hard-fought and hard-won gains as a free people.

The Left's thirst for power knows no bounds, and it will stop at nothing to realize its ambitions. Leftists are not above committing crimes in the name of the 'greater good' and for abusing and misusing their positions to protect their own while they punish any and all dissenters who pose a threat to their quest for power. "If you are not with us, then you are against us and you must be stopped," is their mantra. This departure from comity has made it impossible for us to have any meaningful discussions about the challenges facing us and our country. And that is why we must remove the gloves and enter the fight politically - bare-knuckled - as if our very survival depends on it… because it does.

I realize that this approach is antithetical to conservatives' core beliefs and that it flies in the face of our faith in the inherent goodness of our fellow man, but we have reached the end of the road and we must choose to either build more road or turn around and go back whence we came. The painful truth is that we have little or nothing in common with those on the far Left and we must admit it and change course. That's why I am advocating putting down our Conservative Sisyphus' boulder and taking a very proactive position of opposing everything and everyone who would destroy our uniquely American values of equality (not equity), unity of purpose (not diversity that would dilute that purpose) while we safeguard individual freedom (not inclusion or adoption of radical anti-democratic views). This can be done legally, in public forums, and through the press.

Step two would require that we do a thorough review of how we live, what we buy, where we buy it and how we spend our disposable income down to the dollar. In order to get the Left's attention, we must, like the old Missouri farmer trying to get his mule to move, hit it between the eyes where it hurts. In the Left's case, the 'mule' is at town halls, school board and city council meetings, at the ballot box and at the cash register. Contrary to popular belief, boycotts do actually work. A case in point is the 'housewives boycott of meat' in 1972 which came about because of skyrocketing meat prices. Time Magazine later called the boycott "the most successful boycott by women since Lysistrata."

Lately, we have seen pushback from consumers on the purchase of electric-powered vehicles. Their unwillingness to buy EVs is not only because of the cars' ridiculously high prices but is also a rejection of government's strongarm measures to eliminate gas-powered vehicles. Conservatives need to expand this 'power of the purse' pressure to all companies which support measures that are designed to take away Americans' freedom to make their own lifestyle choices. Corporations need to feel the pain in their quarterly reports and in their stock prices the way Target, Anheuser Busch and other companies promoting gender fluidity, DEI and CRT experienced in 2023.

By adopting a universal boycott strategy of companies that do not support American values (and instead supporting those that do) conservatives will simply be taking a page from the Democrats' playbook.

Back in 2016, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that banned official California travel to four states (later 26) because of those states' perceived stance on homosexuality. (He later signed a bill repealing that ban on September 19 of this year.)

It's time that conservatives have a 'come to Jesus' moment and use their green(back) power as one of their most important weapons to save the Republic and maybe, just maybe. help them win an election or two. It's worth a try.

Stephan Helgesen is a retired career U.S. diplomat who lived and worked in 30 countries for 25 years during the Reagan, G.H.W. Bush, Clinton, and G.W. Bush Administrations. He is the author of fourteen books, seven of which deal with American politics. He has also written over 1,300 articles on politics, economics and social trends. He operates a political news story aggregator website, www.projectpushback.com. He can be reached at: stephan@stephanhelgesen.com

Image: Picryl // public domain