Strategy Against Despair

The Right has engaged in a culture war for over twenty years. Recently, this war has taken on the characteristic of an ethical and spiritual civil war.

The fact that the Right is winning the war indicates how well organized they’ve been. I've written elsewhere about the neo-cons and religious right's Leninist tactics. By this, I don't mean they're commie, I mean that they've learned from Lenin that a small, dedicated core of true believers can bring about major changes. ...

The Right's strategy seems to have worked so far. They've captured the communication hubs, bullied and bribed the gate-keepers, and now set about ransacking the constitution.

They've exploited the very well-known Leninist perception that the "masses" are simply unwilling or perhaps incapable of doing anything on their own. Who does have the time to engage in a citizen's obligations when you're concerned about the necessities?

What's needed here is a decentered, non-hierarchical approach to power. The masses have been duped into believing that only groups bring about change. When faced with seemingly unresolvable issues, they resort to apathy and say, "what can I do?"

A decentered approach 1) identifies the danger to their sense of self 2) shows that they have individual responsibility to do something about it and 3) identifies possibility where there's seeming impossibilities.

In other words, start small-let people know that they do not to be overwhelmed by power, that they have power to do what they can. In the aggregate, many individuals doing what they can will bring about a sense of greater empowerment as well as an awareness of the direction for further growth.