I think one highly neglected area among even the Based conservatives is how to influence existing institutions and environments where you are outnumbered. Our leftists enemies do this all the time.
We tend to have the mindset that we can’t be involved in the main institutions so we need to just build new ones parallel to the mainstream. These are subjected to the low success rates inherent in any new venture, then when you actually are successful the big players can either directly try to squash you, or the exit strategy ends up getting you compromised (for example, becoming publicly traded).
I think there are a TON of strategies that are actually much more anti-fragile where it benefits you to be the little guy and the minority, but it involves thinking like an activist, which conservatives are not used to doing. Once you think like an activist, you will begin to see how ripe the opportunities are for your influence.
When you are the little guy, and you are in the minority, it actually insulates your from a great deal of risk. You have much less attack surface than they do. That company has to hit their earnings target: you don’t. That city council has to maintain a public reputation: you don’t. Those hipsters have to keep up their persona to be admired by other hipster: you don’t care.
Most of us tend to overestimate how much we can lose by taking calculated risks, and most vastly underestimate the rewards, both personal and ideological. Almost every encounter you have can be one that get a “base hit” and every once in a while a grand slam.
Examples:
-
Tim’s only exposure to an idea came from CNN. He’s never heard someone actually articulate the idea, and when you do, it doesn’t match his straw man. He is not convinced to change, but he now has a rock in his shoe about the media, about the idea, etc.
-
A speaker addresses a room talking about the “bigots” who hold this belief or the “science deniers” who hold that belief. You raise your hand and say, “Actually, I hold that belief.” Now the 40-50% of the crowd who thought that but would not speak up got a small push of encouragement, and you made the speaker look foolish publicly.
-
You work for a company that used to be focused on the work but has gone woke and is on the road to becoming truly evil. You don’t have an official leadership status and there is no real pathway for promotion. Instead, you start informally taking charge making sure that things get done. The managers like you because they get to increasingly check out from involvement and gradually depend on you. Now with the leverage you start pressing the boundaries of what is permitted and set a precedent that the rules are not really enforced. The management gradually loses control over their workers. You use your new informal position to get leverage either towards getting your way or undermining the management or the whole organization.
-
You detect an internal contradiction or rivalry in a leftist group whom you have no affiliation with, but you pose for the part temporarily in order to really drum up the controversy and promote internal strife.
In each of these examples, consider what the actual, tangible risk is: getting yelled at by a liberal (who cares), getting a stern talking to from a boss, MAYBE getting fired (but then you can simply move on to the next job), getting blocked on social media. These are not pleasant but they are not a paralyzing risk. There are thousands of ways to start making a difference now without taking new moonshots. Moonshots can be great, but start with the basics.