What To Do?
“You step off the straight and narrow and you don’t know where you are.
Used the needle of your compass to sew up your broken heart.
As directions from a genie in a bottle of Jim Beam, and she lies to you!
I’ve been deep down in that darkness, I’ve been down to my last match.
Felt a hundred different demons beathing fire down my back.
And I knew that if I stumbled I’d fall right into the trap that they were laying.
But the good news is there’s angels everywhere out on the street.
Holding out a hand to pull you back up on your feet.
The ones that you’ve been dragging for so long you’re on your knees, you might as well be praying.
Guess what I’m sayin’
If you’re going through Hell, keep on going.
Don’t look back if you’re scared don’t show it.
You might get out before the devil even knows you’re there.”
I write you all in this blog and tell you all on the podcast about the five dimensions of chaos into which we are slipping. Many of you have asked “So John, what can I do about it?” Good question.
I try not to tell people what to do. Instead, I let you know what I am doing. Every person and every circumstance is different and much of what I do may not work for or apply to you. But, perhaps it helps you with your own thought process on how to get through this tumultuous period in which we live.
First, I start with the serenity prayer as a foundation: Lord, give me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. If the economy tanks, war breaks out, or the place where we live becomes unlivable, we will not be able to change that. So, we must change what we can to survive and hopefully prosper through what comes.
That said, no one of us can alter the forces of change and chaos. But a whole lot of us in concert can do so. Although we may be just a tiny voice, we each need to raise that tiny voice in favor of the enduring values and principles in which we believe and which we know to be true. I could quote so many on this subject, but it is perhaps summed up by the last lines of Ronald Reagan’s famous “Rendezvous with Destiny” quote. “If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children know that we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done”. Reagan’s generation saved us from “a thousand years of darkness”. What will future generations say of us?
With these predicates, let me look at each of our five areas of chaos separately:
Economic: Even if I knew what would happen with the economy next year (and I don’t), no one can predict how governments will react. And what governments do is of paramount importance. Would you have predicted that governments would do the shutdown and then massive stimulus in reaction to a pandemic? Governments can change interest rates, print money, become austere, impose financial repression, and maybe even do something entirely new that we can’t even imagine.
Given this uncertainty, I want to be liquid and with as little debt as possible. I want the flexibility to react to whatever happens. Personally, I am debt-free (Dave Ramsey is proud) but it took me 40 years to get like that (Dave Ramsey thinks it should have happened sooner). Having illiquid assets with debt on them is where problems occur in any period of financial upheaval. I am also always taking a look at the balance of assets I have that are personal and therefore cost money versus those that are investments and therefore give me cash flow. Too many personal (which includes your house) and too little in income-producing can set one up for a problem. I know. I’ve been there.
I am watching out for debt in general. I worry that the legacy of my generation will be that for 50 years, we gave ourselves free stuff paid for with debt that can never be paid back. Much of the debt in the world today can never be paid back and must be refinanced or defaulted upon. Think of all the countries and cities, pension obligations, and money-losing companies that are in this position. I’m going to try to not become a casualty of that profligacy.
Culture: I want to send a message, using my dollars and my eyeballs, that I don’t like organizations that adopt Neo-Marxist policies like DEI, CRT, LGBT, ESG, and so forth. So, I no longer give to charities that have any of the programs and want to support those that actively fight this stuff. We can’t boycott every woke company because there are too many of them. We would have to eat My Pillows for lunch if we did. But, I have picked a few of what I think are the worst offenders and I try not to give them any of my money or time. Google, Disney, Coke, and the NFL are amongst the places I draw the line. With Bud Light, we showed that we can make a difference. When the economy inevitably slows, many of these companies will need every customer they can get. And we can affirmatively buy from companies with products made in the USA that share our values. I don’t watch or read regime media, to the extent I can avoid it.
Society: Christ admonished us not to “light a lamp and put it under a bowl”. Instead, “put it on its stand. It gives light to everyone in the house.” (Matthew 5:15 NIV). Neo-Marxists want us to keep our thoughts under a bowl. They are doing everything, including making speech and thought illegal in some places, to try and make us fear expression of our Christian or Jewish faith, our belief in the supremacy and biological superiority of the heterosexual nuclear family, in the exceptionalism of our American legacy, and in the benefits of a meritocracy. I don’t hide these things as you can tell from this missive. We should speak them without fear. Live them and let others see.
The Neo-Marxists have taken over much of education in this country from Kindergarten through PhD. Push back. I don’t send a dime to woke universities, even their athletic programs. Don’t send your kids or grandkids to places where they will be taught to hate their colonist parents and hate themselves or to tell them they are a different gender than they are. If a school starts to do that, pull the kids out. I see other families and lives being destroyed by leftist gender dysfunction, indoctrination, and despair. I intend to see that my family is not one of them.
Political: Obviously it is important to vote and to support candidates in whom you believe with your time and money. But there’s more to do. There are two ways to win elections. One is by getting everyone who agrees with you to vote. Encourage those who maybe can’t be bothered or say they don’t have time. The other is to persuade people who do not currently vote your way that they should reconsider the consequences of their vote. If you have not read my blog from last week entitled “Useful Idiots”, please do so. I want there to be a Democratic party with different ideas challenging what my side thinks and making us justify our positions. But, I don’t want a Marxist Democratic party, which is where we are headed. If enough clear-thinking liberals turn from their party’s lurch into Marxism, the party will correct its path.
International: I try not to buy anything made in China. It’s not easy and in fact I bought a shirt yesterday and brought it home to see “Made in China” on the label. As Toby Keith said in his song “Made in America”, “pay a little more at the store for a tag in the back that says USA”. I am personally not making any investments in any foreign country these days, even the friendly ones. Again, too much risk right now. I admit to not being much of an international traveler anymore, but I avoid countries with any turmoil at all. I’ve read too many stories of people who got trapped in this country or that in the opening years of World War II.
So, there you have it. There’s lots one can do. For me, there is satisfaction every time I accept or reject something that impacts the society, culture or politics. I have confidence that when the economic changes come, I will react appropriately. I know I am not changing the world. But, I’m doing what I can. If enough of us do that, we can save America and with it, the world.
As Rodney Atkins sings, we can do that “before the devil even knows we’re there”.
I remain respectfully,
Congressman John Campbell
Drive Fast & Live Free