Incapp.org

Dear friends,

It seems to me, we have an obligation to improve ourselves so we become the leaders people follow. If a man or woman made small advances every day in any area of life, the cumulative gain over decades of sustained effort is unimaginable. That person’s mere being becomes an example for others to follow. This is especially important for children. Young minds need role models and there are plenty of negative ones around. Movies are filled with subversive messages vying to lower the life outcomes of the kids who watch them. The cultural elite lionize dirtbags like gangbangers, Marxists, and people with deep mental illnesses. So it’s up to us to provide examples of people living effective, prosperous, and happy lives. You and I can compete with those negative role models by being good role models.

The cultural elite have been shilling negative stereotypes for decades. Most of it is under the radar. The Stepford Wives vilified motherhood, fatherhood, and family life as evil. Mary Poppins convinced kids that thrift, hard work, and diligence are things to be avoided. Fun and instant gratification are the only good ends. Meanwhile, the cultural elites in Hollywood were modeling the glamorous slut life for little girls. Is it any wonder that our society is so degenerate? That degeneracy has been inculcated and modeled for the youth for decades. We are simply following the examples put before us by the cultural elites. People follow their leaders. So when the leaders of a society and culture lead that society and culture to degeneracy, the options to stop it are few.

One option is to force the elite to at least model virtue, humility, and diligence… even if they have none of those qualities. Then people will see the examples of ethical elites follow and be ethical themselves. In the past this has been so obvious that even elites like the Marquis De Sade hid his indiscretions. Unless the people follow and his barony became ungovernable. Rome in the republican years had Censors to monitor the behavior of the elite so the people wouldn’t be led to vice. In ancient Mesopotamia the rulers would have to undergo questioning if they had been a good Marduk. This is because it has been recognized since pottery first came on the scene that people follow their leaders to virtue or vice. If our leaders, then, are villains and model such behavior, what are we to do?

We can model good behavior to those around us. Show the results of virtue, hard work, and thrift. A person who makes little but is thrifty, works hard, and is honest will go far. Reality is set up to reward such behavior. Even as reality sets itself to destroy the profligate, the lazy, and the dishonest. This leaves many in limbo. How is it that the elite are utterly immoral, lazy, and profligate, yet they are elites? This question baffles all those who follow and fail. The lesson is lost on most, that such behavior leads inevitably to disaster, unless one is a post-turtle, above the law, with their failures paid for by others, and placed there by another. On the other hand, a person who works hard, saves, and builds, is also a leader. That person shows others how to be prosperous, by example.

When the youth have only examples of gangbangers, sluts, and thieves, they will become those people. When they are offered other options, diligent, thrifty, and wise people as alternative examples, many will opt to follow the examples of local successes instead of the distant elites. So we work to improve ourselves for ourselves and also for humanity. Instead of demanding others do what we are incapable of, as poorly educated children do, we improve ourselves first, then become examples instead of firebrands. No one knows it all, no one is utterly wise, and no one is enlightened… there are only degrees. So improve yourself by degree, be a good example, and together maybe we can cancel some of the negative examples our cultural elites drown us in.

Sincerely,
John Pepin