The Portly Politico is striving towards self-sufficiency.  If you would like to support my work, consider subscribing to my SubscribeStar page.  Your subscription of $1/month or more gains you access to exclusive content every Saturday, including annual #MAGAWeek posts.  If you’ve received any value from my scribblings, I would very much appreciate your support.

The couple of weeks I’ve been feeling bleak about the future.  I’m a declinist by nature when it comes to the macro view, but the micro was starting to get to me.  How do we get through to people?  We don’t have the luxury for the old days of slow, steady relationship building and piecemeal red-pilling.  Further, it seems every step we take forward, the culture takes three steps back.

I wrote as much on Saturday, in a post where I gave full-vent to the frustrations I’ve experienced.  One of the problems with writing daily (and under self-imposed deadlines) is that it’s easy to let your emotions about recent events take over.  I’d been giving way to despair, and it started twisting my analysis.

Blogger buddy photog at Orion’s Cold Fire wrote a piece, “Taking Back the Momentum,” that takes an optimistic, pragmatic approach to the frustrations I’ve been experiencing.  He spelled out some concrete ways that conservative red States can wield their legitimate authority to bust up Leftists organizations that operate in a quasi-legal or dangerous manner.  He also lauded the efforts of several Southern States to pass laws against abortion that cut against Roe v. Wade, a great example of modern-day nullification that will force the issue back to the Supreme Court.

Part of my recent frustration has been a general sense of burnout, which makes even the slightest inconveniences discouraging.  My girlfriend and I went down to tiny Yemassee, South Carolina, this weekend for their annual Shrimp Festival (which I’ll be writing about later in the week).  Just getting out of the house and taking a day to relax and sight-see did wonders for my outlook.  It reminded me of how blessed I’ve been to have a good house, a good job, a good family, a good girlfriend, etc.  The world might be going to hell, but we can still eat tons of greasy festival food.

The nature of teaching—especially now with the Internet—is that your work never really stays at work, and I’m teaching a load that is 50% heavier than last year.  As such, it doesn’t give me much time during the week to do all the fun things that I perceive normal people doing.  By the time the weekend hits, I’m at the point where I just want to sleep and recharge for the coming week.  That tempo of constant hustling really starts to take its toll on me, especially when I feel like I’m carrying the burden of everyone else’s problems, but no one seems aware of the struggle.

All that hustling is for an end—financial independence (freedom isn’t free)—but when I’m worn down, it’s easy for bitterness to seep in.  That’s a pretty destructive state to be in, and I think it’s why the more disturbing elements of the Dissident Right are gaining footholds.  I think a lot of those guys have interesting things to say, and I’m all about ideas—are the ideas good or bad?  But you’ve got to be on guard.  Stare into the abyss too long, and… well, you know.

That’s it for today.  I do encourage you to subscribe to my SubscribeStar page.  More importantly, though, don’t let the collapse of the big macro stuff cause you to lose sight of the important micro stuff, too.  Similarly, don’t let the micro stuff wear you down to the point of exhausted despair.

Donald Trump is POTUS (or GEOTUS, if you prefer), the economy is good, and wages are rising.  Economics isn’t everything, but there are a lot of positive indicators for the future.  Most importantly, focus on the things around you that you can control or influence.