Climate Change and the Larger Cultural Picture Round IV: What it will Take to Win
 “Climate Change and the Larger Cultural Picture Round II” outlined the existence of an ever-intensifying conflict the likes of which few of us in today’s world have ever witnessed—and the events that have given rise to it:
Two irreconcilable views of the individual and his/her place in society for decades have been battling intensely beneath the surface of Western culture. The underground pro-individualist movement has finally broken free and brought the battle out in the open thereby exposing the nature of the destructive anti-individualist ideologies that have dominated cultural trends in our world for over 100 years.
    Another topic addressed in “Climate Change . . . Round II” was the importance of grassroots activity in overcoming the destructive effects of the anti-individualist ideologies and their proponents currently engaged in tearing our world apart. And, lastly, ROAR’s role as part of the solution to repair the damage done to America, and Western culture—i.e., its upcoming product release—was outlined.
  “Climate Change . . . Round III” elaborated on why grassroots participation is critical to achieving victory in this war and focused on the importance of using fundamental personal values to motivate and inspire the grassroots citizenry.
 The essay you are reading, “Climate Change and the Larger Cultural Picture Round IV: What it will Take to Win” presents actions that grassroots America and interested parties beyond our shores need to do to permanently defeat the collectivist/anti-individualist ideologies that have caused so much needless misery and death in our world.
To win the cultural war we are embroiled in will require the following:
(1) Completely stripping away the moral facade of legitimacy behind the motivating ideologies being used to crush the life out of our world, and
(2) Providing a replacement pro-individualist philosophy that creates a “safe harbor” for those whose anti-individualist ideologies have been discredited— as well as a myriad of others who are looking for a guiding light to living productive, fulfilling, and happy lives.
Stripping the Moralistic Facade from the Ideologies Being Used to Destroy Our World
 Only in very rare cases do individuals psychologically invested in anti-individualist ideologies e.g., Progressive Liberalism or radical Islam choose to overhaul their worldview and corresponding moral outlook. Disciples of these ideologies are the real-life versions of the cyborgs in The Terminator movies made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger. They don’t stop until permanently stopped.
   A perfect example of this was the defeat of Proposition CC in November 2019 in Colorado. That measure if passed would have permanently eliminated the state revenue cap allowing politicians free rein to spend the electorate’s money– much like drunken sailors on shore leave, the crucial difference being sailors spend their own money, not other people’s. The proponents of Proposition CC did everything they could to obfuscate and confuse voters as to their intentions to spend more of the Colorado electorate’s money. However, the electorate saw through their charade and soundly defeated the measure.
   And what did the Progressive liberal machine in Colorado do in response? It immediately starting looking for other ways to circumvent the will of voters. (For details on the defeat of Proposition CC and the response of the Progressive liberal machine in Colorado please see: “With Proposition CC’s failure . . . . Here are their 4 options to address it.”Â
   That is an example of being psychologically invested in the status quo. And the level of arrogance exhibited by the Proposition CC proponents—“we know what’s best for you, not you”—is rampant in politicians at all levels in the U.S.
[Note: I know of only two individuals who were fully psychologically invested in destructive ideologies and were able to successfully overhaul their viewpoint. One is David Horowitz, founder of the David Horowitz Center, and the other is me. Horowitz has discussed his leaving the Progressive liberal fold in his memoir Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey. For interested parties, I discuss my experience in my short memoir: “My Journey From Traditional Environmentalism to a People First Environmental Perspective.” In that essay I outline what I went through to overhaul my views on environmentalism and the fortuitous circumstances that allowed me to do so.]
   Progressive liberals in power are by and large too psychologically invested to change course. The possibility that their collectivist worldview is flawed in any way is just too frightening for them to even contemplate. Given their blindness to reality, there is little alternative but to challenge their fundamental values and moral outlook head-on. Given recent events and trends (e.g., the President Trump impeachment-charade) their blindness does not bode well for their futures.
   Although the Progressive liberals that are fully psychologically invested in their ideology are not likely to stop their destructive ways, those that are not fully invested in it can be given an alternate value structure / moral outlook / worldview to turn to as a guide for living in our world. Thankfully, there are a number of organizations working to provide exactly that.
Providing a Replacement Pro-Individualist Philosophy
   In Climate Change and the Larger Cultural Picture Round III  I mentioned a number of organizations involved in remediating the damage done to our culture from anti-individualist ideologies. In terms of a worldview / comprehensive philosophy for living there are two organizations that lead the field: The Atlas Society and The Ayn Rand Institute . Both of these organizations have been in the business of promoting a pro-individual philosophic perspective for more than 25 years, and each has a variety of outreach programs to promote that perspective via the works of the novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand. Through publications, videos, seminars, online educational programs, and other outreach programs they strive to restore and invigorate life in America and beyond our shores. For details on their offerings, please contact the individual organizations. Other think tanks working in various aspects of our culture to promote a pro-individualist philosophical perspective include: the Heartland Institute, Heritage Foundation, CATO Institute, Hoover Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Please contact these organizations to learn more about their activities and particular specialties.
A Realistic Scenario for Restoring the Republic in America
Before presenting my summary and conclusions for this essay, I would like to address one final issue:
Namely, what is a reasonable scenario and timeline for the full restoration of the Republic in America and what will such a world look like.
   Restoring the republic in America will be a long-term enterprise of many years, probably several decades at the least. This time frame may seem depressingly long to some, but there is another way of looking at it that can be quite exhilarating.
   It’s been said that most people’s lives are lived in chapters, and I agree with that sentiment. We are children, then young adults, then have our own children, and then proceed through additional chapters until our lives come to an end. It is similar with a country or culture. America was born, nearly died shortly after our birth from various foreign threats, came of age in the heady days of the early 19th century, ignited the Industrial Revolution and astounded the world with our productive output, and later acquired various ailments as many of us do when we grow older. Bad ideas and bad actors have poisoned the most life-giving culture on earth. Thankfully, a full recovery can be made, and if I and the Restore Our American Republic organization I founded have any say so—it definitely WILL be made.
   There are short-term actions needed for the Republic’s restoration as well as medium and long-term actions. Although a few of us will choose to pursue life paths where we dedicate our lives “full time” to this proposition, the vast majority of us will be “part timers.” That is perfectly acceptable! No one need feel guilt or experience disappointment because they are not a “full timer.” Numerous organizations that depend heavily on grassroots volunteers contributing 1 to 3 hours per week have achieved extraordinary things. One of my favorites is  ACT for America, an organization led by founder Brigitte Gabriel with its grassroots army of over one million people. It is a veritable dynamo that achieves the extraordinary in national defense, security, and foreign policy issues.
   Much needs to be done over the long term to destructive ideological influences permeating many of our existing institutions. These reform activities will need to be primarily a “bottom-up grassroots approach” because the institutions at the top levels are–for the most part–hopelessly corrupted. Thankfully, grassroots movements are the single most powerful entity in our world. However, they require two things to be successful: (1) Principled leadership, and (2) Reform ideas based on fundamental personal VALUES. Details on why these two things are of critical importance are presented in: “Climate Change and the Larger Cultural Picture – Round III.
   So, to summarize what it will take to stop and eventually reverse the damage done to the world’s first constitutional republic: (1) Long-term commitment to fundamental philosophic “idea-spreading” of our foundation of individual rights, and (2) Grassroots reform efforts to root out the “bad apples and bad ideas” in our institutions. The bad ideas and bad individuals need to be replaced with ideas consistent with our individual rights foundation and individuals who will seriously promote and defend those ideas.
Summary and Conclusions
 Over these three essays, (Climate Change and the Larger Cultural Picture: Round II, Climate Change . . . Round III, and Climate Change . . . Round IV . I have attempted to show that to achieve success and happiness as individuals, and for our overall cultural health, we must understand not only what has happened to shape our world of today, but what we must do to create a far better future for ourselves, our loved ones, and our culture as a whole.
  Although it will take many years to fully realize this cultural renaissance, if we have the understanding and will power needed to make this commitment, we can celebrate the journey and important milestones along the way to a future of abundance, joy, and endless wonder.
Mike Gemmell
Founder and President, Restore Our American Republic, LLC
P.S. I would like to express my sincere thanks to my friend and colleague, Alexandra York, author of Soul Celebrations and Spiritual Snacks, for introducing me to the term: “psychologically invested.”
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