In the world of business, especially in the corporate world, they make use of short-term, mid-term, and long-term planning. Typically this begins at the department head level. Someone(s) further up the chain then consolidates these plans into plans for the division and those plans will be consolidated to produce short, mid, and long.term plans for the corporation. Short-term might mean one year, mid-term might mean three years, and long-term might mean ten.years, just as an example. The short-term plans are typically the basis for annual budgets. Mid-term plans alert management to many things they need to be doing in the way of more detailed planning. An example might be that a new product is scheduled to come on-line in that three-year period and, therefore the marketing people must begin finalizing their marketing approach for the new product. Long-term plans typically don’t change much from year to year. They are useful for many reasons one of which is that they often show certain trends that are appearing that must be watched because if they continue they can have major impacts on the business.
Obviously, planning is useful in many, if not all, aspects of life, right? And, one more thing before I end this short lesson of the principles of planning. There is a Cardinal rule in planning. This cardinal rule states that a plan is not a plan until it is put in writing, A plan that is not put in writing is not a plan. It is an idea. Plans and ideas are two very different things. Plans in writing are never cast in concrete. Plans can always be modified, changed, and improved upon. In other words, plans are living documents.
Let’s talk briefly about how America got in the mess it is in today? There is no single or short answer to that question. But, an important part of the answer is that some people applied some very effective short, mid, and long-term planning to make America what it is today.
About 100 years ago, some serious thinker who truly believed in the teachings of Karl Marx arrived at the conclusion in groups and by individuals that their dream of a workers paradise, their dream of defeating capitalism was not going to be achieved by the use of force. These people concluded that they would have to take the long-term view of gradually defeating capitalism from within. They looked at the United States of America, the bastion of capitalist free enterprise and realized that they had a serious problem. They realized they would have little chance of convincing America’s working class that their worker’s paradise was a better way to go. The reason, of course, was that the American working class was enjoying great benefits from America’s capitalist economy. Their quality of life was improving rapidly. It never occurred to these socialist thinker that they might be wrong; that maybe capitalism was better than their ideas. These thinkers were convinced beyond any shadow of a doubt that their worker0s paradise was the very best way for mankind to live together. For them it was like a religion. And so, they began putting together short, mid, and long-term plans to destroy capitalism in America from within. And yes, they put their ideas into writing and, thereby, converted their ideas into plans. Articles and even books were written and circulated among like-minded people so that they could add to, and modify them, or write plans of their own and circulate them. In this way they developed, although somewhat vague, at first, plans for remaking America. They were convinced that by this approach, Americans would one day wake up and find that they were living in a socialist country. These plans were not secret. They were not bashful about talking about their plans in public.
Well, it is now 100 years later and we all know how well their plans have worked out for them, don’t we? America today is almost where they want it to be.
Tell me something. How many times over the last couple of years have you heard/read a conservative blogger or pundit cry: “What is wrong with we conservatives? Why can’t we learn from the successes of the left and use some of their same strategies and tactics to slow down their progress and eventually reverse the course America is on?” Many times, right? But, what I haven’t seen, although they may be out there somewhere, is any of us converting our ideas in to plans.
What I am asking you, dear friends, is isn’t it time to face reality and accept that we are not going to get our America back in the short-term. Short of a miracle, that is not in the cards, is it? So, isn’t it time for conservatives to start converting our ideas into short, mid, and long-term plans?
On Thanksgiving day, I came across an article by Andrew Klavan. I have to admit that I didn’t know that Andrew Klavan wrote articles. I thought he only made his “Klavan on rhe Culture” videos that we enjoy so much, it goes to show how out of touch I can be. The title of his article is “The Long Game“ . Interestingly the article was published on November 7, 2012, the day after we all learned that Barack Obama had won a second term. Unlike most of us armchair quarterbacks, he was not pointing fingers or making suggestions about what the Republicans must do now. Instead, Mr. Klavan took and idea and turned into a written plan. He is taking a long-term view on what conservatives need to be doing. The tag line to his article says: “Three areas the Right should address, financially and intellectually.” The three themes he addresses are:
- The mainstream news media
- The entertainment industry
- Religion for intellectuals
I hope you will read Andrew Klavan’s article because I would like to hear your opinions on a few things. First, I would like to know if you agree that is time for conservatives to start taking a longer view and develop the short, mid, and long-term plans to get our America back. And, there are two things about planning that I should have mentioned at the start. One is that no matter the term of the plan, the starting point is always the goal or objective of the plan. Once there is agreement on what the goals or objectives are, only then can we begin to fill in the details of a plan on how to achieve those goals. The other important point is that the short and mid-term plans need to fit or complement the over-all or long-term plan. It doesn’t matter if the long-term plan is vague. That’s the norm. The short and mid-term plans over time will improve and clarify the long-term plan.
Besides that, I would like to know what you think about…. I almost said his ideas, but it is more than ideas it is something approaching a plan….the three aspects of Klavan¡s plan. Do you agree with what he is saying or would you have other key themes in your plan? And, most importantly for me is, do you think Klavan’s plan could be a seed to provoke other conservative thinkers to turn their ideas into suggested plan that other can chew on and eventually arrive at a good but vague long-term plan that conservatives will buy into and begin the long process of getting America back; if not for us, then for future generations of Americans.
Well, now you know what I’m thinking. What are your thoughts?.
Asylum Watch 
I would just settle for them to start thinking…
That would be a nice start!
A long-term plan would be difficult to implement since our message of self-reliance and avoidance of government “free” handouts is a loser to begin with. All Republics will eventually die since people want to be lead. By strongmen or otherwise.
He! Our message is only a loser for losers, Jnfidel. We have to hang on to that even if we are a minority. Maybe some day they will make us a protected class.
Perhaps Klavin is wrong. Wresting thought control away from liberal thought controllers, as a plan, may not work.
The mainstream media, the entertainment industry and religion – traditional or otherwise – presupposes the existence of a proletariat class of humanity that must be led to the promised land by them… the Enlightened Ones. The sheep must be led by a sheepherders!
That makes those places classic magnets for liberal thought.
Those places squelch the traditional conservative values of individual self-determination and self-reliance that forms the beating heart of capitalism.
Perhaps, if anything, conservatives need to better preach a religion of the individual that praises success instead of demonizing it. That will never be popular among those seeking to control the sheep.
“Perhaps, if anything, conservatives need to better preach a religion of the individual that praises success instead of demonizing it. That will never be popular among those seeking to control the sheep.”
like that. That could be part of a plan.
It took the progressives over one hundred years to achieve their goals. We were busy with other things. Meanwhile we are gaining in local and state elections. We lost this fall because less Gopers voted than the McCain loss. Had they turned out and voter fraud eliminated we would be sitting in the WH. We can do this, all is not lost.2014. Mark in on our calendars.
Bunker, you have done a 180 on me. You have gone from depressed to optimistic. Not bad, friend!
Think Scott walker! Let us go down with a sword in our hand.
The mainstream news media
The entertainment industry
Religion for intellectuals
The GOP is toast. The two party battle is officially over. The GOP lost. Near and mid term, I see no recovery for this party until such time that an economic collapse occurs.
The GOP lost an election to the worst, most deceptive and useless President ever. With a pretty straight up and decent guy. That should tell you something. That was a watershed moment.
Honestly Jim, wtf is Klavan talking about? Changing the entire thought processes of groups of liberals and making atheists, believers? Sure, that will happen. When pigs fly.
Here’s the fix. Accept the situation. There is no “fight” to win here Jim. It’s over. We let the elites, liberals, and GOP tax us into an economic abyss. Our standard of living will drop to that of Haiti. At some point, even the alcoholic rednecks watching Nascar in their trailer houses are going to get pissed. When our unconscious country finally wakes up from it’s tv, booze, and pharmaceutical induced coma…we will have another watershed moment.
Until then, there is nothing we can do. Acceptance and popcorn.
A couple of things, Vrian. I understand where you are at. You have been there for a While. To you America is dead and will not be seen again. But, wasn’t the idea of America a good one? And, if it was, why wouldn’t you want to try to preserve for the infinitely small chance that some day it could be tried again?
Okay, you are hung up on Klavan’s “religion for Intellectuaals”. That’s understandable. But, what about the other two points. On media, why woulld it be so hard for some rich conservatives ti help their ideas flourish by investing in the media business and help balance what people are being told. Wouldn’t be useful, providing of course you thought there was at least one chance in a zillion that Anerica could be again. That is allI am saying here.
It all starts with leadership. Without competent leadership, there is no long-term vision or plans. We need to get rid of that little dip-shit McConnell, and that empty-headed John Boehner. They have to go. They are fighting the last century’s battles, and we are losing the war.
We are a tad short on leaders and statesmen, aren’t we, Bob?
We need to look toward governors and away from Washington for sure.
FG- It ain’t over until we say it’s over.
We don’t have any say in the matter Bob. That’s pretty clear to me. It’s over. It’s popcorn time.
I find Klavan’s basic premises, although not necessarily wrong, narrow and lacking in the big picture.
I subscribe to Alexis D’Tocqueville’s proposition: “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”
Klavan proposes to change the people. I propose to change the system that serves the people.
I know where you are leaning, John, and I share those feelings at times. But, how would you see it eever coming to be?
It doesn’t have to be in one stroke. Liberals have been manipulating the system to their advantage for more than 100 years, as you well attested.
The core of the decision on which route to take should be based in realistic expectations of success. In my view it is more difficult to change the irremediable slide of “the people” into dependence than to start chipping at the system towards a model that provides the basis for a successful state and a successful citizenry.
But nobody is saying that it would be easy. A much better way is to start from scratch . . . . an there lies another thought.
The starting from scratch idea is worth our pursuing, John.
It is hard to think long term when so much is happening all around us, but as you said, this liberal movement has been ongoing and well organized for 100 years while conservatives have been trying to win this war one battle at a time–in the short term. It really is time to look at the bigger picture because there are no short term answers to a movement which has been so effective for so long.
Well, Steve, it looks like you and I make two. It seems my odea has bombed today. So, thankyou for your support.
I have mixed feelings about this. After seeing what happened on November 6, I can’t help but wonder if we are toast, burned at that. With so many of the electorate voting to sustain themselves, instead of the country, do we stand a chance of turning that thought process around?
On the other hand, the place to start is at the state and local level. If we can continue increasing conservative power in the states, we will have a good foothold to getting on top of the liberal bias that seems so prevalent in our media and our education system. It has to start with the states.
I agree, Larry, that it is the local and state level where will we start the long road (long term) planning that has the best chance of our getting our country back. Yet, I also think there are many other things we can be doing in parallel.
All three of those items are united by one thing: the universities. That is probably the most important battlefield. The progressives have near totalitarian control over colleges and universities, and from there they have the mainstream media, the entertainment industry and the intellectual aspect of religion (not to mention plenty else as well, K-12 education and civil service, for starters). Nobody goes anywhere in American society without first passing through their gates, and the price of passage is a professed fealty to the progressive ideal. I suspect that it won’t be long before known conservatives are no more welcome on campus than known members of the KKK or the Nazi Party are now.
Reversing this is near-impossible. They will not allow conservatives the opportunity to establish even beachheads at any major institution. But there is a solution, I think. The private sector is still fundamentally conservative, and ultimately, for the forseeable future, that will remain the locus of most of the jobs and wealth creation in America. The solution then is for the private sector to stop allowing the universities to serve as gatekeepers and sorters for their workers. The Internet allows those who are truly interested in acquiring knowledge to learn about anything they want in the world, and online education is exploding. On-the-job training has always been far more important to actual job performance than anything taught in the university.
We need to then get conservatives in the private sector to change the way they do business and recruit people without regard to which university they went to, or whether they went at all. Create practical tests of actual knowledge, job skills and capabilities, or find ways to hire more people than needed and then weed them out on the job, or look for any other way to find qualified, able workers outside of the university-credentialing system. Once kids coming out of high school begin to see their older peers getting paid and moving up in the world without subjecting themselves to 100-200K in debt, and 4-7 wasted years of their lives, then you will see a crack in one of the primary foundations of the progressive takeover.
“What I am asking you, dear friends, is isn’t it time to face reality and accept that we are not going to get our America back in the short-term. Short of a miracle, that is not in the cards, is it?”
Bingo. The re-election of Obama certainly leads me to agree with you 100%. I now know to look at politics in the long-term, instead of the shorter. This change in focus really doesn’t change my strategy much though. It mostly changes my expectations. And reminds me how little I, or any of us, can control. We really only control ourselves, and our own families. So, I guess my strategy is to stop worrying about the big picture, and start focusing on my own small picture.
Okay, so maybe my strategy has changed after all. Now I’m confused. anyway, great post. Have a great weekend!
Lin
Not a bad plan, Lin. Start with the family and work out from there. As what is going to happen becomes clearer in time, more ideas will come to us. Stay strong and stay alert is always a good idea.
Klavan’s article was a true gem. Any conservative who hasn’t read it needs to do so now. His basic point, if I recall, was that we lost the 2012 election thirty years ago, when we stopped contending for our schools systems, universities, the press, and our culture. This election, even more than the 2008 election, was a tipping point. We cannot and will not easily reverse the damage, so we have to start playing the long game. We have to address the education system, the press, and our culture again before we will enjoy true electoral victory.
John, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your comment. If you read the other comments, you know the idea of thinking long term didn’t go over all that well. Your comment has insired me to double down on trying to convince others that Klavan’s appraoch is the only way for the idea of America to have a second chance some day. I am going to begin a series of articles I’m going to call “Taking Back America A Bit At A Time”. At some point I will bring in Klavan’s article again and spend more time on it. I hope you will find time to participate in this effort with your comments. Right now only a few agree this is the way to go.