The Lumpen and The Rule of Thirds

The other day I was listening to Michael Medved, the moderate Republican radio commenter, and he was speaking about his belief that approximately one third of the electorate in the U.S.A. approves of Obamacare, one third does not, and one third is apathetic. I think that he is probably correct. In fact, I think that this is more than likely the case with most political issues.

We, as libertarians or ‘conservatives’, comprise the first third, and are, of course, opposed to socialism and its encroachment upon our lives and its curtailment of our freedoms. We believe in a nation of laws, ruled by the constitution, and administered by people. On the contrary, the second third, comprised of Democrat socialists/liberals/progressives, believes that the will of their political elite should be the law of the land, and that the constitution is but an archaic anachronism in today’s U.S.A., and an impediment to their socialistic agenda.

The final third, unfortunately, is what I call the lumpen, although they are more widely known in our day and age as independents or moderates. They are, by and large, gullible, unintelligent people who are completely absorbed in such entertainments as Jerry Springer, the Maury Povich Show, American Idol, and Cheaters. The lumpen are the people who were neither Patriot nor Tory during our revolution; they are the bane of the existence of people of principle and they will always be with us in one form or another.

It is necessary, in a society that has a representative government, for the people of principle, both those who favor individual liberty and responsibility as well as those misbegotten cretins who favor socialism, to try to sway the lumpen to support their cause. Unfortunately for libertarians and ‘conservatives,’ the lumpen are usually not intellectually equipped to deal with ideas any deeper than how to get paid more for doing less or how well their favorite sports teams are doing. They are, by and large, emoters, and the evil socialists prey upon this by appealing to their envy and greed. The lumpen are easily swayed by promises of a free lunch and security, and care not for intangibles such as the rule of law or individual liberty.

How do we, as libertarians and ‘conservatives,’ sway the lumpen to our advantage? I honestly do not know. They are not usually intelligent and they respond to appeals to emotion because they are not disposed to thinking deeply. This is, unfortunately, a nut I do not know how to crack.