Disarm and disengage

I finally got around to reading Brian Niemaier's Don't Give Money to People Who Hate You. Congratulations are due to Brian, who couldn't have timed this book's release any better.

Watching every IP I grew up with be systematically subverted and weaponized against me is a unique right of passage for young men in my age bracket. The biggest and best example is Star Wars, which Brian cites often. The MCU and Disney's other properties also come in for their fair share of criticism. There are so many more examples, it's inevitable a book addressing such an encompassing issue would feel incomplete.

This problem goes well beyond corporate-owned IPs. It's a good bet that most big-time authors, actors, and athletes you follow stand opposed to the values you embody in your life, whether those values be morality, minimally invasive government, the right to own guns, etc. Managers of most billion-dollar companies subscribe to the post-war liberal consensus. Among this group, guilt for Western Civilization runs through a positive feedback loop, spiraling towards quasi-religious displays of fealty to the latest fad.

Brian, ever the rhetorician, calls it the Death Cult. Looking at its fruits in the secular world, I can't argue with that term.

We have never needed the core message of this book more than now. If the last 2 weeks haven't put you on a war footing, I don't know what will. The culture war is heating up, and it will take strong faith and discipline to protect yourself and your loved ones from becoming a victim of it.

As the book's title says, don't give money to people who hate you. But don't let your actions stop there. The world's venom only has as much power over you as you give it time and attention. Disarm it and disengage. Trade with people who don't have an axe to grind. Confront the enemy where he can be beaten, not on social media, but right in front of you. And don't forget your best tool in defense of the truth, the one true God and His Son Jesus Christ.

As always, let me know what you think in the comments. If you like hard sci-fi, check out my books Seeds of Calamity and Tendrils to the Moon. You can find extended previews for each here and here.