Patience.
It is one of the most difficult virtues to master. There is just so much that has to happen right now! So much that we want right now! So much that has to be corrected right now!
Patience is the key to pragmatism, at least as far as being a pragmatic liberty activist goes. YES, there are grand travesties all around us, and YES, these travesties need to be corrected.
But a pragmatist knows that we are not going to get all of these travesties corrected in one fell swoop. It is a lifelong war that may well not be won within my lifetime – though I certainly hope it is. So we fight where we can, when we can, and we rattle as many cages as we can at all times – and keep rattling them. When we get a small victory, we bide our time and work to make it a larger victory down the road. When we completely get one area fixed, we solidify that victory and move on to other areas and other battles.
The pragmatists in the liberty movement know that small victories eventually lead to larger ones, and eventually to winning the war. We know that all we need is an unrelenting series of 3 yard gains to get a touchdown every time, to use a football analogy. If we do that every time we have the offense, and our defense is able to force three-and-outs every time the other team is on the offense, we win. Realist pragmatists know that the big plays are needed too, and we exploit opponents’ weaknesses to get these big plays when the opportunity arises. These help allow a degree of wiggle room, on both sides of the ball, which is needed because no one is perfect.
But the impatient ideologically pure idealists are the team that only has one strategy: aim for the endzone on every single play. These teams can sometimes look spectacular, but usually they look like idiots. They are easily read, and easily defeated.
You know what happens to these teams that aim for the endzone on every single play?
They may win an occassional game, but by and large, they end the season with losing records every single time.
Call me crazy, but I want to WIN this game, and I want to end the season as the National Champion.
You don’t do that aiming for the endzone on every play.
