Political Flocking

The Progressive opponents to freedom and personal liberty in this country are a well oiled machine. We’ve watched their politicians deftly maneuver the back room deals and every other conceivable act of legislative cunning. The myriad of activist groups and unions have danced for the media with practiced ease while delivering well rehearsed and poll tested messages.

For the Conservatives, it has been amateur hour. Our veterans don’t seem to grasp true Conservative values and our new-on-the-scene patriots are saying all the right things all the wrong ways. The various Tea Party and 912 groups that have sprung up seem to have no idea what to do with the passionate fervor their members bring to the group besides wave signs and vote their conscience.

Why is there such a difference between the two ideologies in their ability to move their agenda forward? How can an entire section of population with common goals and beliefs be so bad at conveying and realizing them?

There is a area in Computer Sciences called A.L. or Artificial Life. In A.L. circles programmers try to mimic behaviors and traits seen in nature in a digital world. One of the problems that Artificial Life coders tackled was that of flocking. Birds and fish tend to travel in large groups of like animals. Flocks and schools can be made of hundreds of individual creatures but move as if they were almost a single entity. The A.L. researchers wanted to know how this was accomplished and if it could be replicated.

Craig Reynolds was one of these coders. He worked out a set of rules with only 3 or 4 rules to govern the individual birds, or Biods as he called his digital critters. Without any real cooperation between the digital birds and only a small handful of rules for the individuals, Reynold’s Biods were able to flock perfectly. Part of the secret was all the Biods had to be using the same rules.

This is why the Progressives have been doing so well. With hundreds of smaller groups, most with hot button causes that are completely different from each other’s, the Progressives have achieved political ‘flocking’ through a universal set of rules used by all the groups. They train their people often and thoroughly. The people doing the training are often from other groups and train across the spectrum.

The Progressive ground troops are taught how to talk to media and how to deliver the message with all the right code words. They are taught how to use the system when its to their advantage and how to circumvent it when its not.

This is probably one of the very few concepts that Conservatives need to borrow from Progressives. When we can train ourselves with a universal set of rules based on Conservative thought and values then we can achieve political flocking. This will result in the whole being greater than the sum of the parts, a synergy that will move the Conservative agenda forward. Conservatives far out number true Progressives in America but so far its been an even match. We need to teach ourselves how to correctly fight for our beliefs and then it won’t be so even any more.