How To Win a Culture War

Conservatives need to step it up if they hope to turn the tide

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If you're like me, you may have noticed just how good the globalists are at organizing. Yes, they have funding; and yes, they are more collectivist in nature, but that doesn't change the fact that what they do is extremely effective.

Over the last few decades, they've shown their ability to simultaneously shift culture, push policy at the highest levels (the European Union, United Nations, etc.), and completely remake society from one that was nationalistic, patriotic and Christian to one that holds every one of those things in contempt. In fact, they have been so effective, beliefs that were deeply-held for generations are now being criminalized.

It is incredibly difficult to change deeply held beliefs. If you want to know how difficult, just try convincing one person to change their perspective. Anyone who has done so knows just how much effort it takes, even when you have all the facts on your side.

And yet, that is exactly what's been done over the last half century. While conservatives and Christians have noticed this change taking place, very little was done to stop it and any attempts to do so were hardly as well organized or well funded.

It was the Christian conservatives' fight to lose. We had the high ground. We had the fortifications. But we didn't understand our enemy until it was too late, and even when we did, we failed to organize in the ways that were needed.

This was not for a lack of will, effort or concern. Christians and conservatives have done whatever they could, alone or in small groups, this whole time. It is and was a lack of organization – collective action, structure, and scale – that have left empty what should have been impenetrable societal fortifications.

Let me give you an example: Have you heard of the Ford Foundation?

Thomas Pack wrote a fascinating synopsis for Real Clear Politics on the immense influence and far-reaching effects of the Ford Foundation in a recent tribute to its retiring president.

According to the article, the Ford Foundation is one of "the world's most influential left-leaning philanthropic organizations." While its retiring president was deeply involved in politics, "his greatest impact," according to Pack, was in his funding of a "vast film and entertainment landscape" during his tenure.

Over the past decade, the Ford Foundation created "one of the largest documentary funds in the world." According to a 2022 report, the organization spent $312 million on documentaries and filmmaking over just four years (2014-2018). While this only took up 12.5% of the foundation's budget, it was enough to make it the largest funder of film in the United States. Its primary goal with this budget is to finance films and projects that push "social justice," or as conservatives often call it, "wokeness."

But, it's not just the money the foundation spends that's making the difference – it's how the money is being spent.

According to Pack, about 60% of spending has gone to create "a documentary film ecosystem, supporting film festivals, outreach, and educating the next generation of filmmakers."

Ford spends millions every year on film festivals, spreading small grants among lesser-known festivals all over the world, while giving greater amounts to the larger film organizations, like Sundance and Tribeca.

The point of this ecosystem is to create a welcoming environment for filmmakers, giving them multiple options to gain recognition from friendly venues. In other words, the foundation funds the filmmakers (as long as they push "wokeness"), and then funds the people who choose which films to promote to their audience.

Pack writes, "Ford has committed over $14.7 million to the Sundance Institute since 2006 ... and many Ford-funded films have won awards at Sundance, including 'The Fight,' which is about the efforts of American Civil Liberties Union attorneys to combat the policies of the Trump Administration, and 'Philly D.A.,' about left-wing Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner."

And this is the power of strategic and organized messaging.

Psychologists have shown that information that is repeated often is perceived as more truthful. This is called the "illusory truth effect." Repetition increases what is called "processing fluency" (or familiarity.) Because fluency and truth are frequently correlated in the real world, people learn to use processing fluency as a marker of truthfulness.

Thus, the more something is repeated, the more true people believe it to be.

What is even more effective is if you can have several seemingly disassociated sources push the same information. When done effectively, almost anything can be passed off as fact, simply due to having a large number of controlled (but seemingly disassociated) sources push it repeatedly.

But, of course, this takes time, effort and, most of all, funding.

While leftist organizations pour millions of dollars into media, universities, training and the organizations that will help select the leaders in all industries, conservatives struggle tremendously to match this effort.

Pack notes in his article, "Conservatives spend far less on cultivating talent among our filmmakers – and I should know, I run a Film Incubator, one of the few film training programs in the conservative space, and I have done considerable research in this area."

"If conservatives want better films coming out from their side," he continues, "they need to train the documentarians who dare to question left-wing orthodoxy but don't quite know how."

Pack rightly notices what many of us have, as well – that society is influenced by media. However, there is a significant disparity between what the Left spends on pushing their messaging and what the Right does.

While many organizations like Ford spend billions of dollars on shaping society, our side relies heavily on donations and volunteers. This creates a professionalism problem. While one side can pay the best and brightest (not to mention raise and train them), the other is hoping hobbyists and a small handful of dedicated professionals can match that gap. No war is won by using underfunded, untrained and unorganized hobbyists against a well-organized, well-funded and strategically-minded machine.

"Ford should be commended," says Pack, "for putting together a coherent and holistic strategy, one that will have a long-lasting effect on American culture. Culture warriors on the right would be wise to pick up this blueprint and step into the arena with the Ford Foundation."

While Pack's article discusses film primarily, this same strategic concern can be applied to almost any attempt to restore normalcy to the Western world.

In politics, we ask for donations and volunteers to get our people elected, but once in office what do they do to create a sustainable ecosystem that will increase the chances of future candidates? Why does the Right not have ActBlue-levels of organization and support (much less that of hundreds of others)? The same applies in every other segment of society.

If we want to restore civilization, we need to find ways to support one another. By this, I don't mean only financially, but also strategically and in spirit.

Financially, we have the means to build ecosystems that can help create the wealth we need to correct the current asymmetry (for example New Founding).

In art, many are attempting to build networks that can help create alternatives (such as Human Nobility).

In political and Christian action, there are many who are helping organize effective action (such as our own Souls and Liberty Action Network or our film and News studio).

While donations and volunteer work continue to be necessary, we must be looking out for ways that we can establish secure foundations from which to launch a cultural Reconquista.

Any real change will require leaders, funders and organizers coming together, supporting each other (no matter what slander the opposition attempts to use to drive us apart), and – like the Founding Fathers – putting all on the line for the future of civilization.

Editor's note: To learn how Christians and other conservatives can win back America, check out our book selection by clicking here.

Arthur is a former editor and consultant. Born in India to missionary parents, he spent his early career working in development for NGOs in Asia, Central America, and Africa.

Arthur has an educational background in history and psychology, with certifications from the University of Oxford and Leiden in the economics, politics, and ethics of mass migration and comparative theories in terrorism and counterterrorism. He is currently launching CivWest, a company focused on building capital to fund restorative projects and create resilient systems across the Western world.

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