I had a long post in another thread which seems to have been deleted where I listed all of the times that conservatives successfully held back the progressive wave.
However, in the long run all of those efforts have failed.
What the liberals couldn't get by passing the ERA, they successfully got by expanding the definition of Title IX.
The temporary successes of the Moral Majority and Christian Coalition in getting DOMA passed, was defeated by the Supreme Court.
The Right to Life movement did eventually eliminate Roe v. Wade, but we still have 50% or more of Americans who believe that abortions are basically OK, and now we have kicked the hornets nest and blue states will now make it even easier for those in red states to get abortions... even for free perhaps.
It must also be pointed out that it was most likely not the protests that won the day, but the arguments. Schlafly made the correct claim that if the ERA passed and men and women were to be viewed as equal before the law, then it would make gay marriage legal. This went right through the empty brains of most Americans. Instead, the point that resonated was the fear of women being drafted into the military that won the day for Schlafly.
The gay rights agenda was forever on the move as more and more letters were added to the acronym. There were even "conservatives" OK with "civil unions" thinking that would halt the movement.
The abortion situation is now very problematic. The real reason it is wrong is because a human life is ended. However, now we have the weird situation where fetuses may or may not be considered human depending on where they are located geographically. We also know that very few Americans will ever go so far as to make abortions illegal for cases of rape or incest. So very few people really deeply understand what fetuses are, or if they do, they are in denial.
I disagree with those who claim that conservatives never put up a fight, but I also disagree with those who claim that those past battle victories are worth celebrating since we seem to be losing the war. Yes, those who fought the good fight deserve our respect, but we shouldn't kid ourselves that because they succeeded in the past, that there will be others in the future capable of equal success in the future.
Usually, most efforts suffer from the same fatal flaw that the March for life and Phyllis never succumbed to. They didn't sit down. Phyllis never sat down. She won. The March for Lifers never sat down. Roe is gone, even, and they're still not sitting down. It's amazing! It's amazing to see people on our side who can't sit down. They're so rare.
"I disagree with those who claim that conservatives never put up a fight."
I'm in agreement and make that claim myself. Posting on a forum or adding content to Facebook is not "putting up a fight". I love FReepers and everybody here are the best people in the country, and I love communicating (or if you prefer, complaining) to and with the best of them, but none of what happens here is actionable.
When Obergefell was handed down, I didn't see any protests. Did you? An even better example is the craziness in the schools. I watch these videos from school board events where the FBI are labeling people terrorists. There were 50 people that showed up. 50! 75 people showed up to others. Sure, every now and then you get a packed house, but when 50 people show up, you cannot go around saying that people are putting up a fight. I'm sorry, you don't get that. This isn't a fight. Even threats to our children are not enough to get people mobilized. Even as parents, people refuse to get involved.
And even if you say "Yeah well that's what got Glenn Younkin elected!" Yeah? And so what? That was just an election, nothing more. Without activism from people who refuse to show up, anybody who does what Younkin is doing dies on the vine because they have no support from the people. Our problem is not political, this is a cultural problem. There are Younkins who come and there will be Younkins who go. But the same cultural problem remains. "Protesting doesn't work. I have a job." Nobody will defend their freedom.
Conservatives have a mistaken belief that you can just win the election, wipe your hands of it, and then disappear for the next 729 days. "I'll see you at the next election." Reality doesn't work that way, that's a recipe for massive defeat. Every day has to involve the fight. But that's not what our side wants. And I do think it stems in part from the very idea I originally replied to you on: "However, when we do protest, even in large numbers, we are mostly polite and ineffective."
I've seen variations of this idea posted a thousand different ways about the stupidity of protests or how activism is somehow a "left wing thing". "Protesting doesn't work. I have a job." I'm sorry, but no, the first amendment is not a left wing thing it's our Founding Fathers telling us we better stop what we're doing and get out there with our sharpies and pitchforks do our jobs to save our liberties! Our Founders were definitely protesters. Why are we so unwilling to follow their model?
Really, our side wants to be the Silent Majority, but there is no Silent Majority. A silent group is a non-group. They're just spectators. They're not on the field making changes in the game as its played. Yes, I'm using Jesse Kelly's analogy from around 10 minutes in this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9k6eF8SzHc
Silent people do not matter. Jesse's right. And not even that Jesse is right, this is a self-evident truth.
When a day comes that 5,000 to 10,000 people are showing up to school board events(and every event, for YEARS) because of the danger that the schools consistently present to their children, then I would like to have a discussion with you about people putting up a fight. When the school board meeting shuts down several blocks downtown every time there's a meeting, let's talk. Right now? Everybody's sitting down. Everybody is silent right now. We know what silence looks like, we're living it right now ever day.
That's why I took to giving away open source audio books, what else was I supposed to do when there are no activists to be found? I personally wasn't going to sit down. But my vision is good enough for me to see that I am in fact alone, there isn't a person for miles, MILES, around me.
I live in an activist desert. Plenty of sand. No people.