Re-Entering the Fray

After two months away from Twitter, it is time to get back in the game. My thoughts on it.

I went and re-read my walking away from Twitter piece. I stand by what I wrote about the dangers of smart phones and social media. None of that has changed.

Becoming Dispossessed: Stepping Away from Twitter

So why come back? The time away has given me time to think, pray and write. I feel like I am beginning to find my voice as a writer. I realized that when I first started on Twitter and began my Substack, I had no clue about anything, really. I thought I understood the right wing landscape of ideas, but did not. I have always had an irreverent streak, saying the outrageous thing to get a rise. I ended up being part shit poster, part books guy, part religious guy and it never really melded into anything coherent. I have always been well read, but not in the emerging right wing canon. I have gone a long way to rectify that. This past year plus has been a crash course for me in right wing esoterica combined with reading about the Founding and the War of Northern Aggression. There are still books to read; many, many books to read. Plus, few people still read Ellul and there are a lot of his works for which it is worth doing explainers and write ups. And it seems like del Noce is going to continue to be a real treasure as I get into his other works now available in English. And I may dip into talking about Spengler soon as well. Maybe some Jünger. I also am thinking that an introduction to Abraham Kuyper’s Stone Lectures might be profitable. A pastor turned politician, who became the Dutch prime minister, he has things to teach us, I think. I feel now that I am on firmer ground and not just winging it, shooting from the hip more often than not. I feel like I am beginning to find my voice. Amateur political philosopher folded into my training to think about the world theologically and biblically. Its a needed voice, one to which I feel like I can make a meaningful contribution. Having a voice will hopefully help me not get drawn into commenting just for the sake of commenting.

That leads into the second reason for returning. I have discovered that Twitter is the vehicle for getting out political thought. It is the way to grow your presence and your reach. As soon as I stepped off Twitter, the growth curve of my Substack dropped off considerably. I believe that I can contribute to the conversation. The only way to do that is if people actually read your stuff. If you are unknown, one of the best ways to build an audience is through Twitter. At a time when I had just 25 Substack subscribers, my first piece on Ellul garnered over 5,000 views when it went viral on the bird app.

This leads to my third thought. There is a pent up energy in society these days, especially among the people. The last few months have seen another vibe change, The old political orthodoxies on the so-called right are losing their grip. New ideas are starting to emerge. Anons are being given a voice in fairly mainstream conservative publications. Others are making a real effort to gatekeep them, trying to ensure that these views don’t start infecting the political right more broadly. This is encouraging. And I sense this is just the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the surface there is a teeming mass waiting to bubble up. This is the time to speak if you are on the right. But no one can listen if no one can hear you. How can they hear you if you are not willing to build an audience? Thank means facing the risks of Twitter to gain its upsides.

This gets me to perhaps the most important point. Something Gio Pennacchietti said in a recent podcast really struck me hard and I dialogued with him about it: fear of success. I have often wondered if my own biggest enemy is myself. Do I sabotage myself at those moments when I am on the verge of success? Am I ok with being bigger than an above average fish in a smallish pond? Am I willing to exercise the discipline necessary to take that next step? One of my core personal vulnerabilities is addiction. Confronting those things which have those qualities has always frightened me. It is easier to walk away and put up walls than it is to exercise disciple. Walking away from Twitter is not the same thing as exercising mastery over it. My time away has helped me see this. I have talked a lot about mastery over technology in my writing and the need for saying “no.” But “no” can mean a variety of different things. All of this technology is out there and must be dealt with, and I am realizing that if you want to be involved politically and you do not have enough stature to just ignore Twitter, you are going to have to confront the beast if you want to be heard. Especially as an outsider and a nobody. This is the reality we are forced to deal with. In the world but not of the world. And while just saying “no” is a valid option, it cedes too much ground to the regime. Gio helped me see that Twitter is a beachhead in the enemy’s territory. Time for me to get into the fray and mix it up.

Finally, this time away has helped me re-orient my priorities spiritually and renew some spiritual habits I had neglected when I was letting myself be run by Twitter. I am in a good space, and, as I said, I feel like I am finding my voice.

So I am back. I am going to approach it with a little more seriousness than before. More networking. More reaching out to people. More building. Purpose. But still have some fun. After all, it is Twitter. And I think I will write on the experience down the road. I may do what The Prudentialist does and take a day or two a week and delete the app on my phone so there is no easy access. We will see.

You can find me here: @_kruptos (at least I hope you will be able to find me…when I went to Twitter without logging in on my laptop, it said the account did not exist)