What’s better than an unaccountable cabal of elitists deciding the fate of Western Civilisation by influencing policy and culture across the planet? If you said ‘no cabal at all’ we’d be in agreement.

However, since human nature appears to demand a hierarchy of some sort, I think we’d all prefer oversight from a good cabal over an evil one. Opposition to the WEF’s influence has been scattered and somewhat ineffective to date, but maybe that’s set to change with the advent of ARC – Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

To those of us attempting to follow and understand how Western societies have declined in recent years, the Good vs Evil battle is increasingly obvious. Whether your awakening to this struggle is due to the censorship of free speech and extreme political reactions to Covid; elimination of merit-based achievement under the Environmental/Social/Governance schemes infecting institutions and corporations; attacks on the family by the LGBT activist movement culminating in programs to transition kids; Net Zero policies designed to create scarcity and increase cost of living; or if it’s open borders, unfettered immigration, and globalist trade policies – we can all agree that when considered together, these progressive goals are changing the trajectory of Western Civilisation for the worse.

Most of these ideas can be linked back to organisations with well-known acronyms – WEF, WHO, and UN. Unfortunately, this concentration of bad ideas creates the perfect environment to foster conspiracy theories which often results in the casual dismissal by media and obliging commentators. However, these ideas are openly stated – they are real… There’s no conspiracy theory if the theory is true. So, what’s to be done about it, and how low can the trajectory take us before it recovers, if ever?

By now most of us have heard of the ARC conference held in London. An assembly of conservative and right-wing politicians, influencers, and business leaders, unkindly referred to as a cooker convention by some, the organisers bill themselves as an alternative to the WEF.

At all levels, ARC’s Jordan Peterson is a more enigmatic and convincing frontman than the WEF’s Klaus Schwab. With Peterson advocating personal responsibility and Schwab confidently stating you don’t need any (remember, you will own nothing), it’s not difficult to choose a side. And the concept of choosing a side, implying a contest is underway, is entirely correct. We really do not want to lose this one and succumb to the WEF’s dystopian future.

What can ARC do about it? To answer that I must pose another question, how did we get here and there are plenty of deeper and more insightful theories than I can provide. My clumsy answer comes down to a vacuum.

There is a critical difference between those of us who understand that smaller government, personal responsibility, and freedom of speech are fundamental to a successful society and those who want to radically change it i.e. the noisy minority. That difference is inherent in our conservativeness. We don’t protest, complain loudly, or even demand things change to better suit us. I believe that this indifference, or stoicism, for an extended length of time throughout politics, culture, media, academia and corporations creates a vacuum inevitably filled by craziness.

If ARC can legitimately fill the gap and defend Western society with politicians, artists, influencers, business leaders, scientists, and the media, then the battle is finally joined. Further, given the cowardice of your average progressive lunatic (climate hunger strike?) and the necessity of politicians and business to closely follow the opinions expressed by the majority of the population (or at least not directly oppose it), this should be an easy win. What if it merely takes an alternative set of elites – the good guys – to unseat the bad guys from their comfortable cradles of power, leading to a global resurgence of western societies?

If only it was that simple. Let’s recall that very recently significant resources were thrown at radical activists by business leaders attempting to change the Constitution. Is it feasible that these individuals could ever change tack? Which CEO who publicly expressed support for radical societal change, would be willing to quietly cancel ESG programs, cut donations to activist groups, or enter into an electricity supply contract with a coal-fired power station?

Believing those in power will go quietly is laughable. The truth is that trying to accommodate them and their ilk is exactly how we got here in the first place, and as responsible citizens, we must prize the truth. Where we see a lie we must call it out, or at least not comply with the lie.

I practised this myself recently when my employer exposed the entire workforce to several lectures by external facilitators, on why we should all vote ‘Yes’ in the Voice referendum. As a result I sent a carefully worded email to my employer’s head counsel explaining why I didn’t appreciate being coached on my personal views that were nothing to do with my work. I was polite but unapologetic, and the chief lawyer had no option but to concur and apologise.

ARC hopes everybody will draw a line in the sand and politely defend it. I’m more optimistic for our future now than I was a few weeks ago.

Ben is an electrical engineer in the power and gas sector.