Good stuff. I tell a version of the story in my next book, however tempering the Astroturf part with an account of how fertile the American ground always is for reactionary populist movements.
The ground certainly didn't seem fertile during the years when I was consciously becoming a conservative--roughly 1964 to 1974. There were very few ways to make a living as a conservative in those days, especially if you had academic pretensions. One of the few places you could make a decent living was on Capitol Hill, where I went in 1976. There were quite a few others like myself, some of whom you probably know of such as Sam Francis. A study of such people would make an interesting master's thesis.
I had a job as part of the “bar program” in the late 1990s, wherein RJ Reynolds tobacco tried to capitalize on the fact that people into underground music and culture tended to smoke “camel lights.” They hired an ad/mktg agency that put out a little zine that was inserted into the alternative weeklies and I got to write it. They didn’t care at all what I covered as long as it didn’t look like it was for children, and there was just a big CL ad on the back cover - everything else, the images and words - were whatever upcoming events I wanted to cover.
When I first joined Phillip-Morris'es main PR firm, Burson-Marsteller circa 1988, big tobacco had 73 PR firms in DC alone under contract. That was besides the Tobacco Institute, the industry trade group. 25% of the revenue for the firm I worked at was from Phillip-Morris. Whenever the client came to visit, a team would sweep through the office spreading cartons & packs of cigs on the desks of smokers & non-smokers alike. BTW - P-M had baseball star Hank Aaron under contract too, for the Phillip-Morris News Service.
"Most people study 'The Matrix' through a screen; the real vision comes from studying the geography of power. You don't predict the future by guessing; you predict it by analyzing how different jurisdictions function, compete, and collapse.
Freedom isn't just a mindset—it’s a logistical reality. If you haven't seen how the gears turn on the ground across borders, you’re just reading the menu without eating the meal. The future belongs to the mobile and the informed."
"Historical documents are the blueprints of the present. Most people see a letter from 1979 as a relic; the real intellects see it as the moment the 'gears' shifted.
Whether it’s Reagan’s era or the modern frontier, the game remains the same: understanding the bureaucracy of influence is the only way to avoid being a pawn in it. Great to see the archives being opened—context is the ultimate currency."
The archival record is often more revealing than the official narrative. These 'thank you' notes and logistical details are the connective tissue of history. At The Luminary Journal, we're fascinated by how these small, seemingly mundane interactions build the scaffolding of power and influence. It's the 'hidden architecture' of institutions that truly shapes our world. Fascinating find.
I was on Senator Jepsen's staff in 1979.
You might want to look at this book if you are unfamiliar with it. https://www.amazon.com/Poison-Tea-Tobacco-Invented-Captured/dp/1250076102/ref=sr_1_1
Yeah, I have that. Some useful info, but padded and reductive, I think.
This is a review I did of the book with some personal details you may find of interest. https://www.bookforum.com/print/2302/how-the-conservative-movement-has-spent-and-organized-its-way-into-power-16083
Good stuff. I tell a version of the story in my next book, however tempering the Astroturf part with an account of how fertile the American ground always is for reactionary populist movements.
The ground certainly didn't seem fertile during the years when I was consciously becoming a conservative--roughly 1964 to 1974. There were very few ways to make a living as a conservative in those days, especially if you had academic pretensions. One of the few places you could make a decent living was on Capitol Hill, where I went in 1976. There were quite a few others like myself, some of whom you probably know of such as Sam Francis. A study of such people would make an interesting master's thesis.
There are many ways to be political. One was to be a cop, and avail yourself of the pleasure of shooting Black people in cold blood...
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-newark-rebellion-at-50-and-the-ghost-of-ron-porambo/
I had a job as part of the “bar program” in the late 1990s, wherein RJ Reynolds tobacco tried to capitalize on the fact that people into underground music and culture tended to smoke “camel lights.” They hired an ad/mktg agency that put out a little zine that was inserted into the alternative weeklies and I got to write it. They didn’t care at all what I covered as long as it didn’t look like it was for children, and there was just a big CL ad on the back cover - everything else, the images and words - were whatever upcoming events I wanted to cover.
When I first joined Phillip-Morris'es main PR firm, Burson-Marsteller circa 1988, big tobacco had 73 PR firms in DC alone under contract. That was besides the Tobacco Institute, the industry trade group. 25% of the revenue for the firm I worked at was from Phillip-Morris. Whenever the client came to visit, a team would sweep through the office spreading cartons & packs of cigs on the desks of smokers & non-smokers alike. BTW - P-M had baseball star Hank Aaron under contract too, for the Phillip-Morris News Service.
"Most people study 'The Matrix' through a screen; the real vision comes from studying the geography of power. You don't predict the future by guessing; you predict it by analyzing how different jurisdictions function, compete, and collapse.
Freedom isn't just a mindset—it’s a logistical reality. If you haven't seen how the gears turn on the ground across borders, you’re just reading the menu without eating the meal. The future belongs to the mobile and the informed."
"Historical documents are the blueprints of the present. Most people see a letter from 1979 as a relic; the real intellects see it as the moment the 'gears' shifted.
Whether it’s Reagan’s era or the modern frontier, the game remains the same: understanding the bureaucracy of influence is the only way to avoid being a pawn in it. Great to see the archives being opened—context is the ultimate currency."
The archival record is often more revealing than the official narrative. These 'thank you' notes and logistical details are the connective tissue of history. At The Luminary Journal, we're fascinated by how these small, seemingly mundane interactions build the scaffolding of power and influence. It's the 'hidden architecture' of institutions that truly shapes our world. Fascinating find.