With all due respect, 2020 is not 1967. It was a different time then.

Tom Nelson starts an independent chapel in the early 70's, and all faithful Traditional Catholics come to his chapel, creating a flourishing parish of sorts. 110 parishioners at its peak -- 2 Masses every Sunday.

Those who would become Pfeifferites if given a chance, those who would be SSPX if given a chance, those who lean Sedevacantist, those who would support Bishop Williamson and the Resistance if given a chance -- ALL OF THE ABOVE. They all came together and made a flourishing parish. 3 different kids' Catechism classes every Sunday, daily Mass, etc.

Today, Tom Nelson's grand-nephew starts an independent chapel, and almost 7 years later the parishioners still number in the low 20's -- counting his own family of 10. The SSPX is 45 minutes away, and most are content to stay there. Some Trads in the area are sedevacantist, home-aloner, and/or Pfeifferite, and so they stay aloof and never attend. There is an Indult Mass in both San Antonio AND Austin, which further sucks away a bunch of other would-be parishioners.

I should point out: Tom Nelson's own chapel went down to about 20 people once the Institute of Christ the King came to Rockford, IL in the mid-90's. The Conciliar Church gave them a nice beautiful (pre-Vatican II style) CHURCH -- not a chapel -- to use for the Tridentine Mass, located in the center of downtown. They fixed it up, sold pizza kits and put tens of thousands of dollars into stained glass, and basically they have been playing 1950's parish ("What Crisis in the Church?") for the past 25 years. They have their Latin Mass, an occasional pro-life Rosary or other pro-life action, and they're good. The Crisis is over, as far as that crowd is concerned.

I could say the same thing about a Catholic book publisher. eBooks and the Internet didn't exist back in 1967 when TAN Books was founded. There were no other Trad Catholic publishers: no Ignatius, Sophia, Lepanto, Angelus Press, or any others. TAN was it. There were no archive websites with hundreds of free public-domain Catholic books available for download in PDF or other ebook formats.

If I tried to create a TAN Books clone today, it wouldn't succeed.

Bishop Williamson tends to agree, which is why he hasn't started a "Society of St. Pius X II". Times have changed. 2020 is not 1970.

My point: history doesn't repeat itself. It rhymes, it shifts, it takes things to the next level -- but you'll never see things oscillate like an oscillator circuit, completely repeating the same thing over and over. It's always a little different this go-round.

When you grasp this basic point, you are very close to grasping the full truth about God, the world, and everything.

For example, in 1970, if a healthy man couldn't make a living he was probably lazy. But it turns out that there were 10X as many jobs open to high-school drop outs compared with 2020. And if you had a High School diploma, MOST jobs were open to you. So it would be a mistake to judge a young man today by 1970's standards. Again, times have changed and this must be taken into account.

I disagree that we should waste our time and resources on venture(s) that aren't prudent, or doomed-to-fail.

Anyone, Catholic or not, should do at least rough calculations on the back of an envelope to make sure an idea COULD WORK or not. When you can't make the numbers work, by an order of magnitude (10x) or more, you don't undertake the venture.

Luke chapter 14:
[28] For which of you having a mind to build a tower, doth not first sit down, and reckon the charges that are necessary, whether he have wherewithal to finish it: [29] Lest, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that see it begin to mock him, [30] Saying: This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Well, most of those on your list became prominent as a result of writing and publishing books or newspapers, so I think that the reference is to a similar type of venture.  You can't survive as a physical book (or newspaper/newsletter) publisher anymore.

Understood.

But surely, there are productive channels for Vatholic Action in 2020?

Surely Catholic Action itself has not become obsolete?

And surely the success or failure of Catholic Action is not to be judged solely in terms of profitability?

I recall TAN Books being in and out of bankruptcy more than once.

But surely, there are productive channels for Catholic Action in 2020?

How broad are you looking for your "doers"? I see a good number of Catholic "doers" out there. Are you excluding everyone who isn't Resistance?

Tom Nelson himself had to cater a bit toward the larger audience of NO attendees rather than the more limited group of TLM attendees. He was criticized for putting notes in his books where Church rules had changed post-VII.


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(5000th post -- certainly there should be a prize or something for that, right?)

How broad are you looking for your "doers"? I see a good number of Catholic "doers" out there. Are you excluding everyone who isn't Resistance?

Tom Nelson himself had to cater a bit toward the larger audience of NO attendees rather than the more limited group of TLM attendees. He was criticized for putting notes in his books where Church rules had changed post-VII.


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(5000th post -- certainly there should be a prize or something for that, right?)