What Mayor Glenn Jacobs gets right about power

Most people remember Glenn Jacobs as Kane—the terrifying masked enforcer who tore through WWE rings with fire, fury, and silence.

What most people don’t realize is that the same guy went on to become a mayor, and one of the more philosophically consistent defenders of individual liberty in modern American politics.

Not in theory, like you see from too many politicians these days, but practice.

And whether you agree with him or not, that’s rare.

When it actually mattered, Glenn Jacobs said “No”

During COVID, when nearly every public official fell in line behind blanket mandates, Jacobs didn’t.

He cast the only “no” vote against a county-wide mask mandate in Knox County, because he knew he didn’t need to score political points. Jacobs also said:

“I worry that one-size-fits-all mandates such as this set a terrible precedent for government overreach, are difficult to enforce, can cause conflict between the authorities and the public when enforced, and, as written, this order places enforcement responsibilities on private businesses.”

What Jacobs said is the part most normies ignore: Once the government claims the authority to control behavior “for your safety,” that authority doesn’t just disappear when the crisis ends. It evolves and finds new uses. And if you haven’t noticed, masks have lingered since COVID ended.

Jacobs understood that, so he leaned on something most politicians and health officials abandoned: Personal responsibility over enforced compliance.

Power without accountability is the real problem

Jacobs didn’t stop at mandates. He went after the structure behind them. Jacobs openly criticized unelected boards and bureaucratic bodies that were issuing rules with no direct accountability to voters. And he didn’t care that gatekeeping cheerleaders like Mark Harmon wrote ignorant opinion pieces on his takes.

Jacobs’ argument was simple:

“If people can make rules that affect your life, you should have the ability to remove them.”

That sounds obvious, but it isn’t, because modern governance increasingly runs through boards, agencies, “experts,” and appointed authorities. People who were never elected, in other words, but still hold power.

Jacobs pushed to strip that power back or, at the very least, hold it accountable. Not because he hates government, even if he should, considering that all governments can and will grow to astronomical levels.

But still, he understands what happens when power operates without consequence.

Markets, not mandates

On the economic side, his stance is just as consistent. He’s repeatedly backed free markets, school choice, and private-sector solutions over centralized programs. All of which line up with libertarian principles.

The logic is straightforward: When people are free to act, trade, and build, systems emerge that actually solve problems. When the government steps in to “fix” things, something Harmon clearly has a fetish for, it creates distortions.

You see it everywhere—from housing to healthcare to education, and so on. Jacobs has often tried to remove the obstacles that prevent people from solving problems themselves. He knows what would leave society better off, and it’s the polar opposite of what your unelected bureaucrats and their mouthpieces like Harmon crave.

👉 Markets also let authors like me write dissenting fiction against these assclowns

Where Glenn Jacobs is right and where he falls short

Here’s the part most people in Harmon’s camp won’t say, even as their narratives fall by the wayside: Jacobs gets a lot right.

He understands that centralized power expands, recognizes that “temporary” measures rarely stay temporary, pushes for individual liberty over forced compliance, and rightfully challenges unelected authority.

That alone puts him ahead of most public officials, but there’s still a ceiling to what he’s doing. Why? Because at the end of the day, he’s working inside the system.

Sure, he’s trying to limit it, restrain it, and make it more accountable. That’s valuable, but it raises a deeper question: What happens when the system itself is the problem?

Culture moves first and politics follow

This is where the real battle is, and where most people are looking in the wrong place. Politics reacts to culture. It doesn’t lead it.

The reason mandates, censorship, and centralized control gain traction isn’t just because politicians push them, even when they push all of the above.

It’s because too many people accept the underlying and sinister premise: That authority should decide what’s best.

Change that belief, and everything else shifts with it. That’s why the real fight isn’t and shouldn’t just be happening in city councils or statehouses.

It’s happening in stories like mine, alt media, and everyday conversations. Jacobs is fighting on the political front, but others are fighting on the cultural one, and that’s us.

Both matter, but only one shapes the battlefield. Our fight, not the one going on in government. And it’s about time those ignorant sociopaths who think they know all and should dictate (not guide) society get the message.

Buck their so-called guidance, live your life, and turn your back on those asshats and their cheerleaders like Harmon. When they no longer have an audience they can fear monger into compliance, they’ll realize how useless they really are to a society that never needed them.

You don’t have to agree with everything Glenn Jacobs says

Just recognize what he represents. Consistency, unlike America’s current commander in chief. Jacobs shows a willingness to stand against pressure when it actually counts, and he doesn’t care who he pisses off.

He’s shown a clear understanding that once power is handed over, it rarely comes back voluntarily. That’s not a partisan insight. And something you realize tenfold when you look back at how difficult it was for many of us to get rid of those COVID mandates.

And the sooner more people understand it, the harder it becomes for anyone—left, right, or otherwise—to use that power unchecked.

My consistency and my promise to YOU

I consistently flipped off mask mandates from the beginning and walked around maskless when everyone else wasn’t. It was my way of telling those elitists who think they own our lives to go fuck themselves.

Want to know another way I’ve been railing against these wannabe overlords? I antagonize them in books. Whether it’s in the fantasy genre, dystopian survival, or a combo thereof.

👉 Check out my backlist at The Rebel Lore Vault