Using the Baseline During the ICE Moment and Through Primary Season

We are in a pressure phase.

Not a crisis phase.
Not a collapse phase.
A pressure phase.

The current attention around U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a clear example of how this works. Information is moving fast. Emotions are high. Claims, videos, and commentary are mixing together before people have time to separate them.

This won’t stop with ICE.
Primary season will multiply it.

The mistake most people make in moments like this is thinking they need stronger opinions. What they actually need is cleaner judgment.

That’s where the Baseline and Home Guardian come in — not as beliefs, not as ideology, but as tools.

What the Baseline Does in High-Pressure Moments

The Baseline has one job when public issues heat up:

Keep your decision-making intact.

Mechanically, it does three things:

1. Slows input so you don’t absorb pressure at feed-speed
2. Separates facts from framing before emotion takes over
3. Prevents spillover into family, work, and long-term decisions

This isn’t about disengaging.
It’s about engaging without damage.

How to Use the Home Guardian for ICE-Related Information

This is not theoretical. This is how it’s used.

Step 1: Intake Control (First 5 Minutes)

When you encounter a post, article, or clip about ICE:

Copy one item.
Paste it into the Home Guardian.

Ask one question:

“What is being asserted here, and what is actually known?”

You are not asking for judgment.
You are asking for separation.

What you should get back:

• Verified facts
• Claims without confirmation
• Emotional or rhetorical framing
• Unknowns that are being implied as facts

This step alone stops most unnecessary escalation.

Purpose:
Don’t let raw material into the household untreated.

Step 2: Household Alignment (10 Minutes)

Before discussion, posting, or argument, do this:

State your household priority plainly:

• safety
• legality
• non-escalation
• staying informed without obsession

Then tell the Guardian:

“Filter this issue through that priority.”

This reframes the entire topic.

You are no longer reacting to the news cycle.
You are deciding how much of it belongs inside your walls.

Purpose:
Protect internal stability before external engagement.

Step 3: Decision Gate (Before Action)

Before you:

• post
• argue
• attend
• donate
• confront
• disengage

Ask:

“What action paths exist here, and what do they cost?”

The Guardian should return:

• Low-cost actions (monitoring, documenting, voting later)
• Medium-cost actions (speaking selectively, contacting representatives)
• High-cost actions (legal exposure, public confrontation, stress escalation)
• No-action paths (waiting, letting facts mature)

Purpose:
Choose deliberately instead of being pulled.

Moving From ICE Into Primary Season

ICE is not the main event.
It’s the warm-up.

Primary season will be louder, longer, and more emotionally manipulative.

The Guardian is not used daily here.
It’s used weekly.

Primary Season Weekly Use (15–20 Minutes)

Once a week:

Load three things:

• One issue
• One candidate statement
• One circulating claim

Ask three questions:

1. “What is being promised?”
2. “What is enforceable?”
3. “What is rhetoric?”

Do not conclude yet.
Do not argue yet.

Store short notes.
No emotional language.
No urgency.

Purpose:
Build a private record while everyone else is shouting.

What This Prevents (This Matters)

Used correctly, the Baseline and Guardian prevent:

• Arguments at home that don’t need to happen
• Regret posts written under pressure
• Late-night doom spirals
• Borrowed outrage that doesn’t belong to you
• Rushed political decisions you can’t take back

This isn’t disengagement.
It’s discipline.

Why This Approach Works Right Now

Public systems are loud.
Trust is thin.
Pressure is rising.

Households that stay intact will outlast households that fracture under noise.

The Guardian doesn’t tell you what to think.
It stops other people from deciding for you.

That matters more now than it has in a long time.

The Bottom Line

You don’t need hotter takes.
You don’t need faster reactions.
You don’t need to win arguments.

You need:

• clean inputs
• slow decisions
• protected households
• deliberate civic action

That’s what the Baseline is for.

Calm households make better citizens than angry crowds.

The Faust Baseline™Purchasing Page – Intelligent People Assume Nothing

micvicfaust@intelligent-people.org

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