Maybe it is Time for an End to the United States of America...

 ...and a start to the Free States of America.

I was reading this article on City Journal, about the differences between the Red and Blue states, and it picked up on an essential difference - the willingness to take risks.

That difference goes wider than just the COVID thing. It permeates just about every choice available to each state's citizens:

• Willingness to risk one's OWN money, vs. those who want GOVERNMENT to put up the dough
• Standing by the consequences of one's OWN decisions, vs. arguing against any punishment/natural consequence because "it's not FAIR"
• Willingness to abide by rules, vs. breaking/bending any rule that doesn't advantage them, on the grounds that "rules don't matter"
• Paying one's own way. Whining for OTHERS to pay for lame choices, freely taken
• Acting with decency and courtesy to others. Screaming/harassing/threatening others, and expecting to get a pass on consequences

I could go on and on. But, there is something else I was thinking about today, and I wanted to add it to this post.

In the past, when discussing horribly oppressive rule over people, whether in Nazi Germany, Communist China, the Soviet Union, or the Jim Crow South, people would always ask, "How could this happen?"

As a result of observing the country over the last couple of decades, I think I have an answer.

Some are Complicit - they may not have initiated the oppression, but they openly go along with it, benefit from it, and - to all appearances, are completely in agreement with it. Those are the ones that are involved in Sins of Commission.

There are those who do not comply, unless pushed to, whether by force of law, pressure by a boss, or social pressure. But, in the end, they do go along, because "What can one person do?" They may not directly benefit from the acts. They may not even participate directly. But, they turn away, pretending not to see. They are generally motivated by fear - loss of a job, being isolated by their community, or even being treated like those who are being oppressed. They participate in Sins of Omission. They are Culpable. In the Catholic Church, we acknowledge that we fall into that category of sin more often than not, when we proclaim in the Mass, Mea Culpa.

Then, there are the Active Resisters. These are few, and their danger is high. Most will not even cooperate with them, for fear of bringing down the same punishment if caught. Understand, there are many who basically agree with their thinking - those people just lack the guts to participate in their acts (and, generally, will turn them in, if confronted). These are the Patriots, and, in a failed resistance, they will disappear, their names to be erased.

There are many who know this was a rigged election, rife with fraud. They may not have actively and deliberately committed the crimes, but they looked the other way when the ballots were brought in under cover of the night, when the "checkers" and those "curing" ballots changed the vote, when the vote percentages dramatically changed after the machines were fiddled with - at no point, did they stand up and say, "This is Wrong".

Many of that Culpable category are employed by the government - in the judiciary, in the legislatures, in the various administrative offices. They are existing in a Living Hell - they KNOW this is wrong, and they have to face the reality that they lacked the guts to do anything about it. I would expect them to guzzle a LOT of alcohol in an attempt to soothe their guilty conscience.

We just need a few of them to stand up; their break with the conspiracy will give others the courage to join them. In the end, they will choose - Life Eternal, or Lifelong Guilt and Eternal Damnation.