Human history is full of stories about people stealing from others. Cain stole Abel’s life, slavery steals people’s freedoms, and unjust taxation steals your hard-earned property.

And, in today’s America, we have a new form of theft: that of your God-given right to have your vote count.

Why Your Vote Matters

For centuries, civilized countries viewed free and fair elections as sacrosanct. They were the preeminent sign that a nation is not primitive, totalitarian, and inhumane, unfolding brute power and whimsy.

Having a vote as a citizen affirms our status as human, as trusted, and as productive contributors to our collective national welfare. Being denied the right to have our votes count renders citizens as without value, unworthy of the government’s respect and care. That is why the right to vote in America — originally restricted by race and the question of whether one owned land — has been continually expanded to include all adult citizens.

This right is more precious than money. More precious than inheritance rights, the right to marry, attend school, or to receive health, welfare, or medical care. Because it amplifies our freedoms of speech and of conscience, it is the cornerstone of our rights as citizens of free countries.

Stealing Your Vote — and Destroying America

A country’s ability to oversee free and fair elections earns it the right to participate and belong in the family of civilized nations. Countries that cannot oversee or will not allow honest, fair, and true elections are looked down on as primitive, dark, and autocratic.

For this reason, governments historically took every precaution to ensure safe, reliable, honest, free, and fair elections. But in America, a group has arisen for whom securing and retaining power is more important than the God-given human rights of citizens, and more important than their country’s acceptance in the international family of nations.

With this, one of two things will happen: Honorable, God-fearing patriots will find a way to overcome such a group, or that group will rapidly bring their country to ruin.

We are not talking about “cheating” or poorly overseeing elections. Such things have always been with us. I am describing something completely new and unprecedented in American history: Attaining and securing power even illicitly, once seen as criminal, has now come to be regarded by many on the Left as honorable and necessary.

The only reason America has not collapsed under the overt, unbound willingness to openly corrupt its elections is due in part to the vast depth of her wealth, genius of her political design, and strength of her traditions purchased by the blood sacrifice of those who defend us.

But defenders of the American ideal should not take this current threat lightly or believe we can survive unchecked electoral corruption indefinitely. By being ignorant, we remain vulnerable to the Left’s control of public thought and narrative. Approximately half the country is contaminated by what is now known as woke ideology. These Americans no longer recognize the dangers of corrupted elections. Attaining power is seen on this side as a higher good.

Not a Debate — Two Worldviews

If that number is more or less true, upright conservatives errantly tend to think “Well, 50/50? That’s a fair fight. Let’s get out there, campaign, canvas, donate, volunteer, hold rallies, and meet this challenge toe to toe.”

The innocent, right-hearted person can be excused for thinking this way, but the equation is not 50/50 any more than a boxer matched against an equal opponent in the ring is likely to win when the opponent thinks it’s moral and just to have razors and horseshoes in his gloves.

Pointing out the progressive Left’s willingness to lie, cheat, and steal may cause swooning in some circles, but the comment describes the force of ideology. It is not a personal attack on people. We must know the truth about an ideology that makes attaining power at any cost a form of righteous, even responsible behavior.

When Americans of every political view shared the same ideals of fairness, honesty, and the importance of elections it was effective to point out cheating. But when postmodern indoctrination brainwashes half the country into rejecting norms, meaning, and stable parameters of propriety, calling these ideals “oppression,” “racism,” “white supremacy,” “heteropatriarchy,” and “cultural bias” — well, Houston, we have a problem.

Be Wise as Serpents

The patriotic Right has been blind to the loss of moral foundations and the steep decline away from virtue and common sense infecting schools, media, and American culture. The Right tends to be caught in cycles of discovering and fighting what is seen as individually important issues like school boards denying parental rights, open borders, and men in women’s locker rooms.

But these are not separate problems. They arise from a single point of error. This is the philosophy that affirms power-seeking even if it requires corruption, and stealing by calculated design. This is what good, believing Americans are running against.

To imagine that President Donald Trump or Republicans are running against Kamala Harris is like howling at the moon. The battle goes far deeper. Our country is at stake. The real opponent must be better known, and finally overcome.

Frank Kaufmann is the founding director and editor-in-chief of the Wikipedia alternative New World Encyclopedia. In 2020, he founded The Settlement Project in response to a spike in clear and open attacks on America, especially from within. Through The Settlement Project, he organizes, writes, travels, eats, and sleeps the mission to protect, honor, and rebuild a strong and healthy America.