conversations.from: system
conversations.value: One day to a new beginning
  Raise the flag of freedom high!
  Every man will be a king
  Every man will be a king
  There’s a new world for the winning
  There’s a new world to be won
  Do you hear the people sing?
  –*Les Misérables*
  
  What white people have to do is try to find out in their hearts why it was necessary for them to have a n-gger in the first place. Because I am not a n-gger. I'm a man. If I'm not the n-gger here, and if you invented him... then you have to find out why. And the future of the country depends on that. Whether or not it is able to ask that question.
  --James Baldwin
  
  Every man is a king so long as he has someone to look down on.
  –*It Can’t Happen Here*
  
  -
  
  In your friends’ living rooms, with your cellphones turned off and tucked away in separate rooms with the doors closed, you wonder the same questions in the same hushed voices:
  
  When your country has slid down a nearly imperceptible slope into theocratic dystopia—when words lose their meaning and ‘values’ become the rallying cry for another purge, another call to purity through violence—how do you tell when the last line is crossed? When is it time to abandon your community, your family, your home because you have no chance to save anything but your own life? Or, is that the wrong choice—is it better to make a near-hopeless stand for the sake of the generations after?
  
  The history books make it clear in retrospect: flee the Nazis before the last plane leaves Germany; flee Russia before Stalin rises to power.
  
  With the nightmare unfolding around you in real-time, it’s hard to identify the breaking point.
  
  Maybe it was 2020, when the New Christian Front won House races across the South and Midwest. Evangelical crack-jobs pretending to be the Tea Party, people in New York scoffed. The consummation of the marriage between the Christian Right and Big Business, Noam Chomsky wrote, followed by grim predictions, but only academic elites read Chomsky.
  
  Meanwhile, sales of campaign signs for Frontier candidates set records across the Rust and Bible Belts.
  
  Maybe it was 2022, when the Front gained Senate and gubernatorial seats across the nation. The usual journalists and lefty artists raised an outcry, but the party’s core base was unmoved. We’ve suffered for a few decades under leftist rule, they argued. It’s only fair that liberals see what it’s like.
  
  Maybe it was the founding of Degenerates and Undesirables Enforcement (DUE), which occupied itself with issues that failed to galvanize mass public outcry at first: modifying MPAA ratings, increasing restrictions for non-Christian religious institutions, introducing content ratings to literature and art, expanding the powers of law enforcement.
  
  A swinging of the pendulum, the moderate media outlets wrote. Democratic Socialists held gallery showings and readings of banned works, but no one paid them much mind. On college campuses, student groups like the Coughlin Scouts agitated for religious liberty: the right to be free of impure influence in public spaces. The sit-downs, protests, and riots that began in Berkeley spread across the country... for a few months, before dwindling rapidly to small bands kept to designated areas and charged with the costs of the mandatory police presence. The ACLU pointed to new legislation that vastly increased the penalties for public protest and imposed jail sentences for "disorderly or disruptive activity in locations designated for public use." Twenty-nine states passed similar bills in 2022 alone.
  
  What about 2023? That year, a Southern Poverty Law Center report cataloged a 113% increase in violent crimes targeting ethnic and religious minorities and LGBTQ people over the past five years. The UN Human Rights Council attempted to catalog human rights abuses in for-profit U.S. prisons but met with mixed results, as many were denied access to the facilities used by ICE, DUE, and Homeland Security. Unemployment in traditional manufacturing centers reached 15% and kept climbing. Was it then?
  
  Around 2024, something tilted in the national consciousness. The New Christian Front and its allies gained the 34 governor seats needed to call for a constitutional convention.
  
  The rest happened quickly.
  
  It still doesn’t feel real. The remnants of your local gay bar still haven’t been torn down, despite its popularity as a target of graffiti and defacement these past few years. The first execution for an abortion should have felt more surprising than it was—but after the purges, the banning, the transformation of the reborn House Un-American Activities Committee into the House Christian Fulfillment Committee, it felt inevitable. When the concentration camps opened, they were welcomed as rehabilitation centers for deviants to re-learn American values.
  
  Truly America has become a Christian nation, the approved radio pundits proclaim. There is no one to contest them, as the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, and all other non-approved media outlets were eliminated in the Truth in Media Act of 2025.
  
  It is 2026 in America, and those of you who remain are asking the same questions. How did this happen? Could we have stopped it? When?
  
  Those questions come too late. Better these:
  
  Your last line: have you crossed it?
  
  And if you have, what will you do now?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Undesirable: You didn't ask for this fight. Even when the NCF gained power, you figured you'd be fine if you played by the rules and didn't draw attention to yourself. It was a nice thought.
  
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Salt of the Earth: You never paid much attention to politics-- you've got too much work to do. Keep your head down, do your job, and you'll be fine, right?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Old Battleaxe: You hit the streets years ago to demonstrate for your cause. You thought that time in your life was over.
  
  Maybe it's time to strap on the old armor again.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Young'un: There was a time before the Front. You may not remember it as clearly as others do, but you don't need to. In your bones, you know that this is wrong.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Frontiersman: You were an enthusiastic member of the NCF once. Though you still have the respect of the party, you're beginning to have second thoughts.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: True Christian: The NCF does not speak for you. Your faith calls you to push back against the forces of cruelty and injustice.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Dissident: Activism is dangerous work these days, but you've decided that you can't stay silent. You will find a way to actively resist this regime.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Plus One: Someone close to you has thrown themselves into the resistance. You admire their passion, but you aren't so sure about all this.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Rage Against the Machine: Something snapped inside you. Ever since, you've been a vat of boiling rage waiting to be unleashed. But if it is, will that be enough?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Impossible Dream: Your dream of universal fellowship and peace is beautiful, pure-- and naïve. What happens when your idealism crashes into reality?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Love Thy Neighbor: "An unjust law is no law at all."
  --St. Augustine
  
  This regime does not speak for God. You may not be a perfect Christian, but you can bear witness to the Gospel through just action.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Atonement: The memories of your mistake are still raw. There must be some good you can do to redeem yourself after what you've done.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: For You, A Thousand Times Over: Maybe they took a sibling, a lover, a friend. Maybe they haven't yet, but you live in fear of the day you hear the terrible, inevitable news. You want to protect the one you love-- but how?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Under the Radar: So they talked you into helping out, but you're not interested in leading a revolution here. You're just trying to do your part and get out without being noticed.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: For the Future: "Vivas to those who have failed: for they become the river."
  --Martín Espada
  
  You don't expect to survive this. So what? You fight so future generations can overcome.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Against the Wall: The NCF wants people like you erased from society. If you're found out, you'll be sent to the camps-- and nobody sent there ever comes back. You are running out of options. Time to pick one.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Arrogant: You have all the answers, even when you don't.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Anxious: If only you could cut off the constant stream of doubts and worries.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Brash: You tell it like it is. To most people, that comes across as obnoxious and rude.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Oblivious: You don't always notice the tiny details of your surroundings. The missing sock remains elusive and social machinations go unnoticed. 
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Rigid: You have a low capacity for peaceful disagreement. Your way is correct. Why does everyone insist on being wrong?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Quick-Tempered: Your anger is never far beneath the surface. It's easy to set you off.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Socially Awkward: Your social instincts are off. Every conversation is a new opportunity to humiliate yourself.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Impulsive: You act before you think. It makes life interesting-- sometimes, way too interesting.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Worldly: You've been around the block, and you know how to avoid the worst cracks in the sidewalks.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Friendly: You could make friends with anyone. People let down their guard around you.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Observant: Nothing escapes your notice, from a spot on someone's shirt to a telling choice of words.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Bold: You have a natural confidence that inspires you to take action, even in moments of uncertainty.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Practical: Reality likes creating problems, and you're good at finding effective solutions.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Quick-Witted: Your mind moves fast, planning a few moves ahead while others are still asking whose turn it is.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Manipulative: People tend to do what you want them to do. Then, they'll think it was their idea in the first place.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Fragile: You are physically and/or mentally weak. Most of the time you can take care of yourself, but when there's too much pressure...
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Tough: Your scars might be physical, emotional, or both. They've given you the resilience to keep going when it feels impossible.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Unorthodox: You don't act or think like anybody else. It gives you a natural creativity that makes you unpredictable.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Town Drunk: With jobs drying up, some people spend more time drinking than working. A few start early.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: A Teenager: While the crowds stream by, this teen stands off to the side, alone. They look a little nervous.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Frontier Youth: Hi! I'm with the Young Fontiersmen! Do you have a minute to hear about the important work we're doing and ways that you can help?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Altercation: Small town bad blood
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Community Bonding: Forget your troubles! It's time to come together as a community and celebrate the small blessings.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: A Tragic Involvement: You are involved with someone who is a target in the current climes. 
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Sensetive: You feel very deeply and very passionately. This sometimes causes you big problems and you get in over your head. 
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Journalist: You believe that truth is the last and best weapon of a free society, and must not be silenced.  You work to this end, even if it has to remain in secret.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Secretive: You have a long of secrets to keep, and the pressure and isolation gets to you.  
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The enemy within: You believe you can do the most good hiding in plain sight and playing along.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Direct: You are clear in your communications and get things done efficiently.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Repressive: You internalise your feelings, often to an unhealthy degree.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Stalwart: If you say you'll get the job done, you'll get it done.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Once more around the block:  Okay. Okay then.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Idealist: You're interested in how things should be, but you often don't recognize how they are, nor have any practical ideas about how to get from here to there.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Sober: It can be very difficult to get into the headspace of someone who's been drinking when you haven't been imbibing too. 
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Delicate: You're used to navigating these dangerous waters.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Journalist: You believe that truth is the last and best weapon of a free society, and must not be silenced. You work to this end, even if it has to remain in secret.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Secretive: You have a long list of secrets to keep, and the pressure and isolation gets to you.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Enemy Within: You believe you can do the most good hiding in plain sight and playing along.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Stalwart: If you say you’ll get the job done, you’ll get it done.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Repressive: You internalise your feelings, often to an unhealthy degree.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Once more around the block: Okay. Okay then.