A few weeks back, The Atlanta published a well-written piece of propaganda about “Rural America’s False Sense of Security” which you can read on Newsbreak at the link. It of course deals with SARS-CoV2 – Beer Flu and how rural areas of American States are worse off in so many ways – poor, elderly, in poor health, uneducated – in comparison with “progressive areas” in Blue States and urban areas, and therefore are killing themselves with COVID-19 because they refuse to do the right thing: get shot up with any of the vaccines, wear masks, and the rest. (One person extensively quoted in the piece holds up his 2-year-old as an example of how mask wearing is a wonderful part of everyday life – I call that brainwashing and child abuse.)

Fortunately, in today’s world, we often have the opportunity to challenge such propaganda right at the source: the comment sections of most websites.

In this case, there are some great responses to the urbanite agitprop writer. Let me share a few:

“That’s one of the very reasons we love and live in rural America. We prefer the freedom of making our own decisions.” Nathan: this is one sentiment all of us at The Price of Liberty heartily agree with: Rural and frontier America is the refuge not of scared and poor, hopeless people but of liberty. Yes, even in States which are currently under “Blue” or skin-deep “Red” domination by tyrants and nannies, rural areas offer more opportunity and more freedom. AND more security across the board: not just from beer flu but from many other threats.

Another good one: “The “false sense of security” is NOT from those small town folks. It is the others. Those who believe a face garment actually prevents transmission of the virus and those who believe humans have done the impossible and created a vaccine against a rapidly mutating virus (every scientist has stated that we do not have the capability to do that. We can only create a vaccine for a prior strain and pray it deters the next one). Those same folks willingly relinquish personal Rights in the name of that false sense of security. Who is more logical?”

The commentator of course is referring to Adams’ famous quote, and it is indicative of the growing chasm splitting the States apart. Indeed, it is time for those terrorized by their fear of COVID-19 (and actually of death) to depart from us who believe in and want to live in liberty and hope.

The point is, we who love liberty cannot simply ignore such propaganda as this. We can and must confront it and counter it. We can start at the root – as these several hundred comments show. (It appears to me that the vast majority of comments were not supportive of the claims made in the article.)

But we need to do more than that: we need to show the truth in all the places that these words attacking rural America (and liberty) appear. And the words like them. And we need to reach out and proclaim the truth that makes men free. Not just on the ‘net, but in person and by other ways of communication.

This is particularly the case with those people – often families – fleeing the lockdown states for states with relatively more freedom from the medical tyranny of too many States (and countries). As several people have noted, unlike more common migrants from States like California, New Jersey, or Michigan, these current refugees are NOT bringing all of their politics with them. Rather, they are fleeing the politics of their home States – but too often, this is restricted to the Pandemic Panic and the Lockdown. We need to reach out to these new neighbors and help them learn that COVID-19 politics is just the tip of the iceberg destroying their old homes. That many other policies and conditions in those States will do great harm if they are kept in their new homes.

These include such things as taxation, expanded government provision of services and even goods, increased regulation of anything and everything, and the very idea that the only way we can survive and live is by surrendering personal responsibility to government leaders and bureaucrats.

If we can help them learn, we can preserve and expand our freedoms in frontier and rural areas, and make these new neighbors valuable and even beloved members of our community. If we do not or cannot, we will see our liberties such into the max of the enemies of liberty – the very people whom they are fleeing from.