Close your eyes and imagine holding someone’s scalp in your hands. I don’t mean cradling his skull as you thousand-yard-stare at his lifeless face. I mean a real scalp, Indian-style, of some enemy you just killed on the battlefield; somebody you hated and who hated you back.

You killed him, won the day, carved off the top of his skull, and now you’re standing over him victorious on the now-quiet field of battle, with a quiet breeze blowing through your hair. Your adrenaline is still pumping with that primal feeling of victory and the elation of having survived when others didn’t.

I’m not naive enough to think that less than 5 percent of those reading this are the only ones not cringing at that mental image. Amid our wealth and privilege, most Americans cannot even relate to that kind of violence, and they sure don’t want to fantasize about it. That whole thing feels barbaric, violent, and repugnant. Maybe you even wish now you hadn’t read it.

But maybe, for just a moment, would you consider it? No, not a real scalping, but a metaphorical one. We’ll come back to this in a minute.

Look, Guys, America Is Simply Going Down

First, we all have to accept certain realities about where we are as a nation. Rains will come and go. The stock market will rise and fall. The sky is blue. Water is wet. And government in America will just never stop getting bigger. This is simply a fact of life.

We haven’t seen our government shrink since Calvin Coolidge, and there is little appetite among the American public for shrinking the government. We are now at the point in this country where we call them “cuts” if the government doesn’t increase spending quite as much as they had planned.

As government gets bigger, freedom must get smaller. Larger government, even when under the rule of supposed Republicans, is a leftist’s dream. Every day brings a new story about the infestation of liberalism in the federal bureaucracy. Such is the way of the world.

So, barring some unforeseen awakening, America is heading for an eventual socialist abyss. It is really only a matter of dates. Will we all die in the inevitable communist purges within ten years? Of course not. Will it happen within the next century or two? Almost certainly.

In a way, it is actually a good thing. God gives each of us a period in history to live through. Why not have one that is memorable? I am thrilled to live in these times. Any man can coast through 80 years of a society at its pinnacle. His life will start and end, and it will be as if he never existed. Wouldn’t you rather live through an era people write stories about? I want to have a smirk on my face as I walk through the pearly gates of heaven, shaking my head, and saying to myself, “What a life.”

We Can Go Quietly, Or Fight to the Death

Do you remember the American Indians? Most likely you at least give them a passing thought whenever you pull a stick of Land O’ Lakes butter out of the fridge or hear some liberal pretend to be outraged over the Washington Redskins. Either way, they were the randomly settled group of nomadic tribes who resided in America before a bunch of Europeans arrived, took all their lands, and conquered them.

The Indians were faced with something that faces all civilizations. It’s something we face now. They were facing the unstoppable force of inevitability. Many of them knew it. The settlers from Europe were about to take over every inch of this country. Some tribes, like the Choctaw, chose to play nice with the government in hopes that their peaceful gesture would be returned. They got a Trail of Tears for their kindness.

But some tribes, like the Lakota, chose a different path. They chose war. Leaders of the Lakota like Sitting Bull knew full well how this war would end. Nevertheless, he gathered thousands of young warriors in the Black Hills and made his enemy feel some pain before he surrendered. He scored a decisive win at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and collected some scalps. Yes, the U.S. government prevailed in the end, but General Custer and his 200 men weren’t there to see it.

That brings us to the continuous internal battle we see on the Right. We have this ever-present acrimony between the factions because some of us will not accept where we are and the enemies we face.

Some on the Right believe that tyranny in this society, as in all societies, is inevitable. The people who will micromanage every aspect of your life are not God-fearing conservatives. They are leftists, and they are vicious.

They are not political opponents in the sense that you have a debate with them. These modern-day leftists want you to lose your job. They want to destroy you. How do you think they’re going to treat you when they finally sit in the seat of power for good? So fight them tooth and nail. Make them long for the day when you’re no longer fighting them. Be the Lakota.

At the End, Which Will You Have Wanted to Be?

Some on the Right will flatly reject this. They think we simply have a few minor policy quibbles with the Left. They think we would be able to settle these minor differences if it weren’t for the brutish Neanderthals who think it’s some kind of fight.

This group really peaked in 2016 after Donald Trump won the GOP primary. They began scolding the dullards who were too stupid to just believe everything printed in The New York Times. They lecture us to this day. They live for compromise with the Left, always ignorant of the fact that just a little more big government is still big government. They are the Choctaws. “Just trust the U.S. government. I’m sure they’ll treat us well in the end if we’re nice.”

So, back to scalping thing. When you make that long trek to the reservation the leftists have set up for you—and make that trek you will—what memories do you want to take with you? When living in the liberal utopian nightmare of 57 genders and government control over everything in your life, you will want to have been a Lakota. You’ll want to know, to remember, even just cherish the knowledge that, one day, you rode out onto the plains and made them feel pain.