Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

America has a “bubble” problem. For far too many Americans 2016 was their first exposure to the idea that not everyone thinks like they do. How many times have we heard some snobby commentator ask why “these people” keep voting against their own “self-interest”? Too many. It has not even occurred to many citified liberals that one’s “self-interest” might look completely different from their point of view. The recent video of Don Lemon and his #resistance team ridiculing drooling rednecks and Trump voters (one in same for them) is just another example in a long line of snooty superiority for that crowd. It only served to remind us just how out of touch coastal elites are with the “unwashed masses” in the middle of the country.

But it’s not only a liberal problem. Conservatives share the same “bubble” issues, although it is certainly a bit more understated. Conservatives are inundated with liberal media, entertainment and curriculum every day. We don’t have to search for other points of view…it is offered to us daily. If we want expansive views we have to work to find them. We have more information, simply by virtue of being forced to be curious.

However, too many conservatives have made themselves their own bubbles by just completely writing off the coasts as useless liberal bastions. Just as liberals look at conservatives in states that may be hurting from tragedy or natural disasters and say, “Those bigoted hicks got what they deserved”, so do conservatives often look to the coasts and our insane politics and say, “Those bloody idiots are getting what they deserve. I have no sympathy for them at all, whatsoever.”

The rejection is disheartening for those of us who still cling to common sense and yet live in coastal blue states. The common admonition of “Just move!” is not only unhelpful, it’s hurtful. It is a denigration of our individual identities and situations. Perhaps some of us can’t even scrape together the money to move, or can’t leave a sick relative or are tied down to investments we’d like to jettison but can’t at the moment. Perhaps some of us work in charities that we know need people like us. There are all kinds of reasons for staying that have nothing to do with reasoning abilities.

Conservatives like to talk a big game about a “big tent” and about accepting people for their character rather than their labels, but that only seems to extend to the conservatives who are willing to live the type of lives we think they should be living. If we’re getting pummeled by the political left in our home states, well…that’s our problem. Leave or cope.

But I need everyone reading this to hear me – a Californian – right now.

The coastal states are in the fight of their lives right now and that is YOUR PROBLEM because we all live in this country of united states. We are your countrymen, not the idiots who don’t belong on free soil just because we have the misfortune to be surrounded by corruption and careless voters. Everyone should be terrified at the blatant stripping of constitutional rights happening right now in the west and the east. How long before it bleeds into your state?

In Virginia, second amendment rights have been all but obliterated. There is only one other right we have that it is more vital to a free and prosperous society and that is the very right that the second amendment was designed to protect. If Americans allow this egregious fascism to stand for their Virginian brethren, a precedent will be set. How long before that precedent reaches the borders of your own bubbles?

In case you have the audacity to be thinking right now, “It’ll be a while” just ask yourself how long it took for the transgender revolution to infect your schools, workplaces and governance in the five years it’s even been in the public discourse.

Exactly.

Here in California we’ve seen a couple of bills that have passed into law that far surpass the typical “left coast” madness. Our transgender sex ed curriculum has been forced into every school despite the fact that parents overwhelmingly oppose it – by a large majority. That one was a heartbreaker but at least parents still have some options – homeschooling (for now) or private schooling (for now).

AB5 – otherwise known as the “Gig Economy” bill is much more dangerous and not just for us, but everyone in the nation. This bill makes independent contracting illegal. It is absolutely the most communist legislation I have ever seen passed in my lifetime as an American. It was aimed to get at Uber and Lyft and instead entrapped anyone who contracts their services. And I do mean anyone. I spoke to a man who had to close his theater production because how can you hire 42 seasonal actors as W-2 employees every few months and then fire them and then rehire and on and on? You can’t . Independent theater will die. Linguists, courtroom reporters, translators, transcribers, truckers, rideshare drivers, musicians, caterers, bartenders, writers, freelance journalists…anyone who earns money by contracting their services is now out of work or about to be. It is the most massive and disturbing overreach I have ever seen, and yet hardly anyone else in the country is paying attention.

Don’t get cocky while you wait for California to break off and sink into the ocean. AB5 is already sitting in Congress waiting for a floor vote. The federal version is called The PRO Act and it will make it illegal for you to hire yourself out for any reason.

Don’t laugh at us. Don’t scoff at us. Help us. We are your neighbors, your fellow Americans. We cannot all live lives like you do. We do not deserve your scorn or condescension. Our fight is your fight. A lot of conservatives like to get all high and mighty about “fighting commies” but when that communist vision is actually being codified into the law as we speak, many of you are simply ignoring it or telling us we’re just getting what we deserve.

If AB5 is allowed to stand in California, it will set precedent for the federal law and that law will be passed by Congress. If the Dems win the Senate it will be the law of the land.

If Virginia is allowed to rob its citizens of their second amendment rights, it will set a precedent that will spread to your state and beyond.

The biggest challenge of the American Revolution was mobilizing divided colonies who judged each other and looked down on one another. Washington complained bitterly about how difficult it was to get people to understand that their fate was corporate, regardless of their lifestyles.

I feel like we are having the same issues right now in America and particularly in the conservative/Republican community. Our fate is corporate, but too many of you have fallen for the lie that what is happening here can never come your way. You’d better believe there was a time not too long ago when Virginians felt the same.

In California and Virginia we are quite literally fighting for our liberty; but more than that we are fighting for your liberty. While the nation rages over impeachment, our incomes, careers and civil liberties are dying. Our opportunities are shriveling and some of us aren’t sure how we’re going to support our families or what might be coming after we’re all made criminals simply for exercising our second amendment rights.

We need your help, not your scorn. The coastal states are dying but there are many good people begging for help.

Can anyone hear from inside their bubbles?

Kira is a freelance writer and Editor-at-large for RedState. She has appeared on Fox News, OANN, The Blaze and The Dr. Phil Show. Kira is also a regular guest host at KABC radio in Los Angeles. Her podcasts "Just Listen to Yourself" and The Kira Davis Show are heard by hundreds of thousands of listeners across the country and the globe. Kira lives in Southern California with her husband and two children. She is a dog person but has been known to tolerate cats from time to time. Read more by Kira Davis