North Idaho has long been home to those seeking to escape the looming collapse of America. This is a region doused in frontier spirit; a land where people openly carry guns, and where bounty hunters still operate, tracking down fugitives hoping to bolt into Canada. It is here, on rugged fringes stalked by mountain lions, bears and wolves, that the American Redoubt was born.

Yet another article about the ‘American Redoubt’, as coined by Friend Of The Blog ™ ,Rawles.

The article doesn’t really cover any new ground, but I usually read these things with a critical eye because invariably they tend to imply a sinister racial overtone. People see ‘Idaho’, ‘Survivalist’, and ‘Bunker’ and the association is made. This article seems to skate around that but there is this gem “the Redoubt, and the man behind it, have become a threat to liberal America”. I wouldn’t have phrased it that way. Any threat is the kind posed by any idea that has the potential to change a  person’s beliefs.

Its the same ‘threat’ posed by reading ‘Atlas Shrugged’ or studying a new religion – a change to your way of thinking and evaluating the world. And, if someone thinks ideas are a threat then maybe they need to re-evaluate the belief they hold that feels so threatened.

The notion of a ‘Redoubt’ isn’t a threat to anyone except people who prefer that individuals who want to think for themselves be isolated from other like-minded folks. And, here’s the cool thing about living in a somewhat-free country – if you move to the Redoubt and don’t like it, you can move back.

Anyway, interesting article if you can adjust your footing for the slant.