By Rose Pedenko and Tanya Simon

Winston Churchill wrote: “The farther backward you can look the farther forward you will see.”

The character Madame De Farge in Dickens’ “Tale” was a rag woman who sat next to the guillotine and knitted as she mocked the poor men who were having their heads chopped off.

Victorian London was the setting. Its backdrop was a blur of smoke, soot, abject poverty, and death. Rampant crime infested the city. Pickpockets, hoodlums, drunkards, opium dens, prostitutes, gamblers and stranglers all had their way because of ineffective law enforcement. The greater blame lies with the upper-crust social elites. It was their reluctance to care enough and use whatever influence was within their power to force government and politicians to mend the fractured and treacherous mores running roughshod within their communities.

If we could place an x-ray image of that era’s London over any one of our liberal-dominated, high-crime American metropolises of 2008 ( e.g ., New York, Los Angeles, Detroit or Chicago), the images would match almost perfectly. In effect, we are doing a slow march backwards into the dense lawlessness and chaos that preceded what we have unfortunately come to regard as “a civilized way of life.”

An ever-growing divisiveness between the political right and left – affords us an opportunity to paint with words the model for what a Conservative City (the “CC”) and a Liberal City (the “LC”) might one day look like (and perhaps sooner rather than later). We present this black and white rendering (in a parallel universe without shades of gray) as a window into a future that likely lies ahead.

The good citizens of the CC, United States of America, rise and shine like everyone else, except they navigate their days with little to fear from their neighbors, or even strangers. The Constitution grants them the right to protect themselves and their property from harm. Likewise, there are no worrisome eminent domain laws because in the CC their home is truly their well-fortified castle. Neither outlanders crossing their borders, nor Sanctuary City policies — or even the remote possibility of tyranny, shall darken their door.

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Miles away in the LC, residents still yearn for One World Order so they can at last be liked and respected. Within the LC, registered gun owners, ( i.e ., the state police) watch impotently as criminals roam unbridled by a justice system (bolstered by the ACLU) which places their unlikely innocence above that of their victims. Gangbangers mark their territory with impunity painting graffiti by moonlight, and by day flaunt their undeterred lawlessness with unregistered guns. The LC Police, still hampered by Special Order 40, watch helplessly as the number of alien criminals grows and become more emboldened. Threat of imprisonment doesn’t deter them as criminality segues to and continues to operate from within their prison walls. Murderers will never be eradicated through execution, nor spared the opportunity to rot in jail.

In the CC, children of all creeds and colors read, write and calculate their bright futures. Education and patriotism are their priority. Every morning, with hand over heart, they recite the Pledge of Allegiance because they are proud to be Americans. They are allowed to pray, which has always served well as a moral foundation. And they thrive because parents and teachers guide them with a gentle yet firm hand, without fear of frivolous lawsuits or government interference. Students learn self-esteem through competition in school sports -- earning their place on the team.

In the LC, classrooms are packed to over-crowdedness with “undocumented immigrants.” It is not only politically incorrect, but against the law to refer to them as “illegal aliens.” In this situation, frustrated teachers from grade school to high school lag behind in their efforts to learn the languages and customs of all the cultures that still refuse to assimilate, or who have forced themselves on the LC society because they can. They give nothing and expect everything in return for free.

Teachers work in fear of students that call the shots in classrooms, playgrounds and the surrounding neighborhoods. These young people, the majority of whom will drop out before graduation, are the future employees of LC fast food restaurants and giant home-building stores. During the course of their tenuous employment, they will be unable to cope if computer systems crash, because they won’t be able to make change – in plain English, add or subtract, let alone factor in the exorbitant sales tax.

Their parents (if they’re lucky to have two at home) will be busy working overtime to pay those oppressive taxes while their children round out their educations playing violent videogames or hanging out at the mall.

In the CC, successful business owners, both large and small, are rewarded for their hard work with low-to-no taxes which they happily reinvest for growth. In turn, they keep the unemployment rate low… well, there is no unemployment rate. In the long run, the CC might need to begin advertising for the best and the brightest in the LC just to fill entry-level jobs.

LC businesses and factories are closing down and moving out of state because unions and taxes have eroded profits, incentive, and competition. Welfare lines are growing longer, as well as the queues at the Unemployment and Social Security offices. There aren’t enough young, legal Americans left to keep Social Security afloat. A contributing factor is that the number of state-funded abortions has grown exponentially.

The LC boils over with illegal immigrants sucking up its remaining resources. The last Emergency Clinic overflows into the streets with the uninsured. To meet the demand for police and fire department personnel, the city has lowered its recruitment standards and is accepting the high school dropouts. At the same time, all the best-trained doctors and dentists have fled to greener pastures in the CC.

CC retirees plan vacations and other leisure activities made possible by early privatization of Social Security. The CC ended taxation of personal retirement accounts years ago. In fact, the CC ended capital gains and death taxes too. Rest in Peace has taken on new meaning.

The CC’s borders are well protected by a highly trained and educated volunteer militia. Potential terror threats are dealt with in a clean and efficient manner. There’s no messing around in the CC. Its borders are sealed tight and that’s the way its citizens sleep – tight.

Over in the LC, citizens are always looking over their shoulders -- for a stray gang bullet, perhaps? Identity checks at airports have been eliminated for fear of insulting anyone’s ethnicity. The few foreign terrorists that have been arrested are wreaking havoc on an already shaky economy where taxpayers bear the cost of legal representation and the endless appeals of jihadists entitled to the same rights as legally-born and naturalized citizens. They have no idea when – not if, but when – the next terrorist attack will occur, because there are so many restrictions on the intelligence agencies.

The LC will, should terrorists attack again, proceed to hunt them down like other criminals. When caught, they will be read Miranda rights via an Islamic interpreter. The already poor citizens of LC will be forced to house foreign terrorists locally the rest of their natural lives. This will be accomplished by -- you guessed it, more taxes.

In the CC, the atmosphere is generally festive throughout the year as they celebrate their freedom and the significance of each and every tradition and holiday without fear of recrimination.

In the LC, Christmas, like Independence Day or Memorial Day, is treated as just another day off from work to watch a ball game, get drunk, or hang at the mall. Yes, there are twinkling lights and the smell of plastic holiday trees, but angel tree toppers and Christmas carols are symbols of a bygone era thanks to vocal atheists and weak civic leaders. Public religious displays have also been outlawed or condemned. “In God We Trust” was removed from their currency, and churches and synagogues have been converted into homeless shelters and shoe outlets.

At home, a turkey and all the trimmings are served around the dinner table, but no one raises their voice to heaven to give thanks for the provender. The only thanks are for the cook or the caterer. Amen.

Is this an unfair generalization or characterization of Liberal America? Maybe it is. But which city would you rather live in? You get your chance to vote on it in November.