The cat is locked in a box and hidden from the world. As long as he is locked in the box, hidden from the world, his fate is indeterminate. He is said to be in a state of superposition—both dead and alive. However, the cat can be found alive any number of times, but once he is found dead, he will always be dead.
America is also locked in a box, and while the box is closed, America is in a state of superposition, both slave and free. The box was opened in the 1780s. The moment found freedom in the ascendancy. Yes, slavery claimed its existence, but the great victory was the creation of a strong national government, founded, in principle, on freedom.
Then the box closed again, and America was again in the superposition of slave and free. Thomas Jefferson was the incarnation of this superposition—champion of liberty and slaveholder. The box stayed closed for a long time.
In 1860, the box opened again. America was at war with itself. Slave America demanded a test of strength with Free America. Free America triumphed, but at great sacrifice.
Again, the box closed, and again no one could say whether America was free or slave. The box did not open again for 100 years.
When the box did open, America was adopting the Civil Rights Act. Americans were speaking honestly of their mistakes. Lyndon Johnson was the incarnation of this freedom. He was from the conservative Texas Hill Country, but he harbored a deep desire to uplift his country and the people in it.
Sixty years passed, and we could not tell whether the box was open or closed. But now it is plainly open, and America is again slave, under the spell of a lying demon.
What comes next? Does the box close again to re-enter superposition? Or will it remain open long enough for freedom to rise again?
Does America have more lives than a cat? Or, once it’s been found slave, is it doomed to be forever slave?
This is our chance.