Broken Bow, Nebraska « Josh First's Blog

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October 22nd, 2026 • 23:10

Broken Bow, Nebraska

Several years ago I did a drive out West and back East. Two different routes, two totally different landscapes, experiences, people, history.

While cutting across Nebraska, from its most northwestern corner to Omaha, a road sign caught my attention. Hard to miss it, as it was staring me in the face. It said “Josh, you can go that way, or the opposite way, these are your limited choices here.”

Picture of it below.

This sign at that “T” intersection symbolized then and even more so now the strange fulcrum America is balancing on. Back then America was undergoing the shock of the wide open borders, the mass migration of illegal aliens and their subsequent mass crime wave; the Biden DOJ’s declaration of war on everyone who was not part of their political “tribe.” The illegal invasion of President Trump’s home at Mar A Lago, based on the fake accusations of politicized lawyers. Etc.

At that “T” intersection, one could go one way to the tiny cow town of “Alliance.” The other direction was to “Broken Bow,” also a small ranching town in the middle on Nebraska, which is truly the definition of the Middle Of Nowheresville. No other choices were available. No straight ahead, just two completely opposite directions, left or right.

While we all encounter “T” intersections while driving, it was the names on the signs and the starkness of the empty surroundings out there on the American heartland prairie that caught my attention that moment. They were so evocative of the choices we faced then, before the 2024 election, and it reminded me of a popular meme from probably 2022 that says “You are here” at a “T” intersection, with your choice being “Communism” on the left turn and “America” on the right turn.

Broken Bow, Nebraska, gets its name from, yes, you guessed it, the 1860s Indian Wars. A broken bow is a symbol of failed war, lost battle, a lost war, defeat. I think “Broken Arrow” is the US Army call sign for a pending overrun of US positions by enemy infantry. The Fasces, the symbol of ancient Rome and Mussolini’s 1940s fascist Italy, is a bunch of arrows all wrapped up together, and thus unbreakable. So this kind of imagery is evocative to everyone, at all times in human history.

Out there on the Nebraska prairie that day, the other choice at the “T” was “Alliance,” a name also evocative of military maneuvers, strategies, tactics, and also cultural cohesion, different people agreeing to stick together for their common good.

What a juxtaposition: Defeat on the one hand, or survival on the other.

Maybe I see too much symbolism in things that are really just mundane, but it is how my mind works, and so I also envision that this upcoming election in America is representative of this kind of analysis or interpretation of the natural phenomena and the built world surrounding us. The ephemera of past human conflicts and choices and decisions around us are neon bright reminders that we repeat history, and hopefully have learned from it.

We all of us, each of us, have choices, every minute of every day, and we all have agency, our own unique ability to apply and implement ourselves, our passions, our desires, our hopes, our dreams into the world around us. Some aim high and think big, others less so. It is all important.

At our very individual best, we are capable of great changes at times when we and others least expect it.

To me, I see America right now at that crossroads out there in the endless Nebraska grassland, facing a stark choice, two opposing directions, mutually exclusive.

On the one hand, America can elect people to Congress who will implement policies that result in a broken American bow. Policies that resulted in the terrible destruction of the 2020 riots here, and also the terribly destructive riots in Europe the past week, to say the least. Open borders, Medicare for everyone who mass migrate walks across the border, “free” taxpayer funded stuff on top of “free” taxpayer funded stuff for anyone and everyone from around the world…this is not sustainable, it is not an adult or responsible way to think about limited money, or limited resources. It is inevitably destructive of our civilization, and why oh why would any taxpaying American citizen vote for their own, our own, destruction?

On the other hand, Americans can elect representatives to Congress who want an alliance, which is cultural cohesion, holding down the fort, protecting the fort, protecting the American People tribe from further defeat or damage. An American society built on mutual benefit, fairness, which to date our nation has been. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but even at our worst still infinitely more and better than any other nation on the planet.

Hopefully, my fellow Americans see this coming Election Day as the choice between Broken Bow and Alliance, and they choose Alliance. I won’t talk about political parties, because neither one impresses me. One is crazy, the other is lazy. But I will take lazy and non-destructive over crazy and totally destructive every day of the year. Especially on Election Day this year.

Your vote is your agency, your impact, and I hope you use it for the alliance, and not for breaking things.