In Nazi Germany, you proved your loyalty by signing up your children for the Hitler Youth. In the Soviet Union, you proved it by signing them up for the Young Pioneers. In a cult, you prove it by signing them up for the youth group. And in America, you prove your loyalty by getting your preschooler the shots (plural).

But your loyalty to what? Not the Constitution, which gives the government only limited powers. Not the flag, under which so many died to ensure your freedom. Not Judeo-Christian principles, which enshrine parents’ rights. No, merely your loyalty to the unelected, unaccountable, faceless bureaucrats, who issue decrees as if they were the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Which they increasingly resemble.