On America
“Russia also said that America would one day awaken to find that it was a communist nation, and it wouldn’t have any idea how it got there. That realization would lead to the balkanization of the United States of America. The true problem with the USA today is not that our economy is unsustainable or that our government is feckless, it is that we are no longer united as a people. Almost every poll shows a near 50/50 split on any issue, and as we all know, a house divided against itself cannot stand.
Leftist ideals of multiculturalism and diversity has torn apart the fabric of the union and left it in tatters. That process is accelerated by political acrimony and polarization. The poison that the left has poured into the ears of our children has finally borne the fruit that the left has so desperately sought. I am reminded of a story about how a gentleman opposed Adolf Hitler for ideological reasons. Hitler just shrugged the man off and told him that he doesn’t need his support because he will obtain his children’s support through the public schools. The left leaned that lesson well.
Ideology and culture is transmitted via the parents, at least when there is a parent at home to teach it. But in modern times, the public schools have replaced the parents and now teach the doctrine of the state to children regardless of the parent’s views. As a child ages and enters college, his worldview is firmed by colleges and universities. The result is a group of captured voters who vote for the left by a large margin. This is the way that the foundations of America have been eroded.
Add to that the loading of the Federal bench by leftist activist judges, and you soon get the kinds of decisions that override the U.S. Constitution and Federal legislature. One must credit the left for creativity in that they were able to accomplish something to contravene the best intentions of the founders regarding Madison’s Federalist 10. But Ronbo is correct in that America is not merely a nation, it is an idea.
For the first time in five thousand years of recorded human civilization, man was granted the liberty to choose his own path. His rights were inherent, and his sovereignty empowered a government of his own choosing by a contract forged between the people and their government. Men such as Locke, Hume, Rousseau, and other philosophers contributed ideas to the founding of our nation, and our most basic values. But it is often the light that burns brightest, that also burns the shortest.
Like Arthur’s Camelot, perhaps America is nothing more than a shining time that will serve as an example for the future. A time where the dreams of men were realized. But dreams do not die, and freedom is most certainly worth the price of life. What is uncertain is how much men love their children. Our founders did not place their fortunes and sacred honor on the line for themselves. They did it for future generations. So that their children would inherit a world that was better than when they first entered it.
Washington, Madison, Jefferson, Hamilton, and the rest of our founders were not poor men or ill educated. They were men of wealth and position within society. They were educated and aware of the thoughts of the philosophers. They knew history. They picked through the history of Europe, and considered the philosophy of men noted for their reason and thought. They chose that which worked, and denied that which did not. Today we reside in their legacy, but fail to appreciate it.
Post modernism criticizes it. Multiculturalism dilutes it. The left despises it. But no matter how much it is derided, ridiculed, or criticized by those who assume that they know better than the men who founded it, it remains comprehensible by anyone with an open mind and heart. It remains uncorrupted precisely because it is an idea, and that idea speaks to the freedom that yearns in every man’s heart for expression. It is an idea that is frequently spoken of, but seldom appreciated by men who have never sacrificed for it.
Freedom was by no means certain when America’s founders stood up and declared their allegiance to that ideal. Every man that did so risked his very life. Some of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were captured and executed. Some lost their families and homes. Even John Hancock, one of the wealthiest among them, advocated the burning of Boston if the public good demanded it, even though it would have made him a beggar. These men were not wild eyed zealots, but reasonable and responsible men. Men who had something to lose, and they risked it all for liberty.
I am proud to say that my family served that glorious cause on both sides. Though today some of our descendants are less than patriotic about their nation, having fallen to the perversions of education being offered in American public schools these days. But there are still those who remember, and in that memory we are still true to our founders and the values which guided them.
If America does fall, she will forever be remembered. A shining city upon the hill beckoning the downtrodden and oppressed. She will ever serve as an example of the greatness of what was, and what may be again. This is because the idea of America will always offer hope to those who quest for it, and are willing to sacrifice to get it as our founders once did.”
Bravo!
Wonderful essay William.
My only comment is I’d recommend you replace Rousseau with Montesquieu. Rousseau, with his social justice and equality of outcomes social contract, had far more influence on July 14. and later on Marx and our current fix, than on July 4
This is great post.
It surely is. I wish I’d written it, Kathleen. It says exactly what I think and feel.
Excellent post William!
“This is the way that the foundations of America have been eroded.”
You could add to that the herd mentality that runs rampant through the low IQ,low information crowd via social media.
If America does fall
The Republic has fallen. The Republic’s was fatally wounded in 1861, was terminal by 1920 and the nails in the coffin were hammered in between 1933 and 1969.
“Russia also said that America would one day awaken to find that it was a communist nation, and it wouldn’t have any idea how it got there.”
Where were you when you woke up on November 4, 2007?
Where were you when you woke up on March 23, 2010?
Where were you when you woke up on June 28, 2012?
Wherever you were – it has nothing whatsoever ever in common with the Original, Unamended, Republic handed on to us by the Founders.
Don’t Dream It’s Over
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9gKyRmic20&feature=kp
Re-Posted on my blog with a link here:
http://ronbosoldier.blogspot.com/2014/07/america-dont-dream-its-over.html
Thank you, everyone for your kind comments. I merely wrote what was in my heart and what I know to be true. So long as there are men and women like you, the dream of freedom lives.
Very well deserved William.
I apologize for adding my criticism of Rouseau without supporting my advancement of Montesquieu. This is especially so because even your critic (me) was unaware until recently of his importance.
From http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/montesquieu/
I surely hope that is enough incentive for readers to give him credit long overlooked, and possibly to investigate further.
No worries, my friend. And thank you, for your consideration. You are a person of honor and integrity.
Gulp.
Honor and integrity are wonderful words, and coming from the man who wrote the above inspiration, is a great kindness. Thank you.
Let me put it this way. The guidelines for honor and integrity are not always clear, and no man will not stumble.
It’s the regrets of failure that we know of — and only the Lord knows those of which we are ignorant — that imbue the drive for repentance.
If one can aid others in spotting and avoiding known snares and pitfalls, then at the end of ones life, one may find ones life was indeed a blessing.
Pascal, you are not incorrect that Montesquieu was an important philosopher to our American Republic. He advocated the separation of powers in his work “The Spirit of the Laws.” Rousseau is known for his philosophy that the general will provides the authority of government in a contractual arrangement between the people and the government. Therefore, it is the legitimacy of government that receives it’s definition from Rousseau. The public is obligated to obey that government secondary to the social contract. In agreement with this position are Hobbes and Locke.
While Hobbes would agree with Rousseau’s assertion of the contract, he differs in that he believes that the contract exists until there is no difference between government and the natural state of man. To Hobbes, the natural state of man was a brutal and bloody affair. Locke also agrees with the contract forged between the people and the government, but he believes that one can decide to break the contract by picking up and moving to a new jurisdiction. It is only when there is nowhere to move to that open revolt becomes a necessity.
My political science professor never mentioned Rousseau for the separation of powers doctrine, but I will accept the word of the SEP. However, Montesquieu remains a very important figure in the crafting of the American nation, and he undoubtedly had as large an influence as Locke.
As mentioned previously, the American founders cherry picked the best ideas from numerous sources. From some they chose one or two ideas, while for others they borrowed heavily, and Locke and Montesquieu were very heavily leaned upon as evidenced by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Traces of these luminaries are also evident in the Federalist Papers. Therefore, you are not wrong.
Nor are you wrong about the socialist leanings of Rousseau. But with a cafeteria approach, one can pick and choose what one likes, leaving behind that which is of no value. That is what our founders did, and it was an incredible feat. Imagine the scene, if you will. During the hot days of summer, gentleman dressed in official attire convened to speak of the future of their nation. They had tried to resolve the matter repeatedly, but found no solutions.
They spoke earnestly and articulately about freedom, and what it means to be free. They spoke of breaking from England, and they spoke of how self government could work. They spoke of morality and responsibility. In the end, they finally came to the decision to declare independence from England, and to chart their own course. These men were far from perfect, and they made mistakes.
The Articles of Confederation was their first attempt, and it failed. The central government was too weak, it could not tax in order to pay the troops, and ultimately General Washington had to avert a coup de tat by his disillusioned officers. But they learned from their mistakes and gave us a document that is profound, the United States Constitution. A charter for a Republic that clearly specifies what the rights and privileges of government are and directly limits the power of the Leviathan.
Men are not Angels, they can succumb to corruption and greed. This is why one should never place their full trust in man. That is where the founders differed from the French. Each people desired to be free, but that single distinction led the French to bloodshed and anguish repeatedly. We chose to place our faith in ideals, and not in men. We have the Constitution and the Federalist Papers to follow, and we have our faith in the Almighty to sustain.
I believe that Churchill was right when he declared the finest hour of the British people. Tom Brokaw called the men, and women who fought World War II our greatest generation, and he may have been right. But I believe that our finest hour as a nation approaches. We will soon have to decide if we continue to follow the example of our founders or turn to the evil of socialism.
Steel is forged in fire. Without heat, the metal is far too weak to be useful. A people are like that as well. Each generation must be tested by fire in order to forge tempered citizens. In this way, our Republic is a crucible. That is why Reagan’s quote about freedom being only one generation away from extinction is correct.
As always- a truth filled and solid thesis -Thank you- my freedom loving ‘friend’–
C-CS
Patrick Henry said it best just a few weeks before the first shoots were fired in Massachusetts:
“They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston!
The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace²but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”