
Ultimately, most Americans living in the Colonies at the time of the Revolutionary War were perfectly fine with being British, while the British saw them as American barbarians, not as their civilized selves. George Washington himself seemed to be heading towards a successful career in the British Army until the opportunity was withheld from him because he was American. The colonists only wanted to be left alone, but were eventually forced by their consciences into war.
To form a republic like the United States, its people need to have these five traits: morality born of religiosity, property ownership, education, homogeneity, and willingness to fight. When a people exemplify these conditions, they are unable to submit to tyranny. When Britain cracked down on its rule over America, the people predictably pushed back.
Now, can we say we are more than them? We exhibit a superiority complex over nearly all people in history except for ourselves. We believe that we are an honored and enlightened people, having far progressed past the backwardness of our fathers. And nowhere is this thought applied more often than the early Americans. We are right, we are not them. We have lived in the cradle of comfort for too long, we have no common enemy to strengthen our roots, no oppressor to humble our thoughts. We have treated everything we have as a given, and have ignored what gave it.
Today, our citizens are fine with letting the government rule itself. We ignore government overstep, turning our heads and hoping that it won’t get worse. The Declaration of Independence lays out the reasons that the Colonies were ‘dissolving political bands’. They are tyrannical, but also relatively light. If you lived during their times, you could’ve ignored what was happening and borne the burden. Today we are subjected by elite tyrants who we have allowed to manifest. Do you think that they would’ve been willing to bear our burden? We aren’t willing to become the catalyst for greatness, but our forefathers were, guaranteeing us freedom through their exceptionalism.
How are we failing to pass on our freedoms to our children?
Morality and Religion: While it is true that you do not have to be religious to be moral, it is very clear that the easiest way to have a moral people is to have a religious people. It is also clear how quickly people move away from morals once they move from religion. A society with high cohesion and trust relies on either religiosity or homogeneity, though it is usually both. It is no coincidence that the most religious areas of the United States have the highest degrees of cohesion and trust. If we continue to move away from these values, we will see more of our society become like the despondence in our large cities. This is not all, religion binds all of society’s beliefs together. Losing religion will enact the utter destruction of Western and American society.
Property Ownership: A republic without private property will lead to some sort of totalitarianism. Private property is a check to the government. It is land that only the owner can say on what is done with it, outside of a few agreed upon controls. It presents governance as being by the people and becomes independence, competency, self reliance, and patriotism. Now the government has been infringing on private property by degrees. It has pushed inflation, passed laws allowing it to take property after minor tax infractions or accidents, and has abused eminent domain (example: Susette Kelo). It is up to us to refute the government, if we do not, private property will be boiled down to a privilege.
Education: In order for the government to be of the people, the people need to be able to make good decisions. An uneducated republic will destroy itself through misunderstanding and apathy. All of our founding fathers were highly educated and were able to make excellent decisions to build our government. The citizens who were not a part of the process were also well educated and partook in mass political education stemming from the political writing of the time. Today our public schools perform poorly while we are guided by experts who are rarely checked. If we as a society do not educate ourselves, especially in the matters of truth, we will be guided to our downfall by experts scheming for power.
Homogeneity: One of the great miracles of America is its creation of a new identity that is separate from ethnicity. Anyone can be an American; the English and the Irish, who have clashed for hundreds of years, peacefully coexist and intermarry under their new identity, American. Even among the many cultures and thought patterns that exist in the United States, we can mesh ourselves under American ideals and culture. It is no secret that America, being a European state, assimilates Europeans and others with a European background better than all else. However, with a rise in multiculturalism, we have seen immigrants assimilate less and less. Even more deadly than that is the rise of anti-Americanism among its own citizens. This is ultimately the most important factor in destroying homogeneity.
Militaristic: It is very hard for a society that is not militaristic to survive. Most Americans have either Celtic or Germanic descent, both of which were originally warrior peoples. Today we are still a warrior people, but we put our effort into production rather than war. Still, when war has been needed, Americans have gone up to fight, and done an excellent job at it. This mindset has been extremely important for our country’s success. Thomas Jefferson puts it: ‘The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.’ As its people weaken and its government expands, people associate the idea of America with its government, not with its people. Also, people have been taught to hate themselves and their culture, and those who do not see what they have as worth anything, will not fight for it. People are not willing to fight for an ungainly bureaucratic government, they will fight for a country that is of them and for them.
We as Americans need to shake off the apathy that has been brought on by prosperity and peace. Retreating from the situation and isolating ourselves will not work. In turbulent times, radicals do well. We live in times where simply being American is radical, and I believe that we can do quite well. Caring matters, though it is despised by society. So follow God and your principles and you will not be thrown awry. If we fail, it shouldn’t be from lack of effort.
Vir Patriae
This is powerful! Now I’m asking myself, “What do I personally need to do to help us realize these ideals again?”