What makes America work, and why it is stumbling. By David Strom.
Political units either tended to be based upon shared identities–from tribes to cities — or upon conquest by force–empires.
Nations, though, are larger political units that are new to the scene. They are a modern admixture of empire and tribe, based upon a shared identity that grew out of the changes in the modern world. …
In the ancient world the city was the basic unit of governance because in cities everybody could potentially know everybody else (cities then would be like small towns today). You identified with everyone because in a sense they were your neighbors, and your lot was thrown in with theirs. Rome was something of an exception, and was more like the United States, but was still fundamentally an empire. …
The shared identity of nations today is based largely upon language and ethnic commonalities, and a sense of shared history. While nationhood seems an obvious thing to us today, it didn’t solidify as an idea until the 19th Century, really. Somebody in southern France barely shared anything in common with somebody across the country as they saw it, and France was by far the most nation-like region in Europe. … Napoleon created the idea of a National Purpose, mobilizing millions into one unit. …
Most nations today that are relatively stable all have the same basic formula: a relatively unified ethnic and linguistic unit where most people see themselves largely reflected in their fellows. Nations are not government forms or geographic areas; they reflect the basic cultural unity of the group.
Countries where this is not the case tend to be unstable, with people feeling alienated from the government and their fellows. One of the reasons Africa is such a mess is that the political units are not identity units, which in most cases are ethnic groups and tribes still. …
America has been unique because what has bound us together is a shared sense of history and devotion to an idea that has been embodied by the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. … Americans share no ethnic backgrounds and are much more culturally diverse than any other stable nation. However, until recently all Americans, native-born or immigrant, had a basic understanding of and appreciation for our shared history and ideals. …
The military since World War II has been both a microcosm and the best example of this peculiarity of our nation. For all the talk of “diversity” in civilian society, the military has genuinely been an example of diversity that actually works. People who generally look and think differently all come together with a common purpose to achieve common goals. Ideally, if not always actually, a Band of Brothers whose common purpose overrides whatever differences they have.
Every World War II movie ever made emphasized this uniquely American way of being. All these movies throw together people of different colors, ethnic backgrounds, and religious creeds and show how they are united in a cause. They are all American, whether Christian or Jew, from Brooklyn or Mississippi. …
Someone broke the common ideal in America:
America is fraying today because, without the common sense of purpose, nothing else binds us. Most Americans are not rooted in a place — we move constantly. We don’t share the same religion or ethnic background or any of the traditional ties that bind us. Our sense of trust has been based on the idea that we all believe in the same basic political philosophy, which many political scientists and sociologists have characterized as America’s civil religion.
It is that civil religion that has been fraying. The belief that we are all essentially free and equal and that we all share the common American history that is our religious text of sorts. George Washington, the Founders, The Great Emancipator, World War II, The Cold War, America the liberator…
That idea is no longer held to be either true or good by vast numbers of Americans, and large swathes of the Democrat Party believe the civil religion of America to be a blatant lie intended to oppress the disadvantaged. Critical theory and Marxist ideology are undermining our shared civil religion, and nothing else binds us.
1619, not 1776 is the real founding year of our country. That argument right there encapsulates everything: is America fundamentally about oppression, or freedom?
That is why there is so much talk of civil war. We don’t see ourselves in each other, and the differences are becoming vast. Neither side believes in the fairness of the process, and we don’t share the same goals. …
Do you believe that the system is fundamentally fair? That everybody has a shot at success?
If not — and few of us do — we have identified why America is facing trouble. Nothing besides those ideas bind up together other than a common currency and the IRS.
We have to find some way back to a place where we all at least share the idea that the playing field is level. It will be a long road, and the first step begins with throwing out of power the people who are determined to destroy the American ideal.
In addition, anti-white policies are quickly eroding the ethnic base that held America together. Nothing erodes social trust as fast as immigration from other cultures and peoples.
