WE FACE DESTRUCTION

We are going through massive changes. However, what are the implications of these changes? In The Atlantic (November 2017), Yoni Appelbaum ominously writes:

·       America no longer serves as a model for the world as it once did; its influence is receding. At home, critics on the left reject the notion that the U.S. has a special role to play; on the right, nationalists push to define American identity around culture, not principles. Is the American idea obsolete? https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/11/is-the-american-idea-over/540651/

While Europe’s attempts to achieve equality were floundering, America was evolving a different narrative:

·       The fight against slavery had become a struggle for the American idea…In 1860, Abraham Lincoln’s election led the South to conclude that it had lost the argument. The seceding states left Congress with a Republican majority, able to translate the principles of equality, rights, and opportunity into practical action…But the Civil War tested whether a nation built around that idea could “long endure,” as Lincoln told his audience at Gettysburg in 1863. His address aimed to rally support for the war by framing it as a struggle for equality, rights, and opportunity.

America’s success was becoming obvious to the world:

·       Some countries and peoples attempted to replicate American success by embracing American principles. Others recoiled and embraced alternatives—monarchy, empire, communism, and fascism among them.

However, undergirded by its democratic principles of freedom and equality, American had raced ahead of the rest of the world. Appelbaum seeks to assess where we are today in this race”

·       …the country has also failed to live up to its own ideals. In 1857, the United States was remarkable for its high levels of democratic participation and social equality. Recent reports rank the U.S. 28th out of 35 developed countries in the percentage of adults who vote in national elections, and 32nd in income equality. Its rates of intergenerational economic mobility are among the lowest in the developed world.

·       On opportunity, too, the United States now falls short. In its rate of new-business formation and in the percentage of jobs new businesses account for, it ranks in the lower half of nations tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

However, our failures have impacted the way we see ourselves and the way we value our founding principles:

·       It is no surprise that younger Americans have lost faith in a system that no longer seems to deliver on its promise—and yet, the degree of their disillusionment is stunning. Nearly three-quarters of Americans born before the Second World War assign the highest value—10 out of 10—to living in a democracy; less than a third of those born since 1980 do the same. A quarter of the latter group say it’s unimportant to choose leaders in free elections; just shy of a third think civil rights are needed to protect people’s liberties. Americans are not alone; much of western Europe is similarly disillusioned. Around the globe, those who dislike American ideas about democracy now outnumber those who favor them.

It is troubling to find that the principles which had once made America great are no longer valued. What is no longer valued will not be preserved. Human rights now seem to only pertain to certain favored groups deemed as “victimized.”

Consequently, institutionalized divisions create divisions and suspicions between neighbors. Principles that had once made it possible for us all to feel connected and to live harmoniously together with polar opposites are no longer valued. However, our cynicism extends beyond our founding principles to our institutions and leaders. Corruption is now regarded as the unavoidable norm.

Understandably, Appelbaum laments that:

·       All of this has left many Americans feeling disoriented, their faith that their nation has something distinctive to offer the world shaken. On the left, many have gravitated toward a strange sort of universalism, focusing on America’s flaws while admiring other nations’ virtues. They decry nationalism and covet open borders, imagining a world in which ideas can prevail without nations to champion them.

Much of this country cannot live according to the idealism of the left, which has removed defining and necessary human boundaries. It is not only a question of national borders but also respect for family and religious borders so necessary for people to feel safe. It is this safety that enables us to confidently embrace our neighbors from the opposite side of the aisle.

However, today there is a diminishing respect for the authority of the family in regards to their children. Parents are not being told about the hyper-sexualized education to which their children are now be subjected; nor can they remove them from classes that violate their values. The State’s moves against the family have driven them into the Trump camp in hope of protecting their children against locker-room predators.

Understandably, Appelbaum sees democracy in retreat:

·       What helped reunite the states a century and a half ago was a nationalism grounded in a shared set of ideals, ideals that served as a source of national pride and future promise. But nationalism, the greatest force for social cohesion the world has yet discovered, can be wielded to varied ends…The universalism of the left and cultural nationalism of the right are battering America’s sense of common national purpose. Under attack on both flanks, and weakened by its failure to deliver exceptional results, the nation’s shared identity is crumbling.

What then is to hold this once great nation together? Are we viewing the tail end of the saga of the rise and fall of civilizations? We are the Tower of Babel. Our common language is no longer holding, and the resulting polarization is a fermenting pot of fear and hatred. Consequently, I am confident that the only answer it prayer and repentance.