A Nation Worth Preserving

There is much to celebrate.

By guest author Benjamin Randall.

Pessimism is in ample supply. It’s easy to harp on the decline of the West. One glance at the rampant homelessness, unfettered immigration, and crumbling infrastructure, and the sickness is clear. This tract is not a polemic against, but rather an apology for, These United States.

Yes, we have been deracinated by consumer culture. It’s oft said that America has no culture, and one cannot blame these detractors. Superheroes come to the tongue sooner than actual heroes. We can name our favorite restaurants sooner than we can name our favorite generals.

Yes, we’ve become drunk through our success. The average man is not famished. Rather, he is wealthy enough that he is fat, and fat enough that he is sick. Indeed, that can characterize most Americans. We are an obese, sickly, disfigured race.

Yes, our overlords are a corrupt class. The events of 2020 revealed their wicked hand. The average American views his leaders with a contempt in the absolute. We no longer live in a world where John Q. Public is willing to fight a politician’s war.     

It is very easy to resign in cynicism over our predicament. The accusations are true. And the accused are pronounced guilty. But, to paraphrase Oppenheimer: “God-damn, do I love this country.”

Sure, we can retreat to some godforsaken Caribbean island. But their island will never be our own. We will be considered an honored guest at best, a carpetbagger at worst. We can never share a common heritage, a common belief, or common mores.

No, we shouldn’t retreat. We should be like those at The Alamo, and fight to the last of us. Our culture is beyond pond-deep. We have a history, indeed a heritage worth preserving. Why allow this cultural cancer to win? Why cede the ground? A people as historied as ours has something worth preserving. There is much to be proud of.

What other nation can boast to have conquered such lands as ours? Not since the days of Augustus has a nation manifested with nearly as much zeal as Columbia. And what of our ecumenical mission? Is there an equal to the American in spreading The Word? And what do we make of our Protestant Work Ethic? Is there another nation that views hard work in nearly equal esteem?

May I remind you that every nation has its own vices. Every land has its own peculiar ailments. But we should not succumb to ours. Let us not lose hope. Indeed, times like these are our moment to carry the cross. A reminder of why our heritage is important. Indeed, one cannot appreciate the heights on which he stands unless he understands the depths from which he came, to paraphrase Nietzsche.

So let us not fall to cynicism. There is much to celebrate. So let’s celebrate. In a space so familiar with despair, let us retaliate. Let us shine the light upon the dark. Let us replace black with white.