Melancholy article at American Greatness by culture commentator Anthony Esolen.
The Inertial States of America . He thoughtfully embellishes the theme but this takeaway quote says much:
Nothing unites us now, not religious faith, not cultural memory, not a common understanding of virtue, not the natural goodness of manhood and womanhood, not children, not the elderly, nothing. We do not seek “the naked bedrock of character and capacity,” because they are judgments against us.
We are the Inertial States of America. I wish it were not so.
We hope or pray that in time, there will be a sustainable extensive reformation, one that retains and emphasizes the cultural qualities that made America great. Trump’s election revealed substantial longing for that but it was so very close and the opponents those who denigrate us, him, indeed our nationality are powerful, intense, vested , unscrupulous indeed ruthless. A Trump/Trumpism re-election (an effective conservatism as it turns out) could set us on a course of respect, even restoration of key wholesome values.
But without that reelection everything will be torn down with a vengeance with a mind to methodically root-out, destroy, erase and deny political and cultural avenues that would allow us effective means to fight. They will have learned their lesson.
Trump’s first election indicated more than a vestige of “Americanism” remained but with only one term many achievements become ephemeral. A sustained reformation will require focus on classical education and more dismantling of the means of big-government control and institutional leftist power. That means involvement and sacrifice by conservatives.
We think the chances for substantial reformation have grown, from embers in the hearts of citizens, fanned by Trump administration achievements – promises kept – a longing for something far deeper than what leftist one-world government activists can offer. But all remains tenuous. It is conceivable that the inertia can be redirected on itself. The next election here in the “United” States might determine of that can be.
