The Biggest Threats To America's Greatness

The USA is the greatest nation on earth.  It is the greatest nation in the history of the world.  Prove it?  Everyone wants to come here -- even the prince of England!  And even the people who claim that America is terrible would rather live here than anywhere else.  (I'm confident that Rosie O'Donnell is going to move back after Trump leaves office.)  America is the most free, the most just, and the most prosperous nation on earth.  It is the land of opportunity, where anyone can achieve anything.  Is it perfect?  No.  But no place on earth is perfect.  As long as people are sinful, utopia will only exist in heaven.  

But America's greatness can be lost.  There is no guarantee that we won't lose our freedom.  There is no guarantee that the government will continue to do what the founders intended -- i.e., protect freedom.  Nations rise and fall; just look at Venezuela.  What can we do to ensure that America retains its greatness not only for ourselves, but also for our children and grandchildren?  

The first thing to do is to understand what makes America so great.  It is freedom, a.k.a., liberty.  The USA is the land of the free.  America is great because it has religious liberty, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom to bear arms, economic freedom, etc.  It is great because it is built upon the idea that freedom is a God-given right that everyone deserves, and that the primary reason the government exists is to protect freedom.  

The second thing to do is to recognize the threats to freedom so that we can do everything in our power to oppose them.  The threats to liberty may change from generation to generation.  In this brief post I want to highlight the six biggest threats to liberty in the USA.

Threat #1: DEI.  Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is the belief that disparities between groups are caused by discrimination.  The proposed solution is to aim for equal outcomes by intentionally discriminating against the oppressor group -- namely, straight white males.  DEI is evil because it utilizes discrimination to achieve its goals.  DEI is logically wrong for two reasons.  First, because it assumes that unequal outcomes must be due to unequal treatment, which is often not the case.  Nobody would argue that the incarceration rate is much higher for men than women because of systemic sexism against men.  Second, it is logically wrong because it assumes that equal outcomes are possible, which is not the case even if two groups are given the same opportunities.  Why?  Because outcome, while partly determined by external factors, is mostly determined by internal factors such as morals and values, factors which vary among groups.  Instead of DEI, America can retain its greatness by being a color-blind meritocracy in which people are treated individually according to their character and ability.  

Threat #2: Climate alarmism.  Climate alarmism is the belief that the use of fossil fuels is destroying the earth, and this destruction will happen very soon unless humanity takes drastic measures.  The proposed solution is to reduce our dependence upon fossil fuels.  The most extreme climate alarmists would advocate for the total elimination of fossil fuels.  The problem with climate alarmism is that it that keeps making false predictions.  They are like the boy who cried wolf.  In the 1970s they warned that the threat was global cooling.  But when the temperature trended warmer they warned about global warming.  Then, when the temperature started trending cooler again they dropped the term "global warming" and starting using the term "climate change."  I guess they figured this would help them avoid future criticism because after all, the climate is always changing.  Another problem with climate alarmism is that its "solutions" do more harm than good.  The cost of scaling back on fossil fuels far outweighs the benefits.  Even if the United States completely gave up fossil fuels, making the average man's life more difficult and more expensive, it would barely make a dent in the global temperature.  Still another problem with climate alarmism is the glaring hypocrisy of its biggest advocates.  These climate-crazies travel to their conferences in private jets, leaving a much larger carbon footprint than your average citizen.  If not checked, climate alarmism will lead to less freedom for Americans.  Climate alarmists would like to regulate everything, from eliminating gas-powered vehicles, lawn mowers, and stoves, to dictating how much electricity you can use in your home and business.  The solution is not to trash the environment.  The solution is to seek ways to protect the environment without infringing upon personal liberty or inhibiting technological progress.  The world is our home and must be protected, but people must also be free to maximize the earth's resources.  

Threat #3:  Socialism.  Kind of like baggy pants for women or mullet haircuts for men, just when you think that socialism is gone for good it comes back in style.  Look at New York City, which just elected a socialist for mayor.  Socialism is the belief that the government should own/control the means of production.  The problem with socialism should be obvious.  It doesn't work.  Everywhere it has been tried -- Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, etc. -- it has led to death, poverty, and tyranny.  The reason America is great is because it is built upon a system of economic freedom.  That's what capitalism is all about -- economic freedom.  In a capitalistic society, people can run their businesses however they want.  If they provide a valuable product or service they will be rewarded.  If your product or service is not valued by society then you will go out of business.  The system of capitalism encourages hard work, frugality, innovation, and good morals.  

Threat #4: Big-government progressivism (BGP).  A close cousin to socialism, BGP is the belief that the government is the solution to every problem.  Anytime there is a problem, Big-government progressives want to give the government more control and more money.  This means more laws, more regulations, and higher taxes.  And that means less and less individual freedom.  Instead of BGP, we should aim for limited government -- a government that protects individual liberty, and after that as little as possible.  We must stop looking to the government to solve our problems, to rescue us every time we are in trouble, to provide us with a safety net.  We must choose freedom over comfort and security.  We must embrace the attitude of Patrick Henry who said, "Give me liberty or give me death."  

Threat #5: The decline of the family.  Sadly, the family has been in decline in the United States for a long time.  Fewer people are getting married, more marriages are ending in divorce, and people are having fewer kids.  For society to flourish, people need to get married, stay married, and have lots of kids.  We need people to get married because marriage is the best context for raising children to become responsible citizens.  And we need to have lots of children so that they will grow up and take care of the elderly, take over the businesses and institutions, run the government, serve in the military, and pay taxes.  The decline of marriage cripples the next generation.  A declining birth-rate leads to extinction.  

Threat #6: The decline of Christianity.  In the early days of the United States the vast majority of people were Christians.  Today, only 62% of US adults identify as Christian.  But among those, how many actually practice their faith?  How many of those strive to live by the Bible?  I'm thinking not many.  This is alarming, because freedom depends on the flourishing of Christianity.  How so?  Freedom requires morality.  If people are not responsible for themselves and respectful of others then the government must get bigger and more intrusive.  If people are moral, there is less need for government intervention, and this means fewer laws, regulations, and taxes.  How do you build a moral populace?  There is no better way than Christianity.  The Bible provides the best moral code known to mankind.  As the church teaches people to follow the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus it improves the morality of the nation.  Christianity fosters morality, and morality is required for freedom.  To preserve America's greatness, we need to get people back in church, and we need to get the church back to the Bible.