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Monday, August 26, 2019

America: Who We Are

“By the twentieth century, America had be­come a proud land—the American with history as his witness, self-assured. So it was doubly surpris­ing after World War II when the Republic was at the apparent zenith of her power, that Americans found themselves reeling under the hammerblows of events. Emerging out of the 1950s, the Repub­lic plowed into heavy seas.

Campuses, college towns, and inner cities erupted in flames and violence. A gulf opened up between youth and aged, hip and square, black and white, conservative and liberal and radical. Various and sundry revolutions tore through the nation like a series of earthquakes—drugs, rock, and rebellion against the establishment among them—shaking the Republic to its foundations.

With the suddenness of lightning, President John F. Kennedy, the image of our youth, was struck down. The nation mourned and was never the same. Then the Martin Luther King and another Kennedy assassination followed.
And darkness covered the land. Or was it a brooding spirit? Who could see the outworking of an inner design, the gleam of hope, or the turn­ing of the tide?

By the mid-seventies, the storm had largely subsided. But the nation was rudderless and in the doldrums. Vietnam and Watergate troubled the national psyche and left most Americans un­sure of their purpose.

The Ford years were aimless and lackluster. During the Carter term, U.S. prestige so declined that our allies no longer considered us leader of the free world, but let us know we were now an "equal partner." Soviet imperialism was unchal­lenged because it was presumed to be unimpor­tant or not to exist.

America, it seemed, had become a helpless, hapless giant. The capture of sixty-six Americans in Iran was the height of ignominy. Or was it? It turned out, in fact, to be the turning point. First there were tremors of shock and indignation. Then the seizure galvanized a growing but largely unnoticed wave of patriotism. Yankee ingenuity, humor, and determination returned.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan mobi­lized American resolve to resist Communism. And suddenly the apparently dormant American spirit awakened to the dawn of a resurrection.

President Carter was out of step with the new mood. The electorate swept him from office and installed a man who promised to lead America to a restoration. Ronald Reagan, fortieth American president, rode the resurgent American spirit to a resounding victory.

Although one of Ronald Reagan's campaign themes was the return to American greatness, his election was more of an effect than a cause—he was riding the wave, not causing the tide. Some­thing subtle, yet more powerful than any man, is and always has been propelling the nation for­ward towards some unnamed goal.

Even though the pomp and circumstance of American heritage is back in style, the new patrio­tism is still more of a feeling than a conscious artic­ulation of values. There is still confusion about what course of action We the People should take. The problem is not one of indecision, but one of identity—when you know who you are, you know what to do...”