Demoralized America

The other day I remarked in a comment that the heritage of the 60's is a quite literally 'demoralized' America. Meaning, that the official civic religion of America is a sort of mushy Libertarianism that holds that, since no person can claim to know the truth of things--least of all of human nature--the only rule of conduct for society as a whole is to refrain from harming others. There are no other positive values that society should seek to advance and, indeed, to claim that there are is to be anti-social and somehow anti-American in 21st century America. It's not the kind of thing that many people regard as worth fighting for. We have relied on a general societal willingness to live more or less off the cultural and Western civilizational capital of the past, but that has largely been used up.

What we see now is that a debased intellectual currency has rapidly driven true intellectualism, true history, true knowledge of human nature, out of the public discourse. It has been driven out of our educational institutions--not just the government schools but most private schools as well, as the intellectual rot has become all pervading and the rising generation has been deprived of a knowledge of Western civilization. And that intellectual rot is now reflected in our everyday experience and in our public institutions: in the MSM, in our laws and law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and in our interpretation of our constitutional order.

We see the results in an America that appears largely paralyzed as, decade by decades, generation by generation, the Countercultural Left has pushed the intellectual envelope ever further into the realm of denial of all recognizably human morality. With our highest value now simple personal comfort, many Americans have been exposed as intellectually (and, thus, practically) defenseless in the face of those who deny objective human nature with more emotional urgency than many Americans feel about almost anything. Sensing this, the Left seems now to believe that they can use a staged crisis to push their drive for Power to a final conclusion.


Star Parker sums up the impact of this demoralization on the most vulnerable in our society--African Americans--in an article from which I draw some (edited) excerpts. Note that as normal human sexuality and the family have come under concerted political, legal, and cultural attack by our elites over the decades since the 60's--with more or less total acquiescence from organized religious institutions--so too have we experienced an ever more rapid drift of the younger generation to the Left.

The only 'systemic racism' is due to big-government liberals

If blacks are a victim of anything, it's pervading moral relativism

As more of our political elite join the mobs in the streets to conflate the death of George Floyd with a general indictment of America as a racist and evil nation, black Americans, more than anyone, will suffer.

If there is a racism that accounts for these persistent disparities, it is the racism of big-government liberals. Now we see some Republicans, many business leaders and even some black conservative leaders signing on to this. It is a racism that says black Americans cannot adhere to the same eternal truths, to the same law, as everyone else and take personal responsibility for their lives.

Let's recall the observation attributed to George Orwell that says, "In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act." All Americans today sorely need to hear the truth amidst the deceit that is now rampant.

Listen to Dr. James Heckman, professor of economics and director of the Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago, and winner of the Nobel Prize in economics. 

"It is politically incorrect to express the truth and go to the source of problems. Public discourse, such as it is, cannot speak honestly about matters of culture, race, and gender. Powerful censorship is at play across the entire society. …

"The family is the source of life and growth. Families build values, encourage (or discourage) their children in school and out. Families – far more than schools – create or inhibit life opportunities."

If black Americans are victims of anything, it is that they live in a country that has become a wasteland of moral relativism.

I've discussed the historical and philosophical background to this collapse of America's classical liberal public religion in the past, especially with reference to writers such as Brad Gregory and Patrick Deneen. I urge those who aren't familiar with Deneen's thinking to follow the link at his name. Here I quote what I wrote less than a year ago, which now seems a long time. It's worth considering seriously in light of current events:

Deneen's overall thesis is that all liberalism contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction--progressive liberalism may get to the bottom of the slippery slope faster, but classical liberalism or libertarianism will get to the bottom just as surely because their fundamental principles are the same. Indeed, in a notable quote (see below) Deneen states with regard to the historical ignorance of his students: 

     The pervasive ignorance of our students ... is the consequence of a civilizational commitment to civilizational suicide. 

The civilization he speaks of, of course, is that of Western liberalism.

Deneen approaches the question of liberalism's death-wish from a philosophical and historical perspective but, before dismissing this as arcane theorizing, be advised that Deneen--writing in 2018--is keenly aware of current political realities. He writes with Trump--and "populism" generally--very much at the front of his mind.