The other day I was listening to this video series on YouTube which goes through the history between the United States and the United Kingdom. Specifically how we came to overthrow them as a global empire and hegemon. In listening to these videos I came to realize something rather interesting and surprising. While those who have led this wonderful country have not always produced the greatest results, especially on the domestic front, there is a consistent throughline when it comes to foreign relations, regardless of where one is aligned politically. “How can we get the best deal out of this situation?”
Now, the reason why this consistency was surprising to me was because these days there is an attitude that originated on the left and now growing on the right which is, that America needs to make the sacrifice of taking the worse side of situations. That we need to recede from the world because we are a net negative force in it, or that it is a negative force on us.
The left will openly state these opinions, there is no secrecy to it at all. On the right however, given that we are more patriotic, these ideas have taken root in a more implied manner with sayings like, “If we had just stayed out of the Middle East in the first place, we wouldn’t have these issues with terrorists.” or “America should never have dropped the atomic bombs.” or through outright praise of America’s enemies because of propaganda videos, “Look how Russia is so clean and not overweight.” “Look at how well these kids perform in Chinese schools.” The idea is that if we retreat from the world, we then can focus on our problems and make ourselves a better country. It’s the “It’s not you, it’s me” or “I just really need some time to work on myself” of national politics.
These sentiments come from both a place of laziness and a rejection of the values that built this nation.
Being a Constitutional Democratic-Republic that first gained its independence from an imperial nation, it can be hard to reconcile with our expansionist and oft-described imperial past. There was plenty of criticism for it at the time as well. I however do not have this issue.
Primarily, because the drive to build and expand is in the nature of peoples and nations. This does not make it right, nor does it make it right how it was accomplished. I simply recognize that we are not unique in these actions and that if we had not done them, they would have been done to us.
Secondly, because of all the good that was done out of it. This nation has done a lot of bad things. Regardless, I am of the belief that the good derived from this nation far exceeds that of the bad.
Our forefathers recognized how fragile we as a nation were, so they fought hard to secure us a better and brighter future, as all leaders should do for their people. My goodness, were they successful! In just a couple hundred years, faster than any nation in history, we have ascended the geopolitical ladder to be the top dog in the world, King of the Hill if you will. Surpassing all other claimants to the throne like England, Spain, France, and Germany.
The results of the endeavor have brought peace and prosperity to literally billions of people, the likes the world has never seen before. Now that we have achieved such an accomplishment, we wish to slow down? I’m sorry but the universe is in a constant state of entropy, nothing lasts forever, and as soon as we have got for ourselves a moment’s worth of security you want to stop? Why? Because it’s hard?
When a boxer wins the top title in the world, do they stop? Does the winner of the Super Bowl, the NBA championship, the Stanley Cup? No! Now they must defend that honor, defend that blood, sweat, and tears that got them there.
We must do the same. We think because we have peace and prosperity that is the natural state of things, that is not the case. The natural state of the world is poverty and war. Both are endless in their capacity for their destruction of people and resources. To be in a situation that is against the natural state of nature requires constant effort. Otherwise, it will collapse.
We need only look at the Russo-Ukrainian conflict and the Israel-Hamas war to see this truth. When we look weak, when we recede from the world like we did with Afghanistan and Iraq before, it breeds death and destruction. Should we have been there in the first place? That’s a discussion for a different time, the fact is that we were there. We were essentially the sole governing force in the area. When we left, we left the people with nothing. Imagine if one day, your local government, the council, police, fire, ambulance, everything, up and left one day? How do you imagine that would go? About as well as CHAZ did I reckon.
Furthermore, there is no doubt that this nation was built on the Christian faith. It was this good and true faith that pushed us toward the things that are good. We sowed good seeds and reaped good fruits. This sowing and reaping through the generations got us to where we are today.
While those foundations have weakened and withered through the years, the ghost of them remains. The people still wish to strive after the good, though often misguided. We can see this in wanting to care for those who are less fortunate, discriminated against, or who are different whether domestically or internationally. We recognize the issues with society but prescribe the wrong solutions.
Our leaders, however, despite the sentiments of the people, reject the good for the sake of short-term gain rather than long-term success. They lie to the people saying that conflicts involving our allies against our enemies have nothing to do with us. That if we just retreated into ourselves our enemies would cease to be our enemies because they are only so because of our actions against them to begin with.
Ultimately this comes down to two things. Responsibility and the Christian faith.
Just as you have a responsibility to carry on your family’s legacy when they sacrificed so much for you to have what you do today, we all have a responsibility to defend and enlarge the position our forefathers have secured for us as a nation. We must make our own deposits of toils and lumps into the vault of hard knocks. This is not just the story and legacy of people dead and gone, but a story and legacy that goes on into posterity, and it is our turn to carry the torch.
In this, we must also pursue the Christian faith. Not because it is politically expedient, not because there is something to be gained from it but because it is true. Because Christ is truth incarnate (John 14:6). Because Christ is King over all the earth and reigns over the nations, (Ps 47:7,8) in Him we have forgiveness of sins and He is faithful and just to forgive them (1 John 1:9). This truth that was once limited is now a gift freely extended to all the peoples of the earth for all who come to Christ have been adopted into the promise (Gal 4:6,7) Without this, there is nothing.
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. If you find nothing of what I’ve said convincing then let me show you. These have more to say than I could ever say myself.
Let us join together as a nation, as a people tied together not by race or class or circumstances but by Truth and creed. Let us continue the bitter work that we have inherited, lest this legacy die with us.
“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”