I lived near San Francisco in 1989 when the Loma Prieta Earthquake occurred, and believe me, when something like that happens, you want to be somewhere else.
We were in our home in Santa Cruz that evening when everything started shaking. It was like being inside a piggy bank with someone shaking it for the pennies. Our street rolled like an ocean wave. Dishes were vomited out of the cupboards. The electricity went off and the phones went dead. When I finally got to my feet, I went out and turned on my car radio, and from one end of the dial to the other--nothing. All stations off the air. It was frightening.
Our nation is undergoing a similar dramatic change. Institutions and ideals which have been standards for centuries aren't merely being questioned, they're being ridiculed and rejected. Things which have always been known to be wrong--even immoral--are now considered as normal. Our nation's constitution, written to safeguard us against the excesses of government and the failings of human nature, is now considered by many to be obsolete and in need of gross revision, or trashed altogether.
The United States, for all of its influence, power and wealth, is a nation in decline. There will always be a United States, but it may well be an unrecognizable U.S. within a generation or two. The seeds of our deconstruction were planted long ago, but now those seeds have begun to germinate. We have gradually and systematically thrown away many of the traditions and institutions which have made our nation not just a great nation, but the greatest the world has ever known.
Many are the reasons, more than I have room here to discuss, but these listed are essential for our survival as a nation, none of which can be restored in a day, a year, or even a generation. It's taken decades to destroy what has made America a great nation. Likewise it will take decades to reverse the downward spiral, and then only if we even have the will to do at all.
A nation is the embodiment of the uniqueness, identities, and institutions of the individuals that live there. Borders are necessary to retain and protect those things. Without an effective border, with unrestricted illegal entry, a nation will gradually lose its identity and take on much of the character of those coming in. They may indeed take on some of our identity, but we will take on much of theirs, simply because of the numbers coming in. Assimilation is not a part of the plan of those coming in illegally today--they're here for jobs and/or benefits, but their allegiance remains with their homeland. If assimilation was the goal, they would assimilate.
Worse, an open border is an invitation to undesirables, criminals, even our sworn enemies.
A borderless nation is no nation at all, but because of politics, permissive attitudes, and greed, we no longer have an effective southern border. And frankly, both of our majority political parties are to blame.
Marriage and family are important to a nation's survival. Marital commitment to each other and to the children produced by those unions is necessary for the health of the family unit and the health of a nation. Families propagated by unmarried partners are by definition unstable. The partnership is weak, no commitment made, and everything within it is at risk. It's not difficult to imagine scenarios where a child or children of such flimsy relationships could end up in a home in which they are not related to any adult under the same roof, both parents having moved into new relationships. There is much talk about "love" today, very little about commitment. But love and commitment should be one and the same--and in fact, they are the same. Anything else is a cheap knockoff. I submit that those who are not committed enough to make a vow to each other, are not likely to make commitments in other areas, including commitment to a nation. Commitment demands "skin in the game." No one reading this would dream of buying or selling a house or a car without a contract spelling out what is expected of both parties. Yet, we enter into the most intimate of relationships without any commitment.
The government of the United States has spent itself into servitude to China, a nation that is not our ally or friend, giving to them, because of our financial dependence upon them, the power to influence our political decisions. This is national suicide. If, at any time, China should decide to no longer lend us money, our economy would immediately shut down. Our national debt is close to twenty trillion dollars. You want to know where we are headed with that? Look at Greece, who must go to nations around the world with a tin cup, begging for loans to prop it up.
Finally, and this is paramount, we no longer have a spiritual dimension of any consequence in America. We as a people no longer look to God as a supreme, authoritative being, an entity to whom we are responsible--if we even believe He exists at all. The individual is now the final authority over his/her morality, which is to say, there is no final moral authority; everyone is free to do what is right in his/her own eyes. The correct standard is your standard, which might be said to be any standard, which means there is no standard. When your morality and the next person's morality conflicts, then there is moral anarchy. To not be responsible to a final authority--God--is moral anarchy.
Nations succeed when most of its citizens are pointed in the same direction. In today's United States, we are no longer aligned. Yes, I know that the United States has had its share of failings in the past, as have all countries. But until now we have been structured and united so as to be able to recognize and right those wrongs. The future will see us as unable to make corrections. This isn't merely our 11th hour, it's more like our last minute to midnight. When nations start down these paths, rejecting the very things that have held them together--they fail. I believe this is where we are today. I wonder: Is it too late for us?
