Democracy Needs Defending: Sydney Williams
The question: Will young people schooled to disdain America for her racist and imperialist past, and her misogynist and non-inclusive present be willing to defend her in time of war?
The United States has long shunned standing armies. Such an attitude is in the “American DNA,” as Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI) stated in an interview a week ago in The Wall Street Journal. Nevertheless, the military was respected. That appears to have changed. A recent annual poll by the Reagan Institute, showed a “great deal of confidence” in the military at 45%, down 25% in three years – victim of “woke ideology,” according to Representative Gallagher.
Is this lack of respect for the military symptomatic of a greater problem? Historically, a positive aspect of democracy has been the ability to criticize it. Yet we now live in an Orwellian world, defined by identity politics, where truth is not based on historical or empirical evidence, but on what we are told. Identity politics is a way of relegating the individual to the group, a precursor to authoritarian rule We should be able to love something, yet criticize it, with the goal of making it better. Now, discrimination has taken on a new look. Instead of racial or gender discrimination, we have discrimination against dissenting opinions – the censoring of conservatives on college campuses, and the blocking of political opinions that do not conform to a prescribed message.
Yet, regardless of our political persuasions, it may become necessary to defend this nation, which means that critics must be willing to pick up arms, to defend what they have been taught is indefensible. So, the question must be asked. Is it possible to defend a nation where partisanship has given birth to hatred? Our internecine bickering has been noted by leaders in China, Russia, and Iran who use our own words to drive deeper the wedge that separates us. When we claim our nation is racist, inequitable, and imperialist, they agree – we are the “Great Satan,” as Iran’s leaders say. Now, with so many pundits, politicians and teachers declaring we are a nation born on the backs of slaves, it is difficult for many to recognize how fortunate they are to live in this land. And it may prove difficult for them to recognize that freedom is not free, and that there are times when it must be defended.
An irony of those on the Left who seek diversity, inclusion and equity is their failure to recognize the role the military has played in promoting equity. Most people spend their lives with others like themselves, whether it is in communities, clubs, colleges, or workplaces. In the army, especially in basic training, recruits are thrown together, regardless of differences or similarities. In my basic training company of just over 200 young men, we were of different races and religions; we came from cities and farms. We had young men off streets in the Bronx, from farms in Tennessee, three recent graduates of Harvard Law School, and a college dropout (me). The army taught us to get along. It taught us that the United States was bigger and more diverse than we had realized. It taught us that the army was a better equalizer than any legislation passed by Congress. As I look through scrapbooks at the faces of those who were with me sixty years ago, I am reminded of past friendships. A return to the draft would do more for diversity, inclusion, and equity in our nation than all the demands of smug elites. It would instill patriotism and a better understanding of what has made this country special, while making it stronger.
In the current milieu, patriotism is scorned. Yet, even Samuel Johnson, famous for saying “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel,” was not denouncing patriotism per se, but was criticizing his nemesis William Pitt, the elder, (1708-1778) whom he accused of using patriotism to cloak his self-interest. That problem was not limited to the UK in the 18th Century. There are in the U.S. today many Little Jack Horner’s who wrap themselves in the flag and say: “What a good boy am I!” Pride is considered the worst of the seven deadly sins, as it manifests arrogance and hubris. Excessive nationalism, a consequence of authoritarian governments, blinds those who express it, just as self-pride blinds individuals. But self-esteem and love for one’s country, combined with humility, is a positive trait.
Today, we face perilous times, and our country’s military needs our support, in equipment (material depleted in Ukraine has not been replaced) and in men and women (recruitment continues to lag expectations). Russia, now targeting civilians, seems determined to stay the course in Ukraine. Europe is being held hostage to climate extremists and may suffer a winter with insufficient energy. In Asia, China is a rising force that would like to dislodge the U.S. from where it sits. Iran and North Korea remain threats. “War,” wrote Will and Ariel Durant in their 1968 book, The Lessons of History, “is one of the constants of history, and it has not diminished with civilizations or democracy.”
Democracy and free-market capitalism are being attacked – from without by those who fear freedom might spread to their shores, and from within by those ignorant of history. We don’t want blind patriotism, but we do need a citizenry knowledgeable about our nation’s past – its flaws and its strengths – and a sense of the rarity of individual liberty in the long history of mankind. And we need those willing to defend this nation. We need leaders who recognize that our success has been and will be dependent on a free people, free to debate, free to take chances, unafraid to lose and free to succeed. Lincoln’s “better angels of our nature” can only prevail when a free people are backed by a strong economy and by military might.
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If we achieve that, the question posed in the first paragraph can be answered in the affirmative.
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