What has gone wrong for Americans? To listen to an increasing number of politicians and pundits on both sides, from Tucker Carlson to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, from Nick Fuentes to Zohran Mamdani, the answer seems to be: everything.
Americans are unable to get a job; to afford the necessities of life; to get married or have children; to find religious meaning or form friendships. And all of this can be laid at the feet of corrupt institutions and a corrupt system.
This conspiracy-tinged vitriolic take on the American system is a lie. Yet it contains a grain of truth. Our institutions have been led self-servingly by a coterie who disdain American values. Our colleges and universities have been turned from centres of education and enlightenment into indoctrination centres for left-wing politics and meaningless degrees, sinking tens of millions into debt in the process.
Our legacy media has betrayed the trust of the American people, spreading false narratives predicated on loyalty to the Democratic party and hatred of conservatives, particularly Donald Trump. Our religious institutions have been hollowed out by leaders unwilling to challenge the prevailing secular orthodoxies. Governments around the country – local, state and federal – have substituted regulations and subsidies for the protection of our rights, radically escalating costs while simultaneously scaling back opportunity; they have granted preferences to some groups at the expense of others.
That much is true. But then comes the Great Lie: that the basic principles upon which America stands are fatally flawed, and must be torn to the ground. The Great Lie states that institutional correction or replacement is insufficient: it is the very definition of America that requires replacement.
This is false. And what’s worse, it’s self-destructive. America was built on certain values. Adherence to those values, love of those values, embodiment of those values makes someone truly American.
What are those values? Free minds. America is rooted in the belief in the innate value of every human being. And human beings, created as we are in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), have the capacity to choose. Free minds allow for innovation. They allow for adaptation. They allow for true virtue: the choice to perform moral duty.
Our institutions have been led self-servingly by a coterie who disdain American values
Free markets. America is founded on the right to explore, to try, to fail and to succeed. America is uniquely dynamic precisely because of that right. America has, more than any other country in world history, rewarded those who invest their time, effort and care in building wealth. Because we are made in the image of God, we have a right to our own labour. The founders recognised that without private property, creativity dies – and so does our individual autonomy.
Public virtue. Virtue and duty to one’s fellows are the prerequisite for a society that prizes liberty. The vulnerable must be protected, families must be strengthened and the social fabric must be maintained. That cannot happen without robust religious institutions and the inculcation of traditional moral values in the vast mass of Americans. Public virtue does not conflict with freedom of mind and markets; it is the foundation for them. It is not a coincidence that America, the most individualistic society in terms of markets, has also been the most privately charitable society in human history.
Equal rights under law. America was built on the bedrock of the Anglo-American legal tradition, founded on the principles of equal rights under the law. The rule of law is the seedbed of prosperity and decency. These principles are embedded in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. Yes, we have frequently strayed from those principles; yes, our institutions sometimes violate them. But to attack those principles on the basis of the Great Lie – that everything in America has gone wrong – is not merely an act of error. It is an act of evil.
So why is the Great Lie so popular these days? Because it promotes a deeply comforting belief: that individuals in the freest and most prosperous society in the history of the world are not responsible for any of their own actions. This belief is the Devil’s bargain: it promises a feeling of self-righteousness in exchange for constant failure. Because if the Great Lie is true, then we might as well give up.
Perception of victimhood is highly correlated with lack of success. Thus the Great Lie – that we are victims of a system we cannot escape – becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. In point of fact, only one group of people benefits from the Great Lie: the Demoralisers who spend all their time promoting it. The Demoralisers get rich and powerful. Americans get poor and weak. That’s the bargain.
So what’s the answer? First, Americans must get to grips with the kernel of truth at the centre of the Great Lie: our institutions have failed us. But railing at the clouds is the preferred remedy of the Demoralisers, and catastrophist generalities are the enemy of good policy. If we wish to solve our problems, we must pursue actual policy solutions.
This requires not maudlin exaggeration, but gimlet-eyed assessment of the situation, allowing us to distinguish between problems with systems and problems with individuals.
Yes, the job market is confused and confusing. No, it is not historically bad. The current unemployment rate in the United States is 4.4 per cent. There are approximately 7.6 million people who are unemployed, and 7.2 million open jobs. Not every job sector is equally durable, not every degree is equally valuable, and not every area of the country is equally conducive to a fruitful career path. We should consider changes to our student loan system to disincentivise a useless degree mill; we should redirect resources toward apprenticeships in job areas unlikely to be hollowed out by AI.
Yes, housing has grown too expensive. No, it is not impossible to buy a house every-where in the US – and no, housing in New York City will never be as affordable as housing in Des Moines, Iowa. Public policy must promote creation of new housing, which means removal of regulation and red tape.
Yes, healthcare is too pricey. No, it is not ‘impossible’ to obtain – and in fact, the United States provides healthcare to everyone, either via insurance or social welfare or on an emergency basis. In fact, surveys show that a broad majority of Americans are satisfied with their health insurance. Public policy ought to incentivise the increase in supply of healthcare – meaning less regulation and liability for healthcare providers.
Yes, fewer Americans are getting married. No, they are not avoiding marriage primarily thanks to economic dispossession. The routine attempt by populists to link economic redistributionism to marriage rates is unsupported by the evidence. Americans in 1935, in the middle of the Great Depression, had a marriage rate of 10.4 marriages per 1,000 total population. Today, that number hovers around six. In fact, research across countries shows that increased GDP per capita correlates with lower marriage rates.
Yes, fewer Americans are having children. No, they are not avoiding having children primarily due to economic challenges. Higher income by country correlates with having fewer children. Public policy ought to focus on fostering robust religious institutions that provide people with a sense of meaning linked to child-rearing.
Yes, fewer Americans are going to church and forming friendships. No, that isn’t because Americans aren’t finding jobs or getting bigger cheques from the government. It’s largely because of the atomisation of social media and the decline of traditional religious institutions. Public policy could focus on removing harmful technologies from children, as well as cracking down on antisocial activities such as the promulgation of pornography.
This analysis, however, is less attractive than bitching about vague conspiracies without any solutions – ‘If they lied to us about Covid, what aren’t they lying to us about? Is Israel running a sex-trafficking operation currently being covered up by the Trump administration?’ – or shouting that somebody ought to ‘do something’.
Which brings us to the second solution: renewal of personal responsibility. Seeking solutions for Americans requires an attempt to tease out the role of public policy and the role of personal decision-making. For us to course-correct, we must reinvigorate personal decision-making by demanding that people make good decisions – which includes bearing the consequences of bad decisions. Recognising that the world is not ideal and that it may not change as fast as we want it to does not alleviate our duty to make responsible individual choices. To pretend otherwise is to ruin our own lives.
For us to course-correct
we must reinvigorate
personal decision-making
And so we can recognise that housing in our biggest cities is significantly less affordable than it was a few years ago – and still make the decision to relocate for a better life. The two are not mutually exclusive.
We can acknowledge that many students are manipulated by a false promise into taking student loans – and still make calculated decisions about college, loans and area of study. We can agree that divorce law ought to be changed, or that feminism has had a deleterious effect on relations between the sexes – and still try to find someone to marry. We can grant that there are significant challenges posed by childcare costs – and still have children. We can concur that technology and lifestyles have fragmented communities – and still join communities and make friends.
If we continue to pretend that obstacles to our own happiness and fulfilment are insuperable, we will never gain either happiness or fulfilment. We will instead drink from a chalice of envy and bitterness.
When Ronald Reagan left office in 1989, he issued a warning: ‘We’ve got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom – freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It’s fragile; it needs protection.’ That warning remains prescient. If we lose our American spirit, we lose America.
So, back to the original question: what has gone wrong for Americans? Here’s the answer: nothing we can’t fix.
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