As Ben Franklin once observed, America is a “republic, if you can keep it.” Franklin is only one of many great Americans who have warned that we must remain ever vigilant, as anti-American forces are always at work, both from without and within. As our beloved country seems increasingly overwhelmed by authoritarian Marxism, we have to recall that preserving America isn’t the work of the past or a responsibility of our leaders only—each of us much be active culturally and politically to ensure the survival of our Constitutional republic.
It is famously said of Franklin that, as he left the Constitutional Convention, he was approached and asked what sort of government had been determined on. Franklin wryly replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Franklin knew that America had been given not a perfect system, but arguably the best governmental system in history. He knew equally well, however, that it would survive only so long as the people were religious, honest, virtuous, and active in holding politicians accountable. The Founding Fathers agreed that religion and virtue were necessary for upholding the republic. It is sobering to realize that belief in God is at a record low in America now, and many politicians elected again and again for decades on end are immensely corrupt, sometimes outright criminals. It is no wonder we are losing our freedom—the Founders warned us how it would be.
Almost 200 years after Franklin’s warning, then-Governor of California Ronald Reagan delivered his 1967 Inaugural Address, in which he famously cautioned, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. And those in world history who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.”
We look around the nation and see government and institutions captured by radical LGBTQ ideology, pushing open perversion. We see a Supreme Court more interested in popularity than in the Constitution. We see Democrats demanding mutilating surgeries for children and both abortion and infanticide as rights. We see both Republicans and Democrats engaging in catastrophically irresponsible government spending. We see top American officials pandering to foreign enemies of the U.S.
We see a federal government weaponized against conservatives, Republicans, and those who oppose radical wokeness. We see powerful politicians, including the president and his son, getting away with crimes and felonies while targeting peaceful citizens. We see naked sexual perverts cavorting in front of children and celebrated for doing so. We see a federal government joined with tech companies to crush free speech. How did we get here?
Perhaps it is time to return to the advice of Ben Franklin and the warning of Ronald Reagan. Citizen involvement in the public square, both culturally and politically, has never been more necessary. As our republic teeters on the brink of irreversible crisis, we must remember that freedom is not ours by way of inheritance—we have a republic, but only if we can keep it.
