A few years ago, after the publication of my book “America Alone,” an exasperated reader wrote to advise me to lighten up, on the grounds that “we’re rich enough to be stupid.” That’s to say, Western democracies and their citizens are the wealthiest societies ever known, and no matter how much of our energies are wasted on pointless hyper-regulation for the business class and multigenerational welfare for the dependency class and Transgender and Colonialism Studies for our glittering youth, we can afford it, and the central fact of our wealth will ensure that our fortunes do not change. Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, we have been less rich, and our stupidity ought in theory to be less affordable. Instead, it’s been supersized. To take only the most obvious example, President Obama has added six-and-a-half trillion bucks to the national debt, and has nothing to show for it. As Churchill would say, had his bust not been bounced from the Oval Office, never in the field of human spending has so much been owed by so many for so little.
Short version: It can happen here.
A nation can survive political and cultural classes which don’t believe in and support its heritage and its institutions — but not for very long.
We do still have time to turn this thing around, and in the end I believe we will. But it’s going to get rough, much rougher than its been. Because before we can turn it around, we’re going to have to first run out of excuses for stupidity.
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