By Peter Pavarini
Several years after the Soviet Union collapsed, my law firm hosted a group of young lawyers from the newly independent country of Moldova. Our guests spoke excellent English and showed genuine interest in understanding the American legal system. Although I don’t recall the details of our conversations, I was left with the impression that these Moldovans weren’t particularly ideological. They were happy to visit the United States, a country they had heard so much about, but they weren’t starstruck by the Land of the Free.
Earlier this year, I read the English translation of Svetlana Alexievich’s book Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets[i] which compiled hundreds of firsthand accounts of what it was like to live in the former Soviet Union. Given the chance to speak freely, at least until Putin’s totalitarian “reforms”[ii] took effect, those interviewed by the author remarked how little they knew about their country’s proud history (e.g., Dostoevsky, Rachmaninoff). They had only recently discovered what had been hidden from them by the communist regime. Having been brainwashed to see the “truth” as their enemy, the people Alexievich interviewed didn’t see themselves as having been oppressed. While they enjoyed a brief era of glasnost under Gorbachev and Yeltsin, they defined their new freedom simply as the “absence of fear”. They only wanted to “live their lives”, not embrace “some great new idea”.
Becoming Another Soviet Union
Wouldn’t it be ironic if the United States fought and won the Cold War only to become another Soviet Union?[iii]
In his recent blog, “America: Land of the Human Soul”[iv], Paul Krause said this:
The assault against the United States of America is entering a new phase. The anti-American left, with its impoverished vision of the human soul, constantly bemoans the United States as a villainous nation founded on hatred and prejudice, crime and thievery, murder and imprisonment. These anti-Americans assert that the entire American experiment is flawed, from the Mayflower Compact to the American Revolution itself. How, then, should patriotic Americans respond?”
As storytelling beings, all humans – no matter their cultural heritage – are captivated by stories. Krause contends that each nation’s identity is rooted in stories they tell and pass on to their children giving their lives meaning and purpose. Stories are the true core of every culture.
Replacing the American Story
Unfortunately, for American patriots, the Left understands this better than the Right. The age-old story of Pilgrims courageously venturing to an unexplored continent in search of religious freedom and self-determination no longer resonates with a complacent generation of Americans weaned on the world’s highest standard of living and unequaled civil liberties. The Left has replaced the American story I learned as a child with one of genocide, oppression and racism. By disseminating that story throughout the schools, the media, even the churches, the American Left has deliberately encouraged young Americans to hate their heritage and the Constitutional values that make us unique.[v]
The Unchanging Soul of America
Despite this, I believe the human soul has remained unchanged. It still yearns for “liberty, freedom of spirit to find God, freedom of association to find companionship, and freedom of thought to unlock the mysteries of the world”[vi]. Despite its imperfections, the United States has provided the best conditions to nurture the human soul. Those conditions have during our 245-year history allowed us to triumph over aristocracy, fascism and communism. As continuously illustrated by the flood of legal and illegal foreign nationals from dozens of countries, that is the magnet which continually attracts people.
No matter what some Muslim members of Congress may say, no one is fleeing their native land to live under Sharia law. Indeed, the fundamental principles of such ideologies are inconsistent with the values that resonate in the American story.[vii] What draws immigrants to America is not our economy, but the value system embodied in the following three statements:
- I will judge others not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.[viii]
- I will treat others as I would have others treat me.[ix]
- I will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.[x]
Until recently, concepts like these never would have been seen as controversial. Why now? Why are Martin Luther King’s words now considered to be racist by the proponents of Black Lives Matter? Why are those who recite the Golden Rule scorned as religious fanatics? Why is someone who claims to support the U.S. Constitution accused of being part of a white patriarchy?
Radicalization of the Left
Andrew Sullivan, once one of liberalism’s most-esteemed voices[xi], now admits that America’s elite has become radicalized against liberalism.[xii] He writes:
“We all know it’s happened. The elites, increasingly sequestered within one political party and one media monoculture, educated by colleges and private schools that have become hermetically sealed against any non-left dissent, have had a “social justice reckoning” these past few years. And they have become ideologically transformed, with countless cascading consequences.”[xiii]
In this new Leftist version of the American story “there is no escape, no refuge, from the ongoing nightmare of oppression and violence – and you are either fighting this and on the right side of history or you are against it and abetting evil. There is no neutrality. No space for skepticism. No room for debate. No space for even staying silent.”
I am old enough to remember when liberals – people I genuinely respected despite our political and religious differences – said we all aspire to the same virtues.[xiv] But, under their new banner of social justice, that has drastically changed. As a corporate lawyer, I advised many nonprofit boards about their fiduciary responsibilities. I remember teaching all corporate ethics boil down to six key constructs: (1) fairness, (2) caring, (3) trustworthiness, (4) respect, (5) responsibility and (6) citizenship. For some reason, that seemed to change after Obama’s presidency. Everything had to be seen only through the lens of fairness – particularly diversity, equity and inclusion. Now, Americans are told that the foundational principles of our liberty – those that depend on caring, trustworthiness, respect, responsibility and citizenship must be put on hold until all oppression (however the Left defines it) is eliminated. In order to achieve what the Left says is “real social justice”, we must accept that all truth is relative, anyone in a position of authority is an oppressor, and loyalty to one’s tribe overrides any loyalty to the Nation.
Americans Are Rejecting the Progressive Agenda
Considering recent events, particularly the public’s growing rejection of key elements of Biden’s progressive agenda, I am certain that a solid majority of Americans do not accept the scornful narrative which permeates the media, academia and elite enclaves. No amount of humiliation, cancellation or political persecution will ever change the soul of our Nation. I know too many God-loving, flag-waving, anthem-singing Americans to believe they will bend to the tyrannical forces of nihilism which shame children born with a certain skin color, parents who vote for a particular party, attend a traditional church or synagogue, or choose to work instead of collect a government handout.
I believe the soul of this Nation is best represented by those citizens who would rather die than submit to what they know is morally wrong. Those seeking to “fundamentally transform” our country away from its Judeo-Christian roots will soon pay an enormous price for misjudging the true character of the American people.
[i] Random House (2017).
[ii] Under Putin’s leadership, Russia has gone from a quasi-democracy to an oppressive state in which political opponents are jailed, freedom of the press has been curtailed, and elections are illegitimate.
[iii] During the “Kitchen Debate” of 1959, Nakita Khrushchev told then US Vice President Richard Nixon that his grandchildren would live “under communism”. For the remainder of the 20th Century that seemed like an idle threat, but as of late, it appears that the former leader of the Soviet Union was prophetic.
[iv] American Thinker, July 8, 2021.
[v] See Steve McCann, “The Commonalities Between the Rise of the Nazis and the Tactics of the American Left Cannot Be Ignored”, American Thinker, March 29, 2021.
[vi] Krause, supra.
[vii] James Arlandson, “Why Sharia Is Incompatible with American Values”, American Thinker, January 27, 2016.
[viii] Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial, August 28, 1963.
[ix] The Golden Rule, which is expressed in one form or another by most major religions.
[x] The presidential oath of office which is meant to elevate official duties to moral obligations.
[xi] In its review of his upcoming book, Out on a Limb, the New York Times describes Andrew Sullivan as “one of the most influential journalists of the last three decades.”
[xii] Andrew Sullivan, “What Happened to You?”, Substack, July 9, 2021.
[xiii] Sullivan, supra.
[xiv] See generally Jonathan Haidt, Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion (2013).
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