“There are no great men without virtue, and there are no great nationsâ?¯.â?¯.â?¯.â?¯without respect for right.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville
Bad habits are hard to change, and even harder when America no longer has a meaningful public culture. Tocqueville talked about it this way:
Epochs sometimes occur in the life of a nation when the old customs of a people are changed, public morality is destroyedâ?¯.â?¯.â?¯.â?¯and the spell of tradition broken.â?¯.â?¯.â?¯.â?¯The country then assumes a dim and dubious shape in the eyes of the citizens.â?¯.â?¯.â?¯.â?¯The country is lost to their senses,â?¯.â?¯.â?¯.â?¯and they retire into a narrow and unenlightened selfishness.â?¯.â?¯.â?¯.â?¯In this predicament to retreat is impossible, for a people cannot recover the sentiments of their youth any more than a man can return to the innocent tastes of childhood; such things may be regretted but they cannot be renewed. They must go forward and accelerate the union of private with public interests, since the period of disinterested patriotism is gone by forever.
Our predicament is uncomfortable. Our political muscles have atrophied. The parties are inbred, with values and ideologies that are diametrically opposed to what's needed to support a practical society. But Americans are restless and demanding change, so the status quo is not an option either.
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