Conservatives today find ourselves in an interesting position. Rather than seek to conserve America’s long-standing traditions of limited government, individual freedom, and thriving, virtuous families and communities, we are called instead to restore these essential elements of our republic. This we must do fearlessly and without delay.
Central to this objective are two things: patriotism and unity. Without the former, we lack the vigor and faith in our principles that drive us forward and sustain us. Without the latter, we lack the combined strength on which national survival depends, and rather than prosper, we will eventually tear ourselves apart from within.
Patriotism is a uniquely American characteristic. It is not simply nationalism, which is loyalty to the land in which you were born. No, patriotism for an American is something more — it is loyalty not only to our nation of birth but also to the principles for which that nation stands. Patriots are those people who fight, with either the pen or the sword, for the liberties expressed in our Declaration of Independence, “that Immortal emblem of Humanity,” as Abraham Lincoln put it. We firmly believe in the God-given liberties of every individual. We believe in equality among our people before the law, that America is a place where no man or woman may be asked to bow to another. We believe that every person is worth more than just the land they are born in. We believe that race, color, and creed are inconsequential to your identity as a patriot so long as you hold the same truths as self-evident that our founders did and are willing to fight for them.
This belief in the dignity and freedom of the individual, and the virtuous character that belief nurtures in each of us, are what keep us going. It is what modern conservatism must be centered on. Indeed, it is what our nation must be centered on.
To accomplish this, though, we need real unity — and unity, too, is unique in America. As a people, Americans have always been divided into separate political factions, separate states, separate religions, and more. Our founders recognized this: James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 10 that “liberty is to faction as air is to fire.” The more freedom we enjoy, the more likely we are to separate into disparate groups, all trying to carve out our own provinces of power and secure our own interests. So how, in a free society, are we to secure unity without destroying liberty?
The answer our founders designed was our Constitution. Rather than crush freedom and eliminate various factions and seats of power, those wise men set up a system of government that could keep power in check while ensuring the rights and freedoms of those who held less power, be they states or individuals.
Unfortunately, the system of checks and balances our founders designed is hardly recognizable today. Far-left liberals view our system of government as a tool of tyranny designed by white men to suppress everyone else. They are utterly incorrect, of course, but we must repudiate their claims with enthusiasm relentlessly until such claims are viewed by people with the scorn they deserve.
We must couple this with a dedication to restoring the balanced system of government designed by our founders. The discord that marks our discourse today is in great part a result of too much power being concentrated in our federal government. When the liberties of people and the authorities of state and local governments can all be trampled in an instant by congressional fiat, executive order, or court ruling, America has lost itself. That’s because the strength of the United States has always been in its people, not its government.
What we need is not necessarily political or ideological unity, as those things are not realistically attainable in a properly functioning democracy absent war or calamity. Rather, what we need is to be unified in our respect for each other’s freedoms, to show respect for our fellow Americans, and to trust in our fellow countrymen to govern themselves as they see fit.
I’ll return once more to Lincoln. He remarked that the forces that could destroy America “must spring up amongst us” and that “if destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher.” He was absolutely correct, because that which makes America great is not our force of arms. It is our people, our society, our uniquely American way of life that combines a thousand different traditions and peoples to form a churning, vibrant nation — one that never stops innovating and leading.
Throughout our nation’s history, patriotism and unity have harnessed American dynamism and channeled it into our greatest achievements, from our victory in World War II to our great victory over communism during the Cold War. I believe that perhaps even greater victories are on our horizon, but only if we can overcome the divisive, resentful forces tearing our nation apart. We can do this by restoring a proper appreciation for American patriotism and once again unifying around the principles of our founding.
Michael R. Pompeo, 70th secretary of state and distinguished fellow at the Hudson Institute.
