Our Vision
Once upon a time in early 21st-century America, there was a titanic struggle for the soul of the nation. The two main players in this culture war were two Parties championing two ideologies that competed to control the fate of society. One was the Good Party, the other was the Bad Party.
The Good Party stood for American values, while the Bad Party strove to destroy the basic institutions of American society. The Good Party stood for peace and prosperity, while the Bad Party incited violence, hatred, and division. The Good Party stood for the American people, while the Bad Party supported the interests of elites. The Good Party protected freedom of speech and individual rights, while the Bad Party sought to control people and impose its own ideology on them. The Good Party stood for freedom and democracy, while the Bad Party assaulted people’s freedoms and sought to establish an authoritarian state. The Good Party stood on the side of the weak and oppressed, while the Bad Party assualted the rights of the most vulnerable members of society. The Good Party fought to overthrow unjust policies and reform the culture, while the Bad Party strove to uphold its power as the status quo. The Good Party defended the good of society as a whole, while the Bad Party embraced toxic individualism. The Good Party stood on the side of science, while the Bad Party denied even basic biology. The Good Party stood up for just elections, while the Bad Party supported corrupt attempts to control the elections. The Good Party defended justice, while the Bad Party tried to control the Supreme Court, and supported a President unfit for office.
The situation began to look increasingly desperate.
There were times when it appeared the Good Party would win, that its policies had triumphed over the authoritarian Bad Party, but each time, the Bad Party came back and reared its ugly head. No matter how hard the Good Party fought, freedom came under increasing attack in America.
America has reached the tipping point—it appears as if the Bad Party is on the brink of winning the culture war forever. Unless you vote for the Good Party, our nation and society will fall apart, and freedom in America will die forever.
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What is remarkable about this story is that you probably found it pretty relatable, regardless of your political leanings. Regardless of whether you consider yourself Progressive or Conservative, regardless of whether you vote Republican or Democrat, you almost certainly believe some version of this story. It doesn’t matter which side of the political spectrum you stand on. It doesn’t matter which side you take in the culture war. No matter your leanings, you could go through the story point-by-point and fill in the blanks with your favorite ideology. Is the Bad Party the Republicans or the Democrats? You can’t tell simply be reading the story itself—you need an ideology to tell you which option the story is talking about.
It’s time for a change. It’s time for something different.
It’s time to challenge the narrative that we have been taught to believe, the story of the culture war championed by the powers-that-be. We don’t need to defend one or the other versions of the culture war story; we need to replace it.
In a sense, all political and cultural change is a war between cultures—all change involves discarding an old ways and ideas and embracing new ones. The problem with the prevailing narrative is not that there isn’t a changing culture—of course the culture is changing! Rather, the problem is that both Left and Right have adopted a platform that appears to embrace an agenda of positive change on the one hand, while ultimately supporting an entire system that is falling apart.
The truth is, America—its society, institutions, and government—is in decline.
The true story of America—the story that will be told by historians two hundred years from now—is not that one party is championing American civilization while the other is trying its best to destroy it. The true story is that American civilization is declining, while both parties are fighting to stay on top as it goes down.
On some level everyone agrees that America is not at its best—why else would the slogans “Make America Great Again” and “Build Back Better” be slogans used on opposite sides of the spectrum? But the two ideologies of the two parties are driving polarization—not just in how people vote, but in how they think. And that’s a problem. Critical thinking involves listening to all sides of an issue and forming an opinion based on as much information as possible. When thought itself becomes polarized, people will become merely reactionary, and become increasingly out of touch with reality. This is where America is at right now.
Although the present situation of America and American civilization isn’t bright, this isn’t a story of hopeless despair. America’s current state of decay can be overcome—not by winning a war, but by renewal from within.
Renewal must come from within, from the bottom-up, from ordinary American citizens and American families choosing to live differently, to reject the story that the reigning parties tell us, and by thinking for ourselves about the issues that face us. As the top of American society becomes increasingly dysfunctional, the lower levels of society and government—on the family, community, and state level—will have to work for themselves to rebuild society. We can’t think about these issues simply by blindly copying the two package deals the two parties provide us; we have to learn to appreciate the concerns of both parties on each issue, and work towards solutions that will benefit everybody. This isn’t compromise. This is learning to work together again, to live as a united American people again.
As we push forward towards renewal, we must keep in mind common values that unite us all, and build on their common ground towards a better society for all. These values are the key to renewing American society from the bottom-up.