Why An American Nation Cannot Be Salvaged

Many Americans used the word “nation” to describe both the government and society in the United States.

This is the most glaring social problem in America.

You see, both the left and right use this as a weapon against their political enemies.

The left likes to brand the United States a “nation of immigrants” and pushes one size fits all government for their “national” constituents. That means every policy has to originate in Washington D.C. and every problem has to have a “national” solution.

The right is no better. We are a “proposition nation” (the left believes this, too) or some type of “melting pot” dominated by a particular culture that needs to be defended by our “national” government.

Both are wrong.

You see, the United States has never been a nation and “national” solutions to problems are destined to fail because nearly half of the population, if not more, will not only be excluded but abused.

You cant have a “nation” based on an “idea” or a “nation of immigrants” unless every one of those immigrants arrived from the exact same place with the exact same culture.

That didn’t even happen in the 17th century. New England Puritans and Virginia Cavaliers certainly hated each other, and they differed so much culturally that they often talked about it.

The same can be said for just about every other group that landed in what is now the United States.

It’s time we put the “national” government idea to bed and started talking about real federalism and decentralization.

Just because I don’t agree with you doesn’t mean we can’t respect our differences and maybe even be friends. Try getting a progressive to admit that today.

In fact, it would be better to remain separate than to try to force us to live together.

You know who else thought this? The founding generation.

I discuss why an “American nation” cannot be salvaged in episode 480 of The Brion McClanahan Show.