Can a Renewed Nationalism Bind America Together?

Almost every country in the world has a social fabric that binds a country together. In Latin America this is overwhelmingly Catholicism, in Europe or Asia it tends to be their ethnicity or cultural heritage. What about the US? It certainly isn’t our race, ethnicity, religion, or even a singular culture. After all, the culture in Alabama is far different than the culture in New York. Increasingly we live in a country where our social fabric gets torn more and more. To close these divides we need to reimagine a socially cohesive and less polarized world. I believe the only way to achieve this is to create a cohesive culture around national heritage, and core values.

We need to rethink what holds us together and what our commonality is, if we hope to retain a viable nation state. I strongly reject the idea that it should be our race or ethnicity, due to it’s huge unpopularity but moreover, how do we even go back to such a time? Even if we halted all immigration today, the racial/ethnic diversity would still continue to become more mixed as time goes on due to birth rates. Even if it was possible to go back to such a time, is that really what America represents? Or is our social fabric built around the idea of the US having a more flexible culture? One that adopts cultures/traditions that we admire from other countries? Rather, I will lay out what a renewed nationalism in the US should be centered around:

• Patriotism

Cultivating a stronger culture around patriotism is essential to keeping any heterogenous country together. If everyone can’t agree that we love our country, then it seems suspect that we could remain a country at all. In many ways having a strong culture of patriotism could replace “politically correct” culture. What if it was more common for people to be ostracized on Twitter for grossly anti American sentiment rather than ostracizing them for comments they made about gender 20 years ago? One way to promote this culture of patriotism would be in education. Having history classes give a more patriotic or nationalist education could instill a strong sense of admiration and pride for future Americans. Making flag bearing more common place. Having a flag hanging outside your house should not be a political statement. It should be a statement of pride and encouraged for everyone. Strongly encouraging cultural leaders and business owners to promote American patriotism could also go a long way in helping make patriotism more popular and common place in the mainstream.

• Workers

Our national greatness must be centered around the workers who make our nation great. Under the current paradigm, many workers feel left behind or forgotten. Keeping our workers at the forefront of national greatness would greatly alleviate this feeling of being forgotten. More concrete policies could focus around bringing back unions. Unions give more than better pay and benefits, they help give a sense of community and purpose. They help train and bring on new workers. Of course unions have their faults, which is why we should reform our union structures. But overall it’s important to realize that unions can help us achieve goals such as smaller government, individualism, and growing rural areas.

• Christianity and Families

We hear in the news that secularization is on the rise and a secular America is the future. The reality however, is that 70% of Americans still self identify as Christian according to Pew polling. It is a commonality that the vast majority of Americans still share. Whether Americans want to admit it or not, the foundation of our country is based of Christian principles. Our Christian principles should be reflected more in our policy choices. There should be greater restrictions on pornography, affirmations on the reality of gender, restrictions on abortion, the promotion of heterosexual couples, and encouraging nuclear family units. But we must also accept the reality that families need more support from a public policy perspective. Giving greater assistance to families and making it easier and far cheaper to buy a house and have children. Maybe subsidizing medical costs for new families, giving cash assistance to families, subsidizing housing purchases for families is another great idea. We should be encouraging people as much as possible to form stable relationships and start families. This is not only essential to our cultural well being but also to the future of our country. The fact that birth rates our not high enough to sustain our current population should worry anyone who wants to see a continuation of national greatness and prosperity.