"Beyond Liberty: In Search of America's Heart and Soul"

Once upon a time America was a great country with a moral vision that could have been, and perhaps at one time was, a light to other nations. But times have changed. America in the first decades of the twenty-first century is off course and adrift. Those of us who were born in America in the twentieth center were taught that our nation is an inspiring country, one with a moral vision that could and should be emulated by the nations of the world. We brought to the world a new nation, one founded on liberty, and showed the world how a great country and great democratic institutions could be made.

This was a land of opportunity. We welcomed immigrants and provided means for people who worked hard to make a meaningful, successful life for themselves. We believed that there was always enough to go around and those that would make an effort could make a good life for themselves. We prided ourselves on being the leading economy and offering what seemed like limitless opportunities to people. We believed implicitly that our economic leadership was tied to our moral leadership. What made America great was its vision of liberty at the founding and the democratic institutions by which that vision was implemented.  

But in the last half of the twentieth-century, we have collectively lost our way. The world’s economic situation has been seriously troubling off and on for over a decade. Our optimism that America could produce endless wealth and opportunity is faltering. We see jobs moving overseas to emerging economies. We know that there are other great nations afoot, particularly China and India, whose resources and talents are threatening to compete with those of America.  We are worried too by the resources on the planet and by the ability of the world to support the population that has just reached seven billion people.

In this new era, with a new set of difficult and troubling problems challenges in front of us, we need a new vision of America’s purpose. The one that has been guiding us at the end of the second millennium and beginning of the third will continue to lead us and those who follow us deeper into the problems that currently face us.  Indeed, it is partly responsible for the deepening mess we have around us. America has lost its moral compass and our collective purpose. And we threaten to lead the world to the brink of disaster as well.

How did we lose our way and what can we do about it?  This essay suggests an answer.  In the last part of the twentieth century and at the start of what is the third millennium, America has been increasingly dominated by a particular ideology that is destroying our moral center and ultimately leading the United States and the world to the brink of disaster.  The irony is that this ideology portrays itself as patriotic and having “our” best interests at heart. And it does so using America’s favorite language of “liberty and rights.” Like all ideologies, this one tells us that it is true (not simply one world view or ideology) and that it has the best perspective on the way we should run our lives and our society. To back up these claims, this ideology grounds itself in moral argument, in history, economics, philosophy and sometimes God and religion. It claims to be true by giving us all the reasons why we should believe and embrace it and why doing so will make our lives and the lives of countless others better.  But each one of the reasons offered by this ideology is flawed. Its moral arguments are fallacious, its history is distorted and one-sided, its economics is too narrow, its philosophy is mistaken, and its interpretation of religion idolatrous.

What is this ideology that has sent us off course? It is one that I shall label the “liberty-first” philosophy or the “liberty-first” platform. Those who espouse this ideology, whom I call the “liberty-first advocates” or  the “liberty-first coalition,” (or when I’m not trying to be nice the “liberty-first extremists”) are present in large numbers in Republican and Libertarian parties and in the new Tea Party.

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