America’s Treasury of Merit

Beside the unevenness of religious devotion and virtue, America from the start has also likened itself to classical civilizations that rose and fell, especially the Greek and Roman republics. Discipline and public spirit degenerated into decadence and tyranny or anarchy for the early republics, and that threat always hangs over America. From this perspective, America must always be on guard. The implication is that the nation is constantly skating on very thin ice. One or two wrong moves and there’s collapse into the freezing water, from which there is no recovery.