How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps

by Ben Shapiro

by suggesting that it is the job of an economic system to build family units, “common good conservatives” commit a serious category error—and in doing so, fall wholesale into Marxist materialism, the notion that all human activity can be explained by economic systems. Economic systems that work create prosperity. Spiritual and cultural systems that work create functional families.

A culture of economic freedom is being replaced by a culture of economic expectation. And a culture of economic expectation inevitably results in a culture of economic tyranny.

The Disintegrationist culture dismisses freedom on behalf of security. It enervates rather than energizes; it urges a spirit of solicitation rather than a spirit of enterprise. In the end, the Unionist culture was a culture that relied on the ambition of individuals, the strength of social institutions, and the desire for freedom the founders believed characterized the American experience. The Disintegrationist culture relies on the risk-averse nature of individuals, the weakness of social institutions, and the desire for security over liberty. The Disintegrationists make a better bet—that human beings are venal, greedy, and self-serving, that human beings would rather invade the freedoms of others than absorb the pain of others’ freedom. That bet, however, will end in tragedy. Our culture is like a marriage: it will succeed only when the partners respect one another, and when the partners expect more from themselves than from their counterparts. If Disintegrationist culture wins, the result will not be a new culture, but a national divorce.