This strain of thought suggests that America is always an imperfect union, but it is indeed a union—and that we are always in the process of strengthening and growing that union, built on the foundations of founding ideals. Throughout this book, we shall call this strain of thought Unionism. Most Americans are Unionists. But they are under attack: steady, unyielding attack by those who support Disintegrationism. Our bonds are fraying. What is left is chaos. Without the ties of Unionism, the center cannot hold. And it isn’t.
