The Importance of Classical Western Ideals
What the ideas of the last century were, and how they can help unify the country
When we look at the current state of American culture (and I hesitate to even use the term “current state” as that makes it sound bad), we are at a time strife with political division, and a time where people tend to be incredibly judgmental, and leaving the old ways of thought where you treat people as equals. The political Left has embraced a “victimhood” mentality, where the idea of giving things (both material and immaterial) to those seen as “victims”, and making life harder for people seen as “oppressors’”. That is not discounting that there are countless victims in out society. Many Jews are victims of anti-Semitism. Many girls are victims of sexual assault and rape. There are still, 60 years after the Civil Rights Movement, white supremacists and Ku Klux Klan members terrorizing African-Americans. That brings us to a point where people are stereotyped as an “oppressor” because of things that they are not at fault for. There is a rather sizeable portion of the American populace that believes that all white people are inherently racist and need to go out of their way to help out minority groups their entire lives, and there is a similar portion of people who think that all cisgender people are homophobic or transphobic. People are trying to put tags on people that will see them judged by greater society.
This all goes without even mentioning the desire of many people in politics to try and take the moral high ground over their opponents. Liberals tried to take the moral high ground during COVID, by calling Republicans that were skeptical and opposed to COVID lockdowns “anti-science” and inferring that they were okay with the deaths of people due to the virus. On the flip side, the Right is calling the Left “Orwellian” and “Authoritarian” over their advocacy for COVID lockdowns. COVID is only one of these flashpoints, but others include; race, LGBT rights, abortion, foreign policy, January 6th, etc.
This new way of political thinking runs counter to the old thought, the thinking that while we disagree with people on the other side of the aisle, we are equals. It used to be thought in mainstream politics that the Republicans and the Democrats were both trying to achieve the same goal, but had differing philosophies on how to get there. That no longer is the case. Democrats are embracing new ways of thought, such as critical theory, while the Republicans are opposed to this. This has led to the old thought of politics, same goal different ways, to be discarded. However, the old way of thought was more unifying, and less politically hostile to those who disagree with the party in power. Joe Biden tried to tap into this idea of unification and same goal different ways during his campaign, but quickly discarded that in favor of more liberal and anti-Trump ideals. When the old idea drifted out of the mainstream, we saw more political division, more political violence, and more of the political issues that plague our society today.
So, what exactly makes up these old ideals? Well there is the aforementioned idea of same goal different ways. This idea said that (outside of extreme parties like the Communist Party) political parties in the mainstream all shared a common goal: make the United States of America the best country in the world, in quality of life, morals, culture, economics, and military strength. The difference between voting for a Republican or a Democrat was on how you thought was the best way to get there. Now it is different. Democrats seem to have the end goal of making the United States the most progressive country in the world, similar to Canada and the U.K. Republicans seem to want to keep the old ideals of the country, the ones we had pre-Obama. Now they have different views for what the best America is, and now are fighting over ideology instead of ideas. This only gets the American people stuck in the middle.
The second of these old ideals stems from two big ideas in Judeo-Christian thought: do not judge and love thy neighbor. These stem from two verses in the Bible. The first one is Matthew 7:1:
Judge not, that you be not judged1
Depending on which translation of the Bible you use, or have at least read, it may be worded differently. However, it is the same in meaning. In the context of that verse, Jesus is talking about morality and God, saying that we must not pronounce others as guilty before God, or as the modern more secular approach takes it, do not pronounce someone guilty of moral crimes unless they are blatantly atrocious (like the crimes committed by people like Hitler, Stalin, and others) as you have no right to take the moral high ground with those who have morals that you may disagree with, but are equally as righteous in the eyes of the beholder. The second of these verses is the verse Matthew 7:12:
So whatever you wish for others to do to you, do also to them2
Or better known as the golden rule:
Treat others the way you would like to be treated
America is not a religious country, but it is a western one. Western countries were founded on Judeo-Christian views, and whether or not you are religious, they hold value. These western ideals are of democracy, tolerance, peace, and love. That is why our constitution has amendments protecting the differences of opinion, such as the notable First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.3
And more indirectly in the Ninth:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.4
The Ninth protects rights that may not be explicitly named in the Constitution, but are basic rights all Americans should have. These systems of thought based off of the words of the Gospel of Matthew are important to the foundation of political thought in our country, even if you are not Christian. These basic western ideals were crucial to the unification of the country against Nazi Germany and Soviet Union during the twentieth century, and the reconstruction of the country after the Civil War. The old political thought was to not disparage and view people who disagree with you as beneath you, whether it is on a political, cultural, moral, or religious level.
The last of these old ideals is perhaps the most simple: A country must remain unified to serve its purpose. If we lack the capability to agree and/or make concessions domestically, and denounce actions our opponents make internationally, then we will have no common ground in the face of adversity. It should not take horrible atrocities like the attacks of September Eleventh or the Las Vegas Massacre for politicians to be unified on a mainstream level, even for a moment. They should already be ready to work and compromise. We can look at the Inflation Reduction Act as a prime example. Democrats showed no interest in trying to compromise with the Republicans on the legislation, and Republicans showed hardly any interest in a compromise either. Instead, the compromise that got the bill passed was a compromise between two Democrats: Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). The old ways of thought were centered upon compromise, such as during the Constitutional Conventions where there was the Great Compromise and the three-fifths compromise. Now it is based on partisan voting and imposing your way on others in order to pass the legislation you want. Even on foreign policy, there is stark division in our actions. When we do something on the world stage, our politicians need to stand behind it even if they disagree with the action. It is detrimental to the republic when we have Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) visiting Taiwan to show solidarity and the Biden Administration is openly denouncing the visit. That only serves to provide China with more ammunition to deepen our own political divide. This ideal centers on both a Judeo-Christian idea and a Greco-Roman one, with the words of Aesop:
United we stand, divided we fall5
And the Judeo-Christian ideal from the Gospel of Mark:
And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand6
Regardless of whether you are of the Christian faith or not, these ideals are important to the foundation of our culture and the old ways of political thought. While yes, we are in a more modern world (after all, it is 2022 and not 1979), these ideas were the ones that helped spread democracy throughout Europe, then the Americas, and the world. While there is nothing wrong with updating and modernizing older ideas, there is an issue with trying to discard them all together. While it cannot be called causation, there is a correlation between political division and abandonment of classical western ideals. Whether you like it or not, no matter if you are a first generation immigrant or your family has lived in the U.S since the 1600s, no matter if you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc, no matter if you are Black, White, Hispanic, and no matter if you are Republican or Democrat, the United States was founded on and has a long history of the classical western ideals, or the old thought. Perhaps we give it a chance, and hope that perhaps looking in the past and taking a step backwards can help unify our country. So I leave you on the words of Thomas Jefferson, with a quote the combines the ideals of tolerance, not judging morally, unification, and love:
But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.7
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed please consider subscribing, it helps a lot. If you would like to read some of my other works, check out my piece yesterday about friendship. Or an article I wrote about the rise of political violence in our society. Thank you for reading, and have a great rest of your day.
Lane, Dennis T, and Wayne A Grudem. 2011. ESV Student Study Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway.
Ibid.
“Constitution of the United States” Amendment I
“Constitution of the United States” Amendment IX
Jacobs, Joseph, Aesop, and Richard Heighway. 1966. The Fables of Æsop. New York: Schocken Books.
Ibid. (1)
Jefferson, Thomas. 1782. Review of Notes on the State of Virginia Letter, 1782.
Well thought out and on point. Best article so far.
I am proud to call you my great Nephew! please run for president and be someone I’m proud to vote for!! xo much love being sent to you and family