America Does Not Live or Die at the Ballot Box

No politician, no matter how bad or consumed by ill intent, can destroy the Republic if the people still want it preserved.

Public Domain photo.

Something I've long been trying to communicate is that post-constitutional thought in the body politic, both left and right, presents a far more concerning threat to the perpetuation of the American Republic than post-constitutional rhetoric or even action by any given politician. The latter has been and can be held in check by the Constitutional order, while the former undermines the very efficacy of that order.

If the American Republic falls, it will be a death of a thousand cuts as the people fail to uphold the values and ideals it was built upon. The gift we have from the founding generation and passed on to us from the generations that followed is that no single person, no single act, no single moment can bring down the Republic. 

The power to destroy the Republic or pass it on to the next generation continues to reside in the hands of the people, and the question is not who does or doesn't hold political office and what they may or may not try to do, it's whether the values and ideals of the American project are alive or dead in the hearts of the people. No politician, no matter how good or gifted, can revive the Republic if the people don't want it revived. And no politician, no matter how bad or consumed by ill intent, can destroy the Republic if the people still want it preserved.

America will never die at the ballot box. It lives or dies in the hearts and minds of the people.

Justin Stapley received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Utah Valley University, with emphases in political philosophy, public law, American history, and constitutional studies. He is the Founding and Executive Director of The Freemen Foundation as well as Editor in Chief of the Freemen News-Letter. @JustinWStapley