The American Cause [Hardcover]

Ignorance has consequences, which is why the first chapter in Kirk's brief primer on American government addresses why we need principles in the first place. From there Kirk examines the moral, political, and economic principles that form the foundation of American thought. At the end he addresses some of the more common anti-American claims.

Accomplishing all of this in under 150 pages, with none of the textbook's dreariness or partisanship, is quite a feat. I especially liked Kirk's ability to refrain from arguing "that a thing is good simply because it is American, or bad simply because it is not American."

Opposed to elevating freedom into an absolute, Kirk agreed with Orestes Brownson that the American mission was to reconcile freedom with order, liberty with authority, to keep the pendulum from swaying too far between either anarchy or tyranny. It was from Brownson that President Kennedy borrowed his "ask not" speech and from Brownson that we got the idea of territorial democracy, which meant local control over local affairs and local checks upon state and federal power.

Of power the Founders had deep suspicion, and that suspicion was rooted in observation, their colonial experience, their experience in the English parliamentary system, and their reading of Greek and Roman literature. They concluded that power, like Tolkien's ring, necessarily corrupted its bearer, whether president or king or saint. In the American system there are no "good rulers," no secular redeemers, because human nature itself is flawed and necessarily places limits on ruler and ruled.

The Founders' skepticism of power and human nature was not merely a subject of debate; it was a reality that influenced how they constructed government at the federal, state, and local level. For example, in Washington, D.C., and in the states (Nebraska being the exception) there are three branches of government, each balancing the other in order to distribute power and to prevent its centralization. I have often thought that if a newspaper wanted to report accurately on what happened politically on any given day, it would divide that page into three columns, one each for the activities of the presidency, the Congress, and the courts, or even the governorship, the state houses, and the state courts.

Now is a good time for people to hear that "Americans do not aspire to make the world into one vast uniform United States, for they cherish diversity at home and abroad." The American cause has served us well, and it ought to be understood, remembered, and conserved.