Will We Die By Suicide?

A subscriber to this Page asked two very good questions significant enough that I reprint here both his questions and my answers.

Responding to “The Hour of Maximum Danger -Part 1,” he wrote:

“Very eloquent. A few questions: (1) the Civil War had a clear geographic fault line for people to separate on. The current tumultuous times don't. Does that make a difference? (2) how does this differ from the turbulence of the 1960's and 1970's which had some violence but ultimately resolved itself via civil society politics?”

I replied:

“Good questions. 1. It’s possible that a Confederate victory might have resulted in two viable republics, but the historical examples we have of previous republics suggests that the two republics would not long survive. Speculatively, you would simply see the creation of hyper partisanship in both republics and thus the equivalent of the current situation, only in two parts. I haven’t time to elaborate on this point, but the CSA was for all practical purposes an oligarchy from the outset. [This is essentially the opinion that George Rable offered one his 1995 book, “The Confederate Republic.” The gist is that the political structure of the republic made it impossible to exert any effective action to check the power of President Jefferson Davis.]

As for the USA, in Lincoln’s first important political address (in 1838) he accurately saw indications of a penchant among Americans for resolving conflicts via mobs and riots. He went on to say that “the Constitution and rule of law in the United States are ‘the political religion of our nation.’” And by implication he was saying that if that “political religion” dissolved, the effect would be the destruction of the republic.

He concluded his oration by pointing out that the geographical position of the US offered ample protection against any external danger. Instead:

“If it [mortal danger] ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."

Arguably too many Americans have abandoned the “civil religion” of which Lincoln spoke, and we now face the very crisis about which he warned.

Your second question is much simpler to answer: during the 1960s the US had a functioning government, dominated by the so-called “Establishment,” and all the tumult was not about the destruction of this functioning government but rather a clamor against being excluded from it and a clamor to become part of it.