Video from Independent Institute
"December 8, 2021 In this far-reaching and compelling Independent Conversation, bestselling author, classicist and historian Victor Davis Hanson is interviewed by Dr. Graham H. Walker (Executive Director, Independent Institute) to discuss Dr. Hanson's recent book, "The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America." Human history is full of the stories of peasants, subjects, and tribes. Yet the concept of the “citizen” is historically rare—and was among America’s most valued ideals for over two centuries. But without shock treatment, warns Dr. Hanson, American citizenship as we have known it may soon vanish. In "The Dying Citizen," Dr. Hanson outlines the historical forces that led to this crisis. The evisceration of the middle class over the last fifty years has made many Americans dependent on the federal government. Open borders have undermined the idea of allegiance to a particular place. Identity politics have eradicated our social civic sense of self. And a top-heavy administrative state with formal efforts to weaken the Constitution has endangered personal liberty. As in the revolutionary years of 1848, 1917, and 1968, 2020 ripped away our complacency about the future. But in the aftermath, we as Americans can rebuild and recover what we have lost. The choice is ours. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in the Hoover Institution, the Wayne and Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History at Hillsdale College, and a Member of the Board of Advisors for both the Independent Institute as well as the quarterly journal, "The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy." He received his Ph.D. in classics from Stanford University. The author or editor of twenty-four books, he is the recipient of the American Philological Association's Excellence in Teaching Award, Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism, National Humanities Medal and the Bradley Prize." from video introduction.
We are an ignorant people.
In a nation and a time with the most information we seem to want to know less and less about reality and our present existence.
We have allowed and sometimes encouraged the "Dumbing Down" of America, of our society and culture.
In this video and the book we see that we as Americans are "ignorant" of what it means to be a citizen. We have NO IDEA how our democracy works and often don't care.
Our citizenship is a blessing and a gift yet like our attitude toward God we often ignore it or outright resent it.
Be informed, be educated, don't be ignorant or foolish! - Andy