The second part of the Will Durant quote about the ancient Persian empire, which I am using as a basis to explain the basic failure of liberalism, reads as follows:
"Nor is it natural that nations diverse in language, religion, morals and traditions should long remain united; there is nothing organic in such a union, and compulsion must repeatedly be applied to maintain the artificial bond. In its two hundred years of empire Persia did nothing to lessen this heterogeneity, these centrifugal forces; she was content to rule a mob of nations, and never thought of making them into a state." (Our Oriental Heritage, 382)
Can you say “multiculturalism”?
Heterogeneous societies are not necessarily doomed to disintegration. America has been a melting pot almost from the beginning of its history. But what has made the “melting pot” successful in this country is that the people who came here wanted to be Americans. They immigrated here with the full intent of learning the language, customs, ideals, and cultural mores of the United States. Yes, for awhile, for perhaps a generation or two, the “old country’s” ways would still be with them. But they always became Americans, they taught their children to be Americans, and they thought of themselves as American. This current identity politics—African-American, Hispanic-American, Chinese-American, etc.—is less than half a century old.
And I find it interesting that this collective identifying of groups—African-American, etc.—nearly always applies only to non-whites. How often do you hear someone called a “British-American,” or a “Welsh-American,” or a “German-American”?
As Durant points out, fracturing a peoples like this is not good. There must be something that binds them together, creates an organic whole, makes them one people. Some kind of homogeneity is necessary to prevent centrifugal forces from spinning a nation apart. Our Founders recognized the benefits of homogeneity. Alexander Hamilton wrote, “To render the people of this country as homogeneous as possible must tend as much as any other circumstance to the permanence of their union and posterity.” Thomas Jefferson agreed: “It is for the happiness of those united in society to harmonize as much as possible in matters which they must of necessity transact together.” It is very difficult for people to “transact together” if they don’t speak the same language. And the more diverse they become in language, religion, culture, etc., the more difficult it will be for them to mix together in unity. As we see in history, people of the same racial stock often strain to live together peaceably, and frequently don’t. European history is full of white Irishmen fighting white Englishmen fighting white Frenchmen fighting white Germans fighting white Italians fighting white Poles…and it is the same everywhere. Africa to this day is full of tribal dissension and warfare, yet they are all Negroid. The American Indian fought tribally as a way of life. The slightest difference in a peoples can render division; when differences are magnified, troubles become even more probable.
Liberalism again leads the way in this negative sort of “diversity.” By arguing that all cultures are equal, that none is superior to another—or rather, by doing its dead level best to portray white America as the greedy, thieving, racist oppressor of the rest of humanity—then there is no motivation for any non-American immigrating to this country to surrender his values or mores for the good of the greater whole. Ours is no better than his, yea, he is frequently taught ours is worse. With the emphasis that is placed on groups—blacks, women, Hispanics, homosexuals, etc.—rather than the whole, the liberal is splintering and dividing this country in a way that is driving peoples apart rather than bringing them together. As long as we can remember we are all Americans, then we might have enough glue to remain a united whole. But if we keep having to “press one for English,” we are creating and encouraging a diversity that will rend us asunder. Remember Persia.
The demand here is not that everybody agree with white people. Nor is it to say that American culture is superior to others (though I don’t know very many liberals who would want to sleep in a teepee in North Dakota in the middle of the winter). But if people aren’t willing to assimilate, to become part of the integrated whole—and if they are not educated to do so—then fragmentation and separation are not far off. Persia did not learn this lesson, if she even tried. The same happened to the Roman empire. Rome ruled a motley of peoples, never attempting to make Romans out of them. Thus, when the barbarians attacked, these non-Romans weren’t going to die for Rome; why should they? As long as they were compelled to remain within the empire, or saw some benefit for doing so, they accepted being a part of it. But when the compulsion or the benefits disappeared, they saw no reason to continue being loyal to a system that was not theirs. And they didn’t. Heterogeneity—diversity—did much to destroy the Roman empire.
It is absolutely no coincidence that the longest running continuous states/empires in history—Egypt, China, Japan—were the most homogeneous. They just didn’t let anybody else in. And at the American Constitutional Convention in 1787, Gouveneur Morris spoke of the same thing; he warned of being “polite at the expense of prudence.” “Every society,” he said, “from a great nation down to a club had the right of declaring the conditions on which new members should be admitted.” Every club understands that it is only a “club” as long as its members are united on certain objectives, rules, and procedures that make that club what it is. If those objectives, rules, and procedures be ignored, then how can it any longer be the club it was intended to be? It will, for all practical purposes, cease to exist.
I would never degrade anyone’s culture, as a culture. Nor would I deny anyone the right, the blessing, of respecting and honoring their heritage and ancestors. But when honoring that heritage or culture supersedes assimilating into the country where you intend to live, then you don’t belong in your new home. There are many, many men who gave their lives to protect the values, traditions, and beliefs that modern American liberals are doing their utmost to destroy. What an irony. Men died to give Barack Obama the right to go around the world and tear down the very thing those men died for. To conserve those common values and traditions that built a nation is what will keep a people together; to undermine them will lead to destruction. Liberalism fails because it destroys the foundations upon which a society is built—and replaces it with nothing unified and whole.
How long will it be before the people of this country go to war with each other—because they will have no reason not to.