Trump: Material Wealth Cannot Overcome Spiritual Poverty

By An Old Friend

Matthew Continetti, writing about Trump's speech in Poland, makes a point that Larry Auster used to make: the liberal order ultimately rests upon foundations that aren't, themselves, liberal:


Trump cited Bishop Michael Kozal, who died in Dachau: "More horrifying than a defeat of arms is a collapse of the human spirit." A nation can endure economic recession, and even military occupation. What it cannot recover from is loss of pride. "As the Polish experience reminds us," Trump said, "the defense of the West ultimately rests not only on means but also on the will of its people to prevail and be successful and get what you have to have."

This lesson raises "the fundamental question of our time":

Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?

What Trump is saying is that the future of the liberal democratic West depends on the non-liberal-democratic institutions from which we derive our values: family and faith. "We can have the largest economies and the most lethal weapons anywhere on Earth, but if we do not have strong families and strong values, then we will be weak and we will not survive." Nor will we survive if we neglect the non-liberal-democratic institutions that enforce liberal-democratic values: the military and police.