Responsibility
Reborn: A Citizen’s
Guide to the Next American Century
By John Andrews
(Denali Press, 175
pages, $19.99)
Personal responsibility is an eroded American value.
Republicans largely preach freedom, Democrats equality, but
responsibility, when mentioned at all, plays second string. It’s no
wonder, then, that America is becoming bailout nation.
The year 2011 was a good time for John Andrews, former
Republican president of the Colorado Senate and long-time
conservative think-tanker, to pen Responsibility Reborn: A
Citizen’s Guide to the Next American Century. The
pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps tenet is alive and well among
many Americans, but their number is shrinking in favor of those who
covet European-style handouts.
The Occupy movement has shown that reality in vibrant
Technicolor: The violence, sexual assault, and disregard for
private property. Mobilized as a political force, envy is among the
most powerful of human vices.
What’s the cure? Personal responsibility, defined by
Andrews as “the quintessential American character trait” of doing
“the right thing by choice.” It’s a value that Andrews believes can
pull the United States out of the moral quagmire and put her on the
path to a second American century.
It won’t be easy. Liberalism appeals to baser instincts:
envy, jealousy, and sloth, to name three. Conservatism requires far
more of us: accountability for our own decisions and voluntary
restraint in our actions. Although lawmaking plays a role in
fostering such values, there is no substitute for cultural renewal
arising from the private domain — marriages and families, schools
and churches.
“Our toughest challenges now are not political. They are
moral,” Andrews writes. “Civil government will get better when
individual self-government does, and not until then.”
Andrews traces the genesis of the irresponsibility
movement to the cultural upheavals of the mid-20th century. He says
that “pampered young” threw a “national tantrum” in the 1960s. It
worsened in the '70s, a decade of moral decadence and economic
stagnation.
“Dependency on government was up,” Andrews says.
“Promiscuity, illegitimacy, and divorce were up. Crime and drug
abuse were up. Black poverty was up. Family stability and
childbearing were down. Academic standards were down and educators
were disrespected. The warrior spirit was down and soldiers were
spat upon.”
But even as cultural and economic liberalism made sweeping
gains, Andrews points to the rising sun of conservatism, born out
of the dark days of moral decay after Watergate. It was an economic
and social force that beat back the tides of unchecked liberalism.
Andrews’ thesis: A renewal of this responsibility movement is
needed if America is to continue as a great nation.
Don’t mistake Responsibility Reborn exclusively
as a conservative call to arms against the excesses of liberalism,
though. It’s certainly that, but it’s also a call for
self-reflection among lovers of freedom. Andrews carefully probes a
sore spot in conservative circles: the seeming conflict between
personal freedom — the right to do what I want — and personal
responsibility — the right to do what I should.
With the all-out assault on individual freedom prorogated
by the proponents of big government, conservatives are concerned
chiefly with ensuring that liberty endures. But in so doing, have
we lost sight of personal responsibility?
It’s a question that Andrews wrestles with. His conclusion
(emphasis mine):
Until quite recently, my keynote for a personal testament
and a reflection on citizenship would not have been responsibility
and obligation, duty and trust. It would have been freedom and
independence, rights and liberty.… Yet in reflecting on my life as
a whole — family, friendships, schooling, military service,
career, community, church — I’ve realized that most of it
was not about doing what I chose, but doing what I should.
The moral and ethical component is inescapable in a life well
lived, whether for an individual or a nation.
Preaching responsibility isn’t as sexy as preaching freedom, but
it is no less critical. The two concepts go hand in hand. A nation
can’t be free without citizens who take responsibility for their
actions; true responsibility isn’t possible outside the sphere of
freedom.
The big question conservatives must answer is, “Freedom
for what?” Freedom should not be license to become libertine, but
to do what’s right. “For you were called to freedom, brothers,” the
Apostle Paul writes. “Only do not use your freedom as an
opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one
another.”
Andrews suggests that conservatives — and, more broadly,
Americans — return to such an ethic. “What government should or
shouldn’t do is an important question for keeping America true to
itself,” he writes. “But too narrow a focus on that question has
tended to distract conservatives from one that’s even more
important: What qualities of character are essential to sustain
a free and good society?” (Emphasis in original.)
Along those lines, Andrews’ prescription for cultural and
economic renewal in the United States is, first, personal and,
second, political. He calls for strengthening families, expanding
charity, expecting more of churches, and renewing a common culture.
“The higher we score on the scale of character,” he writes, “the
more fit we are for freedom — and the less need there is for
intrusive restrictions by government.”
Responsibility Reborn is an
excellent charter for the responsibility movement. Despite the
challenges of contemporary political life and the excesses of
American culture, Andrews’ treatise is infused with optimism. The
next few years are critical in determining whether America will
stagnate or see a rebirth of responsibility.
“It’s a great time to be alive,” Andrews writes. “Now
comes the decade of decision.”
