Do you want to preserve America and offer your children a better and brighter future? Or are you too preoccupied with “the moment,” the here and now, to trouble yourself with such distant concerns?
Tom Wolfe, in his penetrative “Me Decade,” wrote, “Most people, historically, have not lived their lives as if thinking, ‘I have only one life to live.’ Instead they have lived as if they are living their ancestors’ lives and their offspring’s lives and perhaps their neighbors’ lives as well. They have seen themselves as inseparable from the great tide of chromosomes of which they are created and which they pass on. The mere fact that you were only going to be here a short time and would be dead soon enough did not give you the license to try to climb out of the stream and change the natural order of things.”
Nevertheless, he observed, modern man did exactly that: he abandoned the great stream and began living life for the almighty “Me!”
Christopher Lasch, a contemporary of Wolfe’s, agreed: “To live for the moment is the prevailing passion—to live for yourself, not for your predecessors or posterity,” he discerned in his “The Culture of Narcissism.”
Indeed, this self-interested, overly individualistic way of seeing the world and our purposes in it has infected the American way of life. Everyone, beginning in youth, is trained and encouraged to take care, first and foremost, of … “Me!” By which, we do not actually mean take care of in the most literal sense, but, instead, make happy, or find pleasure, or self-actualize. Vacation to the Maldives (because everyone else is doing it, of course), “experience” some expensively lavish hotel in Qatari (you *deserve* the fun, after all), and if — ~by no fault of your own~ — an unplanned fetus impedes on “Me,” well, abortion clinics exist for a reason, you know! In short, do whatever it takes to make the god in the mirror happy.
This is how millions of Americans live their lives. And don’t get me wrong — I have nothing against living life to its fullest. In fact, I highly recommend it! But motives matter. Are we motivated solely by an escapist pursuit of personal happiness, personal well-being, and personal satisfaction? Or are we driven by deeper, more enduring matters, such as how we can lay ourselves aside, shut up about “Me,” and create a better world for posterity?
People make poor choices in politics all the time because they’re fixated on immediate gains. We prioritize instant rewards like more money, increased benefits, and free services, even if at the expense of future generations.
At Convention of States, we are fighting tooth and nail against our culture’s pervasive, narcissistic preoccupation with self and devil-may-care attitude about the future. We know our grassroots are, too.
Now is not the time to muse ourselves into useless self-discovery. Our children and grandchildren need us to fight to save their America. Indeed, they might not know what it’s like to live in freedom if we waste it all on ourselves!
That’s why we’re calling on our incredible grassroots patriots to participate in the Convention of States’ Save Their America Challenge. Please share photos or 20-second, elevator pitch-style reels of who you are saving America for. It’s time to awaken America out of her slumber, and we believe that stories like yours could be the catalyst needed to inspire others to take action.
Share your "Save Their America" images and videos here.
Do it for your kids. Do it for your grandkids. Do it for millions yet unborn.
If you have been blessed to experience the liberties we enjoy in this country, it’s time to step up and ensure that the next generation enjoys them, too.
Sign the Convention of States petition below to get started, and be on the lookout for more you can do to “Save Their America” from COS soon!
