“Rejecting our ideals won’t make us stronger; it will make us weaker. We were the leader of the free world, a moral as well as financial and military force. But we’re throwing all that away.” — Paul Krugman
The Latter-day Saints believe that this land of America is a “land of promise,” a choice land that is “preserved for a righteous people” (Ether 2:7). We also believe that “whatsoever nation shall possess it, shall serve God or they shall be swept off” (Ether 2:9). The phrase “swept off” is pretty specific and allows for no exceptions. In the Book of Mormon, as a warning for our day, we are given the detailed stories of two great nations, the Jaredites and the Nephites, who were both, because of their lack of charity, completely erased from the face of the Earth.
We are now a nation that tears children from their parents and puts them in cages. We kidnap people from their homes and workplaces and deport them. Our President has insulted our allies while praising dictators, and is insisting that law enforcement pursue his political enemies rather than his corrupt friends. Our Congress has given huge tax cuts to the wealthiest and now intends to cut benefits for the sick and the elderly. We are all responsible for these wicked acts because we empowered the people who created these policies.
America cannot be great if it is not good. It does not matter how strong an empire may appear to be. If it is evil, internally corrupt, and denies reality, it will fall. History is full of examples of fallen empires, and their stories are frighteningly similar to ours.
For 70 years, American goodness and American greatness went hand in hand. Our ideals, and the fact that other countries knew we held those ideals, made us a different kind of great power, one that inspired trust. — Paul Krugman
By giving up our optimistic ideals, our basic human goodness, our sense of fairness and generosity, our humble righteousness, we are giving up any claim we have on greatness and, quite possibly, giving up our very existence as a nation.
Source: “Fall of the American Empire,” Paul Krugman, New York Times, June 18, 2018.
Yes. Just a few moments ago, I was reading Helaman 4:12, which, in listing the wickedness of the society, including members of the church, while mentioning pride and in riches and oppressing the poor, withholding food from the hungry, and clothes from the naked, they did not go so far as to be reprimanded for taking the children of refugees from their parents.