8/22/2022

Last week’s curation at RealClear’s American Civics portal starts off with the latest entry in our Disputed Questions series: Is America good? In his lead essay, Wilfred Reilly makes the case that America is a morally good country, because it was established upon the principles of liberty and equality of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He contends that the modern narrative that systemic racism infects America’s institutions simply does not line up with the facts. In response, Adam Seagrave argues that Reilly understates both America’s greatness, as it was the only country in existence founded upon moral principles of “public right,” and the grave evil of slavery, which targeted a person’s humanity in more insidious ways than any other historical form of slavery. Xavier Bonilla writes that we need to see both America’s greatness, including the elimination of slavery, and also its flaws, such as the fact that power has traditionally been confined to the hands of white men.

At RealClearBooks&Culture is an excerpt from John Agresto’s latest book, “The Death of Learning.” A board member of the Jack Miller Center, Agresto argues that the purpose of liberal education is “to make us free.” Education at every level should be centered around creating free minds so that students can debate, discuss, and argue about the highest things in life, a virtue that republican government presupposes in citizens. “In sum, we advance in our knowledge not simply through faith in what we are told, not by memorizing a catechism of dogmas or relying on what our peers or our culture believe,” Agresto argues, “but through personal reason and reflection – in listening to all arguments and then deciding for ourselves.”

Rounding out this week’s curation are three remembrances of David McCullough, the beloved American historian. At The Atlantic, Candice Millard writes, “To read one of his books is not just to understand the people who populate its pages, but to feel like you know them.” Historian Miles Smith says that McCullough’s chief characteristic is that he “maintained affection and charity towards the United States and its peoples despite its flawed history.” And Richard Moe, President of National Trust for Historic Preservation, notes that McCullough “preferred to focus on lesser-known figures whose achievements and character may have been overshadowed by their predecessors.”