Gordon S. Wood: Why America is a "Creedal Nation"

I desperately want this to be true.

Even up to a decade ago, I would have insisted that it must be true.

But one of the downsides of taking conservatism seriously is that it forces you to face many unpleasant facts--facts that most on the left...including even realio-trulio liberals on the center-left...tend to...well...not merely ignore...but, rather, not even imagine could be true...

Unfortunately, there's this. And this.

Which means that--if we speak at the level of groups--white men (fairly old white men in particular) are the only thing standing between us and a blue America.
Now, that wouldn't have been so bad in, say, 1990 when the blues weren't insane.

But unfortunately, these patters seem to have held up even post-ca.-2013, when the Great Blue Freakout began. Or began in earnest, at least.

Now, if you think--as, unfortunately, I currently do--that moving that far leftward will basically mean the end of the USA...well, then you face a catastrophic problem that most people--even those who see it and admit to themselves that they see it--would probably hesitate to describe out loud. To wit: if the Great Replacement (to use the right's term) / "the browning of America" (to use the left's term) continues, it will mean the end of America--substantively speaking.

This, I'd say, indirectly undermines the idea that America is a "creedal nation"--attractive as that idea might be. I mean...perhaps it's still "creedal" in some sense...but if basically every group but older white men reject crucial elements of that creed (limited government, free speech, the right to keep and bear arms)...then we might have to say something like: it's formally creedal...but...substantively...you've gotta have enough grown-ass white men to anchor the creed. Because majorities of women (unmarried women, anyway) and all other races reject the creed in question.

(And, look, I'm part of the problem in case that matters--it took (a) me aging into my 50s and (b) the left going completely insane for me to come to (or so I think) see what's what...)

Hey, say all this out loud and see what happens to you.

And if you're not even allowed to say it...well...you see where I'm going with this...