WILLIAM BENNETT, ROB NOEL: America's moral decline demands action. What conservatives must do now

On Sunday night, Hollywood delivered its latest verdict connected American character.

The Academy Award for Best Picture went to "One Battle After Another," a movie portraying borderline agents and conservatives arsenic neo-Nazi caricatures portion casting convulsive progressives arsenic motivation heroes. The lasting ovations and golden statues delivered an unmistakable message: Conservative America is not conscionable incorrect but morally grotesque.

That connection is thing caller from our taste elites, and it has recovered its audience. A first-of-its-kind Pew survey this period revealed that 53% of Americans presumption their chap citizens arsenic morally bad, with the cognition acold worse among Democrats (60%) than Republicans (46%). Why wouldn’t it be?

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It is the inevitable result of the left’s run to overgarment accepted values arsenic oppression. It’s what happens erstwhile universities peddle motivation relativism and individuality grievance, erstwhile bequest media portrays instrumentality and bid arsenic fascism, and erstwhile Hollywood casts conservatives arsenic bigots or—as successful this Oscar winner—as cartoonish, mustache-twirling villains.

This run of motivation disorder has degraded the shared standards of close and incorrect that erstwhile allowed america to presume basal decency successful 1 another. Notably, it appears to beryllium a uniquely American phenomenon.

The American radical crave not conscionable unifying values, but motivation normalcy. When we can’t get it from Hollywood oregon our institutions, we indispensable find it successful each other—and physique it with our ain hands and hearts.

Of the 25 nations surveyed successful the Pew poll, the United States was the lone state wherever a bulk held antagonistic views of nationalist morality. In Canada and Indonesia, for example, 92% viewed their chap citizens arsenic morally good.

America has its motivation problems, but this is much a situation of cognition than reality.

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Our radical inactive pb the satellite successful goodness and quality by astir disposable metrics. We springiness to foundation astatine a per capita complaint astir doubly arsenic precocious arsenic Canada and 3 to 15 times that of different developed nations (with Republicans giving the most). We besides pb astir Western peers successful helping strangers, volunteering time, donating humor and different measures of generosity.

Yet cognition is inactive revealing—not lone of however our taste institutions thrust hatred, but of however severely our civic beingness has eroded.

It clarifies the disastrous consequences of replacing accepted sources of connection—faith, household and community—with governmental obsession and online life. Social media has siloed america into alternate motivation universes, demolishing our shared convictions and spot successful 1 another.

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That occupation volition turn worse until it is stopped. Without a communal motivation vocabulary rooted successful American contented and communal decency, we cannot prolong the republic. Polarization volition harden into hatred.

What, then, are we to do?

A bully spot to commencement is to instrumentality clip to halt and observe reality. Goodness and virtuousness inactive hindrance astir communities together, if not our societal feeds oregon nationalist discourse.

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In a municipality adjacent us, a preschool teacher precocious mislaid her location successful a location fire. The outpouring of enactment was swift and overwhelming, including from those who had precise small to give. No 1 asked her governmental affiliation earlier helping. That is the America that ever was—and inactive is.

But successful our nationalist and civic lives, we indispensable besides undertake the hard enactment of motivation restoration. And conservatives indispensable pb it.

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We indispensable request an acquisition strategy that teaches the classical virtues—honesty, courage, hard work, responsibility—rather than replacing them with trendy relativism. We indispensable fortify families and religion communities arsenic the archetypal and champion schools of character. And we indispensable garbage to fto Hollywood oregon the media specify the American radical by their worst caricatures.

Already, galore Americans cull the narratives of our taste elites. "One Battle After Another," contempt being showered with awards, flopped spectacularly astatine the container office. Meanwhile, audiences flock to those occasional films that observe nationalist pridefulness and values—such arsenic "Top Gun: Maverick" oregon Clint Eastwood films. Hollywood refuses to person the memo, to its ain detriment.

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Similar stories tin beryllium told of progressive media outlets shedding viewers, oregon adjacent the migration of students from the Northeast to Southern authorities schools, choosing a accepted assemblage acquisition implicit the governmental activism of elite universities.

The American radical cognize who we are. We crave not conscionable unifying values, but motivation normalcy. When we can’t get it from Hollywood oregon our institutions, we indispensable find it successful each other—and physique it with our ain hands and hearts. That is however we’ll reclaim our shared morality and beryllium that our virtues endure.

Rob Noel is simply a speechwriter who serves arsenic president of Washington Writers Network.

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