NATIONAL
ASCENT
Part I: The Crisis
The Nation we inherited no longer exists. We see this crisis around us and feel it in our souls.
We see churches once full of life now vacant and draped in the colors of a false religion.
Our borders are overrun. Drugs and criminals pour into our neighborhoods at the invitation of a corrupt ruling class.
Once-great cities have been hollowed out. Businesses and families flee violent criminals. Streets are covered in refuse, and the sights and stench of drugs are omnipresent. Roads and bridges crumble; planes fall apart in flight.
Our schools indoctrinate our children into an anti-human religion, filling young minds with poisonous ideologies. In the name of tolerance, they teach our children to hate their Nation, their heritage, and one another.
Corporate and political leaders take jobs from the American people and give them to foreigners. They take money from the American people and use it to line the pockets of adversaries.
The world of bits expands beyond our comprehension while the world of atoms crumbles in stasis. Expectations of technological marvels have been replaced by excitement for a slightly larger screen.
We see great men—men who shaped entire civilizations with the pen and the sword—torn down and burned in effigy. These men are our forefathers: men named Washington and Lincoln, Jefferson and Columbus.
We see the family under assault. Parents are disempowered, treated as mere obstacles between the State and their children. Mothers are told to treat their babies as invaders.
The Nation we inherited no longer exists, but that does not mean it cannot be recovered; that does not mean we cannot build something better.
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Part II: National Ascent
We offer a vision of the American Nation informed by our past but oriented toward the future.
We believe the family is the cornerstone of civilization. We seek a political and cultural order that defends, strengthens, and honors the family.
We seek the restoration of an American elite characterized by virtue, ability, and a devotion to the Nation and the people who constitute it.
We seek to place Christianity at its rightful place in the center of the public square.
We believe education is inherently political, and that the classroom should encourage not only academic excellence but the cultivation of virtue and an enlightened patriotism.
We believe the American economy should protect and advance the interests of the American people, and the American middle class above all.
We believe our National security should have as its watchword the defense of the lives, interests, and property of the American people before all else.
We intend to reclaim American cities, rebuild our local communities, protect our natural resources, encourage the development of technology that enables human flourishing, and build great public works worthy of a great Nation.
We believe that through prayer and action, this future is for the American people to claim.
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Why Are You Lying There?
The name “National Ascent” takes its inspiration from Xenophon, the ancient Athenian statesman and student of Socrates. Disillusioned by the decadence of Athens, Xenophon left his country in search of adventure.
Battles were waged, won, and lost. Xenophon and his companions found themselves stranded and surrounded by enemies deep in hostile territory.
In the face of certain annihilation, the young man realized that “no one is making preparations or showing any care” for their survival. Overwhelmed by the prospects of defeat—death and dishonor—the men deluded themselves, “lying there as if it were possible to stay at peace.”
So it was that Xenophon, “though he was neither a general nor a captain nor a soldier,” came to take responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of his countrymen.
“Why am I lying here,” he asked himself; “the night advances, and it is likely that the enemy will arrive together with the coming day.” There was no guarantee of success—only the guarantee that inaction meant death.
And so, a young man became a statesman who would lead his countrymen to safety.
America’s Founders were such men. What kind of men will we be?
We believe—as our forefathers believed—that the promise of the Declaration of Independence can be secured only by men who, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of their intentions, pledge to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
We recognize that the call of the Revolution was also one of fraternity: Join or Die. The crisis our country faces demands the wisdom and courage of our forefathers and the energy of youth.
Basic demographics guarantee that this country will soon undergo a transformative generational handoff. But to wait for time to accomplish what prudent action might do sooner is foolish.
Young men must seize the opportunities that today’s upheaval and uncertainty present.
Young men who share a vision for American greatness must work together to gain and wield political, economic, and cultural power for the good of the American Nation.
Just as our Nation demands this of us, so too does our Faith.
The apostle Paul commanded Timothy, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
America was built by Christian men of virtue and enterprise, and it is they—it is we—who will rebuild it.