Restoring Civic Virtue

What does it mean to be an American Citizen today? For too many, citizenship has been reduced to a passport, a set of consumer rights, and a ballot cast every two or four years. The deeper truth is that citizenship is a duty, a calling, and even an art of sorts. However, that reality has been lost in the fog of consumerism, polarization, and cultural amnesia. If America is to reclaim its destiny as a civilization-state, it must restore the moral and civic formation of its people. In classical Greece, this was known as paideia or the total education of the person, not just in technical skills but in character, virtue, and civic responsibility. We must seek to revive this spirit of formation, creating a citizenry worthy of the Republic they inherit.

The statistics are sobering. Majorities of Americans cannot name the three branches of government, identify the First Amendment, or explain how a bill becomes a law. Without civic knowledge, the people are vulnerable to demagogues, corporate manipulation, and the whims of foreign-backed lobbying. This is not just ignorance; it is cultural illiteracy. A nation that forgets its own story cannot defend it. Civic education must no longer be treated as a dusty afterthought. It must be central, as it will form citizens who understand not just how the government works, but why self-government is worth defending.

America once had a unifying motto: E Pluribus Unum or “out of many, one.” That motto’s meaning has been buried under layers of grievance and shame. Instead of seeing themselves as part of a great, ongoing story, students are taught a patchwork of competing victim narratives or bland, colorless facts. A more nuanced approach would be to restore a national narrative that honors all the ethnocultural hearths of America, from the Gullah coast to Appalachia, from the Midwest to Hawaii. All of this must be done while emphasizing that these are not separate destinies, but threads weaved into a single civilizational tapestry.

Our literature, music, and art are part of a high culture that is uniquely American and deserves to be celebrated, not discarded in favor of either European mimicry or globalized consumer pop.

For decades now, the American people, whether consciously or unconsciously, have been trained to think of themselves as consumers first and citizens second. When something in society breaks, the default response is to switch brands, not fix the system. But Citizenship is not a subscription service. It is a duty to the community and to posterity. We must teach habits of stewardship, whether it be caring for public spaces, volunteering, organizing, voting with foresight, or serving in civic institutions. A people who understand their responsibilities will demand better leaders and hold them accountable.

The overemphasis on atomized individualism has led to a paradox whereby people are more connected digitally but less rooted physically. Local communities disintegrate as young people leave for distant cities, while online tribalism takes their place. A national education program rooted in paideia would re-root Americans in their history, regions, and culture. Students should know not only the federal Constitution but also their state’s history, their local dialects, their regional culture and even cuisine. This grounds them in the soil of America rather than floating in a placeless virtual void.

Far too long have we treated schools as pipelines for jobs, ignoring their role in shaping citizens. This “credentialism” leaves graduates unanchored, with no sense of duty to community or nation. We must call for education that is formative, not just informative. Philosophy, American literature, and rhetoric must be restored to the curriculum. Civics must be taught not just in the classroom but through participation – mock legislatures, student government associations, local council visits, and youth government programs. Students must be given real-world opportunities to volunteer and serve their communities, so that by adulthood they already know how to act as co-creators of society.

The erosion of public holidays, parades, and neighborhood festivals has also left Americans with fewer shared rituals. We need them back, not as hollow ceremonies, but as living traditions which breathe life into communities.

Imagine a revival of Federal Exchange Programs where students from Mississippi spend a semester in Oregon, or a New Deal-style push to restore town squares and restore or build new community halls. Imagine every public school hosting annual citizenship days, celebrating the contributions of local heroes and regional culture. Public space must be reclaimed as a place for free assembly, not just consumption. Parks, libraries, and plazas must once again be where Americans meet as equals.

We often shy away from moral language in schools, fearing controversy. But courage, justice, prudence, and temperance are not partisan concepts. They are timeless virtues without which no republic can stand. Civic education should explicitly teach these virtues, tying them to the American story. The courage of civil rights activists, the prudence of the founding fathers, the justice sought in labor movements, and the temperance of those who placed community over greed are just some such examples of America’s story as a people.

However, the civic decay we experience today is not inevitable. It is the result of choices which we can reverse. If we restore paideia to our education system, revive civic ritual, reclaim public space, and teach citizens their duties as well as their rights, we can rebuild the American spirit. The challenge is not simply to create better consumers or better workers; It is to form better citizens. It is about forming virtuous men and women who know their history, love their country, and are prepared to carry its story forward. The fate of America depends upon it.