America at 250: Will our Founding Ideals Survive?

Inasmuch as the Founding Fathers and Lincoln were all willing to give their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to establish and save the nation, how should Americans now think about their obligations?

Scott S. Powell | July 4, 2026

Today, no one reasonably well-informed doubts that America faces serious perils. And notwithstanding President Trump’s strong foreign policy leadership, the greatest threats to our country still come from within, rather than from foreign military invasion.

Recent statistics indicate that violent crime has decreased from 2024 to 2025 by an estimated 9.3%, in categories such as murder, robbery, rape, aggravated assault, and property crime. These are conventional crime categories reported to police. However, "lawlessness" can mean different things to different people.

These crime statistics do not capture things like riots, public disorder, vagrancy, unlawful occupancy, public perception of unsafety, white-collar government and corporate crime, cybercrime, and fraud. In short, public perception of crime often diverges sharply from the measured data, with many people believing and feeling that crime is rising even when statistics suggest otherwise.

A study by Pew Research sheds light on this divergence by focusing on the state of trust in related and overlapping areas in both the private and public sectors. A summary of Pew Research’s findings:

Interpersonal, social, and societal trust has been declining. A combination of multiple long-running surveys found a 23-point decline in social trust since 1964.

Trust in the federal government “to do what is right” fell from a high near 77% in 1964 to the low 20s in recent years. Much of that sharp decline came with Covid pandemic lockdowns, the unproven mRNA emergency use vaccinations “forced” on the public, and overt censorship by government to corral the public into accepting unprecedented violations of Americans’ civil liberties and constitutional rights.

Trust in institutions has greatly eroded, and is increasingly polarized. The decline extends well beyond government. Trust in historically respected institutions, such as the news media, higher education, and science, has taken a significant hit........

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