As the Communist Chinese spy balloon soared over the heartland for nearly a week, it became abundantly clear that America’s enemy No. 1 is disturbingly emboldened. And why shouldn’t it be? It took our likely CCP-compromised president days to destroy the surveillance balloon.
The scariest part is that while the headline-grabbing balloon was shot down, the Chinese threat carries on. China has the world’s largest navy and is building islands to aggress America’s Southeast Asian allies. Chinese companies are buying up U.S. farmland, which poses a biological warfare threat, and they’re also buying U.S. cell towers that can be used to directly spy on American citizens and interfere with our military operations.
At the heart of China’s brazen military and intelligence aggression is its (accurate) perception of American disunity. An apt example comes from a recent viral TikTok video (which in a very meta way is itself a threatening product of Chinese spyware).
The TikTok features a 2019 speech by Iraq veteran and Medal of Honor recipient David Bellavia, a true American hero. What’s interesting about the video is that it wasn’t Bellavia’s entire speech that went mega-viral, with more than 8 million views not including the reposts, but only one specific clip where he says:
Our military should not be mistaken for a cable news gabfest show. We don’t care what you look like. We don’t care who you voted for, who you worship, what you worship, who you love. It doesn’t matter if your dad left you millions when he died or if you knew who your father was. We have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you know what’s good for you.
Bellavia’s speech was meant to be intimidating for our enemies, and the TikTok edit was supposed to be inspiring and “cool” for young American men, given the dark and ominous trap song “Superhero” playing in the background.
However, something about this selective clip from Bellavia’s speech feels off; something is missing from his rallying cry. The U.S. military is indeed race and class blind, and that’s a good thing. Bellavia also mentioned the military doesn’t care whom you love, whom you vote for, or whom you worship, either — all fine. But what in this clip is unifying? A message meant to encourage men to enlist and protect their homeland necessitates a cause. But there is no cause included in the TikTok, only power.
If the clip mentioned any concrete values or motivating ideals, young watchers would surely be offended. American youths have been taught to despise our “bigoted” founding documents. Even the National Archives has slapped a “harmful content” warning on the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence.
Instead, the clip reflects the ethos of the military and other leaders of the United States today: Diversity is our strength. Period.
To that end, as the U.S. military focuses its recruitment efforts on blonde women with gay moms, Russia and China recruitment ads exemplify uniformity, strength, and patriotism. Unfortunately, for the pandering military marketing team and our national security, Gen Z-ers might like the diversity messaging, but they aren’t acting on it. Military recruitment numbers are tanking.
Those sinking numbers are also fueled by the military’s conservative witch hunt, which has discouraged many red-state boys from enlisting. It turns out military higher-ups actually do care whom you voted for and what you believe. The Pentagon has been attempting to root out “extremism” in the military, which appears to be entirely targeted at conservatives. The right-wing enlisted men and women who endure are subjected to critical race theory reeducation.
The issues plaguing the military are symptomatic of civilizational decline, as American culture rejects the morals and shared values that once defined our country. Over the weekend, the Grammy Awards featured a satanic ritual as the main act, and our first lady was in attendance. This is not what spiritually and mentally healthy leaders promote. More broadly, we are dealing with a massive mental health crisis among our youth. Many of them are confused by their own biology, and our culture’s response is to chemically mutilate them and then celebrate it under the diversity banner.
Our national identity crisis is not benign, it is deeply troubling, and as American feminist, social critic, and self-proclaimed transgender Camille Paglia explains, not unique in history. “The Roman Empire got very comfortable and tolerant in its late phases, very sophisticated, open to homosexuality and all kinds of things … and there was nothing at the heart of it,” said Paglia. “There was no passionate belief at the heart of Imperial Roman culture except political power by Rome itself.”
“If you believe in nothing, nothing but a certain comfort level, and you’re tolerant to everything,” Paglia continued, “and there’s a system out there that is passionate and militant — it’s the belief system that is passionate that is going to win.”
American identity used to be derived from a national mythology that made up our shared cultural identity. When people stop believing in the myth, place warning labels on our founding documents, demonize our forefathers, abandon all values, and instead uphold only diversity — only what makes us different — the myth crumbles.
George Orwell said that “myths which are believed in tend to be true.” The inverse is also true. When people stop believing in the American mythos, it dies, and we become doomed to the same fate that met Rome.
Evita Duffy-Alfonso is a staff writer to The Federalist and the co-founder of the Chicago Thinker. She loves the Midwest, lumberjack sports, writing, and her family. Follow her on Twitter at @evitaduffy_1 or contact her at evita@thefederalist.com.
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