On January 11, 1989, then-President Ronald Reagan gave his famous “Shining City On The Hill” speech. In this speech, he said:

“The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.”

The eyes of all people are still upon us, but what are they seeing now?

They are seeing a country increasingly unable to resist enemies like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The debacle in Afghanistan sent the message that America is becoming incompetent and self-loathing.

What is now seen is an America that can no longer secure its borders. A country where bulwarks like the FBI and CIA are looking more like the old Stasi. A country where race takes priority over merit. A country that is preaching that there are three or more sexes and biological men can get pregnant. A country where men with men genitalia can compete against women in women’s sports; that race is determined not by genetics but by self-identification; and where half of America hates American customs, history, and the other 50 percent of Americans.

Our universities look like old Soviet-style camps where free expression and research are forbidden.

Our military leadership admits that Russian hypersonic missiles are superior and that China could easily sink the Pacific fleet. We are allowing a nuclear Iran, and all expect something from North Korea soon. Yet, the only response from those same military leaders is a discussion on how to make our military more woke.

Our media now preaches Stalinist-like orthodoxy that we are nothing more than a society of oppressors and oppressed. Personal behavior and conduct are no longer a cause for inequality. In its place, we have a Marxist-style binary country of the noble oppressed and the demonic oppressors, and the government’s only job should be to redistribute money, power, and influence. To achieve this, the government must oversee science, culture, history, literature, the arts, universities, corporate board rooms, big tech, and Wall Street. It is now far preferable to be poorer.

We have a media where it is the rule that whites are toxic and violent crime by black perpetrators of violent crimes against other blacks or Asians barely get passing mention. Somehow, a young white blue-collar male worker is responsible for the sins of 150 years ago.

We are no longer a country that can build a Navy in three years, a skyscraper in a year, or engineering marvels in short order. We now condemn the individualist and the outspoken. A new inquisition roots them out and destroys them. Social media now fuels cancel culture and censors. Punishment is administered in a nanosecond. If a Covington High School kid comes face-to-face with a pathological liar and phony activist, the former is judged and convicted in seconds for no other reason than they had a MAGA hat on. The heck with facts, context, or the truth.

Jussie Smollett spins a preposterous lie about being attacked by white demons with MAGA hats, and he immediately receives the sympathy of all despite the obvious holes in his story.

The FBI shows up at Mar-a-Lago and within hours you have former CIA officials comparing Trump to the Rosenbergs and suggesting that the death penalty should be considered. In today’s social media world you have instant character assassination by anonymous cowards.

Throughout all this, we have become a nation where growing weaker, poorer, and more ridiculous is perfectly acceptable. Yet, in the end we are a country where our city’s sidewalks are covered with urine and feces, healthy male athletes brag about breaking women’s records, Saturday night in Chicago could get you murdered, a trip to the gas pump could cost you a fortune, getting normal goods at the supermarket gets harder, and states like California running out of electricity.

Do you wonder why the world worries?