The First and Last Line of Defense of A Free Society

In the eyes of a tyrant, lonely masses are much easier to manipulate and control than those with solid family ties.

Last month, we celebrated my parents-in-law's Gold anniversary — their 50th wedding anniversary. This month, we celebrated my parent's 55th wedding anniversary, which is also called an Emerald anniversary according to tradition. We use precious stones to name these wedding anniversaries because long-lasting marriages are rare and special, just like these stones. Resilient marriages are the foundation of families, and families make up the fabric of a free society.

It is not news that marriage rates and family formation in the U.S have been trending down (see the chart below). Many people probably do not know how the decline of marriage and family formation corresponds to our society's becoming less free and more restrictive of freedom.

I have been thinking about the relationship between families and a free society while reading Hannah Arendt’s “The Origins of Totalitarianism,” a classic written in the 1950s. If you haven’t read this book yet, I recommend adding it to your library.

Totalitarianism is "a system of government (a totalitarian regime), or a system of increasing control otherwise implemented (a totalitarian movement) –that tolerates no individual freedom or independent thought and that ultimately seeks to totally subordinate and direct all aspects of the individual human life." Those who lived in Communist/Socialist countries understand this definition very well because it was our life experience.