We face a serious problem.
We see the rise of socialism, particularly with this midterm election. We see members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) pushing to upend our very system of government.
We see Americans falling for this ideology that has brought nothing but failure and millions of deaths and voting for socialist candidates, thinking that it is somehow just about society caring more or doing more for people, and not understanding any of the history.
We see Democrats who are in power talking cavalierly about doing away with basic fundamental concepts of our constitutional system, like the Electoral College, and being determined to pack the Supreme Court to get their political way on everything.
Underlying all that is the rejection of how exceptional our American system is, with the socialists and the radical Democrats desiring to throw it aside or destroy it for the sake of their own power. What gives them a leg up is the failure to properly teach about our Constitution, how important our fundamental freedoms are, and how special we are as a nation.
Unfortunately, civics education has not only deteriorated for decades, but we've also had "educators" actively teaching a false narrative about how bad the U.S. is as well. The great William Bennett was calling out the problem in the 1980s, and it's only gotten worse since then. It's not an accident, but a conscious effort by the Left that conservatives and folks on the right have not taken seriously enough or properly responded to with continuous effort.
Now we are bearing the brunt of that failure to address the problem for decades.
However, three Supreme Court justices — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — are calling for more civic education to help us hold onto those founding freedoms in a series from the Federalist Society that is spotlighting "250 Years of American Exceptionalism."
Gorsuch pointed out our responsibility and how special this nation is — that what we have is really quite precious.
“The reason why our Constitution and Declaration have survived is because people choose it anew in every generation. You need to know its history, you need to know what you are preserving.”— Justice Neil Gorsuch As we continue our celebration of America 250, Justice Gorsuch shares his advice for the next generation on why knowing our history matters to preserving the principles of our founding.
— Federalist Society (@FedSoc) November 11, 2026
"Our country is a blessing from God, and that we owe great thanks for it, and we have great responsibility for it," he went on. "The reason why our Constitution and Declaration have survived is because people choose it anew in every generation. You need to know its history. You need to know what you're preserving. Daniel Webster said it took 6,000 years for us to generate a system of government like this. Don't expect that to happen easily or again. Miracles do not cluster. I really think our Constitution and our Declaration are miracles."
Kavanaugh stressed the importance of education.
“The enduring Constitution, the enduring Declaration, the connection between those two again are critically important for people to understand our liberty and equality and so that all of us together can live up to Lincoln’s goal of preserving government of the people, by the people, for the people, for the next 250 years as well.”— Justice Brett Kavanaugh In our America 250 conversation, Justice Kavanaugh reflects on what it will take to carry Lincoln’s vision of self-government into America’s next 250 years.
— Federalist Society (@FedSoc) November 11, 2026
"I think our education system is absolutely fundamental to ensuring that in the next 250 years, we preserve this republic and improve upon this republic. So, teaching American history, teaching the values of this country, the history of this country, why this country exists, how this country has been preserved, how this country has been improved over time, for example, by our constitutional amendment process and otherwise," the justice, appointed to the bench following a tumultuous confirmation process in 2018, said.
"And I think all of us should be constantly striving to ensure civics education, not only for our youth, but for all of us, and that we constantly are learning and participating in our system of government," he continued.
Barrett pointed to the Declaration of Independence and how it called for civic participation today.
“We are not passive observers in the American project; we are participants in it. It is our project.…. I might suggest that people look at the last line of the Declaration of Independence, it ends with a mutual pledges in which the signatories to the document mutually pledge, their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the success of the American project.”— Justice Amy Coney Barrett During our America 250 conversation with Justice Barrett, she points to the Declaration of Independence’s closing pledge as a reminder that our government rests on our consent and depends on our participation.
— Federalist Society (@FedSoc) November 11, 2026
"We're not passive observers in the American project. We're participants in it. It is our project," she said. "I might suggest that people look at the last line of the Declaration of Independence. It ends with a mutual pledge in which the signatories to the document mutually pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to the success of the American project. And they made good on that promise. Some lost their fortune, lost their property to loyalists ... and they pledged with their honor not to deviate from the commitments that they had made in signing the Declaration of Independence."
"Surely that's the kind of commitment that it takes to have it keep going forward," said Barrett.
We're going to need that — and a lot more — for the fight ahead.
