Back to goodness in America with Norm

So many people in this country are decent and good simply because they have they have grown up in the United States of America, a society that encourages charity and neighborliness.  Decency is not an accident; in countries such as the old Soviet Union, indifference was rampant and kindness rare because virtue was crushed at every turn.  America, on the other hand, has cultivated freedom and virtuous behavior, which allows goodness to flourish.

The greatness of America is not in question. The real question is, with leftist ideology steadily gaining a foothold, can that decency continue to flourish?

When virtue is defined as that which the government deems acceptable, and when that same government aggressively assumes the role of caring for those in need, can the goodness survive?  Goodness is not something that a beneficent government can bestow; it flows from the hearts of free citizens reared in a tradition of morality, independence, and resourcefulness.  When the left denigrates that tradition and seeks to replace it with a materialist, deterministic ideology that empowers an ever-expanding government, American goodness -- and hence American greatness -- is gravely imperiled