By John Dale Dunn

Victor Davis Hanson is one of the most respected historians/intellectuals of the conservative movement; I have been an enthusiast of his work going back to my first experience with his erudition and eloquence—The Western Way of War (1989, 2nd ed. 2000), an explanation of why citizen soldiers are so effective and why Western Armies have been so lethal. Now he is past 24 books and hundreds if not thousands of essays as well as appearances regularly on TV that all provide sober, thought-provoking, and insightful political commentary. Any observer of VDH cannot help but be impressed with his solid and thoughtful analysis of political and social issues, probative and measured.

I reviewed Dr. Hanson’s book on WWII at American Thinker in 2018, but I am late to the party on his latest book The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America by Victor Davis Hanson 433 pages Kindle $17.99, Hardcover $21.37 ASIN ‏ : B08W4ZZTTP ‎ (Basic Books 2021). Two reviews have already appeared at American Thinker by Richard Baehr and Terry Scambray that are excellent, but when I read the blurb by the distinguished Roger Kimball that named Dying Citizen Hanson’s magnum opus, I was compelled to make the pitch again to readers about the importance of Hanson and his compelling argument for good citizenship as the basis for western civilization and the western ideal of elective self-governance.

Dying Citizen revisits The Western Way of War theme, the importance of the citizen in a western community/society.  The importance of the citizen as opposed to the role of subjects of a regime, king, prince, emperor, chief, or khan, and the advance of society that is made when citizens govern.  The beginning of Western Civilization is the city-state citizen-dominated political entities of Greece.

Dr. Hanson is a 3rd generation raisin grape farmer in Selma California, the Central Valley, just outside of Fresno. Classics trained at Stanford, he formed the Classics program at California State University Fresno and became an outstanding author, essayist, and commentator as a fellow of the Hoover Institute of Stanford University.  He favored the presidency of Trump as a reinvigoration of American values and a rejection of dangerous elitist states and globalism. This book was written, I believe, to educate the reader on the unique nature of American citizenship and the importance of the development of citizenship through history. 

Chapter One is about peasants (think subjects) and the importance of the development in society of an influential middle class.  Without a vibrant middle class, citizenship cannot develop because the society is composed of the noble/master/oligarch group dominating the serfs/peasants/proletariat.  He points out why the decimation of the middle class in America threatens the civic societal American unity.  Welfare statism and dominance by the ruling class elites take the vitality out of a nation.

The Second Chapter borrows on the basis of one of Hanson’s other successful books, Mexifornia (2003), which warned of the destructive danger of unfettered immigration and the creation of a resident rather than citizen class because of immigrants who have no intention of assimilation and becoming loyal and contributing American Citizens.

Hanson raises the question: do these illegal and even legal immigrants have in mind becoming American citizens or are they just moving to a place that offers benefits and protections and looks better than where they came from?  Sure, people want a better life, but will they become good citizens or just parasites?

Moreover, the open borders crowd sees the immigrant population as a political lever that will allow Democrats’ power with no end that fits with the non-assimilating parasitic nature of the immigration flood.  In fact, Hanson points out the devolving situation of tribalism and ethnic/racial/religious divisions that will destroy the concept of American Citizenship and allow a growing group of people who refuse to become loyal and contributing citizens of their adopted country.  (Think of the Mexican crowd booing the American Soccer team in a Los Angeles stadium or the La Raza movement.)

The third chapter hits on the most serious threat to American Unity: tribalism and racism in the populace energized by Marxist ideologues. The content of the chapter traces the negative impact of tribalism through history and how it destroys national and societal unity and the spirit of effective citizenship. Hanson puts a deft touch on this discussion because of his deep and comprehensive erudition and his orientation in the foundations of self-governance, Classical Western History, and the legacy of the Greeks and Romans.  But he also offers some examples of how things fall apart due to divisions created by nascent tribalism and racism. America is now in the squeeze created by tribalism and racism and Hanson properly exposes the elements of danger and the consequences of failing to extinguish the fires of division.

In this chapter, Hanson also provides an insightful look at the dangers of the modern “equity” political movement that is just reverse racism and allows state action to impose limits on individuals that should not exist in a free society.  Statism, collectivism, and racism all act in concert to destroy the American Iconic Land of Opportunity.  Moreover, the ideological tenets of the movement are founded on the assertion that America is evil and flawed and deserves nothing but condemnation and destruction—not a good foundation for promoting citizenship.

Chapters 4 and 5 focus on the impact of what Angelo Codevilla and Hanson have both put on the front burner, the development of an elite and arrogant oligarchic ruling class both elected and not, and the division between the country class and the ruling class.  In Chapter 4 Hanson exposes the negative aspects of the administrative state.  In Chapter 5 he discusses the poorly disguised collectivist socialist evolutionists who would discard the America of the founders, all the founding documents, and the republican form of government in favor of a mobocracy.

Chapter 6 goes after the mostly American globalists who are now ensconced as elites and would endeavor to push America to become a pawn in the globalist agenda.  I can’t go on. These jackasses are advocating a move for the American surrender of their sacred constitutional rights and the Constitutional Republic created by the founders.

Hanson wrote a final chapter (epilogue) to this Magnum Opus that cannot be ignored.  He explained that Trump advocated for the principles that underlie the Constitutional Republic, support of nationalism, the citizens, the middle class, and rejection of the deep state that is anti-American, concern for the middle class and the American occupants of that middle class, an effort to straighten out the tax and economic and foreign policy/trade situation that would restore an American Middle Class that would also restore citizens to their rightful position as rugged individualists, the foundation for American success.

A few accolades are appropriate, considering the inadequacy of my book review—and I am not uneasy in this effort, I enjoy it:

“Mr. Hanson, an accomplished classicist and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, is one of the great amalgamators of American political writing. He has a particular gift for bringing together a dizzying array of events, controversies and ideas and making sense of them by advancing a coherent argument that incorporates thousands of years of history---Wall Street Journal

“As Victor Davis Hanson shows in his learned, powerful, and troubling new book, The Dying Citizen, the steady devolution of citizenship speaks volumes about where we are today and where we seem to be heading… Hanson lays out this grim diagnosis with his usual clarity and brilliance, moving easily from his deep specialized knowledge of the ancient Greek and Roman world through savvy observations about present-day politics and American society.”―The New Criterion

“Hanson is well-positioned to describe the evolution of citizenship from ancient times through the modern era, and especially the assumptions about citizenship underlying America's constitutional order….  Hanson presents, clearly and concisely, a case that critics will struggle to refute. His troubling argument has far-reaching implications. The Dying Citizen is a book that all Americans should read, then discuss with friends and neighbors.”―Claremont Review of Books

Read the full article at the following weblink:

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/05/victor_davis_hanso...

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Comment by Willem Post on May 16, 2022 at 4:20pm
Click to Download
2000Mules.mp4
0 bytes
Click to download the video to watch the details of just how 2000 Dem/Prog operators, aka "MULES", were used to pick up PREPARED ballots at Dem/Prog ballot preparation centers, and deliver them, around the clock, to various DROP BOXES, that had video cameras far enough away, so no one could make much details.
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It is well-known, telemarketers purchase lists of names of people who buy certain goods, such as certain types of clothes, and sell the lists to other companies who sell similar clothes, who then send THEIR catalogs to YOUR house.
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In a similar manner, your mobile phone movements are automatically tracked IN-REAL-TIME, so, for example, ads of neighborhood stores, suited to YOUR buying preferences, can be shown on your mobile phone, as you drive by.
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Telemarketers, or anybody, can purchase mobile phone PINGS of each person's mobile phone, which provides detailed information where YOUR phone, or many thousands of phones, went over a chosen period of time,
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It was found, after some analysis:
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MULES payed multiple visits to multiple ballot preparation centers, and multiple visits to drop boxes, on the same day.
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MULES, per drop box videos, took photos of the ballots, before dropping them, so they would have proof, and get paid $20/ballot.
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Elections in Europe
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In Germany, 85 million people, and France 75 million people, there are 
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No drop boxes
No mail-in ballots
No ballot harvesting
No early voting
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Every CITIZEN has a personal identity card with a unique number
The cards of non-citizens are identical, but have a different color; THEY DO NO VOTE
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A passport, which has the same bio information, can be used instead of an identity card
The passport of a non-citizen has a different color
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The cards and passports are very difficult to forge.
Your address on the card determines your place to vote
There are NO REGISTERED VOTER LISTS
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No machines and computers are used, by LAW
All is hand counted
The count takes about 2 to 3 days to complete, as was demonstrated in Franc a few weeks ago.

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?

We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

 -- Mahatma Gandhi

"It's not whether you get knocked down: it's whether you get up."
Vince Lombardi 

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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