One thing that is always thrown by the wayside in times of war is the maintenance of the national soul. When faced with the inherent brutality of war, the emotions of the moment can overshadow the values we seek to uphold. When the job of maintaining this national soul is left to the state, – a group Murray Rothbard labeled a “centralized, regularized organization of theft” – more enticing projects tend to arise. Often those projects directly harm the citizens of the nation, as by the state’s very nature, they tend to involve aggression, theft, murder or coercion.
Despite the lack of care given by the government to our nation’s soul, it is nonetheless a core pillar of a cohesive country. It defines the virtues our country intends to project to the world.
The “national soul”
This concept is not new. Ronald Reagan famously referred to America as a “shining city upon a hill” in his 1988 farewell address to the nation. He explained that it was our country’s prioritization of freedom for our citizens which made us an example for the world to emulate.
Many have also outlined the danger of losing sight of our national soul. As the war in Iran escalates, and Donald Trump’s rhetoric and actions become increasingly concerning, I am reminded of John Quincy Adams’ famous Independence Day speech from 1821. In the address, he masterfully explains the danger of getting our nation trapped in a web of conflicts across the world and forgetting to focus on the liberty of our domestic population:
“Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence, has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. She will recommend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example. She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign Independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force. The frontlet upon her brow would no longer beam with the ineffable splendor of Freedom and Independence; but in its stead would soon be substituted an Imperial Diadem, flashing in false and tarnished lustre the murky radiance of dominion and power. She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit.”
Adams is precise and accurate in his warning. If our nation chooses to export force and war rather than the virtues of liberty, our spirit will be harmed in the process. We will lose track of what it is that makes America unique in the history of the globe, the way we showcase the success that can come when a nation is born out of a longing for liberty.
This warning has unfortunately not been heeded, at least not by those in positions of state power. Rather than focus on domestic liberty, the U.S. federal government has decided its best means to influence the globe is through military force.
Embracing aggression
The U.S. federal government has engaged in non-stop military conflicts for decades, despite the threat to the American homeland being relatively small. Not only have these conflicts been counterproductive in forwarding the cause of freedom, but we are so far down the path of the collapse of the republic that the pretext has been essentially dropped. Now, rather than give us speeches about how Americans must support the cause of freeing a foreign population from their evil dictator, we instead get monstrous social media posts such as this from our president on Easter morning:
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F*ckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
While Trump didn’t follow through on this genocidal threat, it shows a lack of basic humanity. Careless as ever, the president showed no regard for the fact that he is speaking to the world as a representative of hundreds of millions of people, including millions of children, who do not wish to become entangled in a religious war that they have nothing to do with.
The whole war with Iran reeks of this same disregard for human life and basic morality. Not only has the rhetoric been shocking but so has the conduct. On February 28, 2026, the first day of the U.S.-Israeli joint military campaign against Iran, the United States struck an elementary school in Minab, killing over 100 schoolgirls. While questions regarding who was responsible for the strike were asked for days, it soon became apparent that the U.S. military was in fact the culprit. However, the U.S. government is still yet to admit this.
In fact, the official “investigation,” – which was the crutch Pete Hegseth used whenever he was asked about the strike – is supposedly still ongoing all these months later. In fact, CNN reported on July 16, 2026, that the U.S. military is still yet to conduct a standard review of the intelligence related to this airstrike.
I would like to believe (and I still do) that this was a tragic mistake. However, we cannot truly come to a conclusion on this saga until the U.S. government explains what happened here. Was this an accident? If so, everybody with the slightest sense of humanity must demand an apology. It is beyond reckless to claim to represent a population and simultaneously commit atrocities like this in their name, without showing an ounce of remorse.
The “Truth” Social Graft
Imperialism has led to the decay of America’s moral standing in the world. This has been seen for the last 25 years, as the U.S. federal government’s adventurism abroad has led to the death of millions and the destruction of nations. This decay has also manifested strategically. As we’ve seen throughout this war with Iran, the U.S. has struggled to get any tangible military wins. America is dangerously low on defensive weapons systems, this war has not achieved any of the goals the Trump administration originally set, and the U.S. has been unable to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in 20% of the world’s energy supply being unable to reach the global market.
At home, Americans have felt the energy crunch. Gas prices rose for a period of time due to the reduction in the global oil supply, and the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is dangerously low.
This was all totally predictable. If we simply observed the results of the other wars of the 21st century, we could see clearly that the money printed to fund them causes inflation, which leads to rising prices, and affects Americans in a direct financial manner. Our dollars simply don’t go as far. Simultaneously, there are intangible effects. Social media has been flooded with the murderous social media posts of the president, videos of entire neighborhoods being bombed, and skies in Iran raining oil from the attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure.
The presidents’ posts on Truth Social also represent a different kind of degradation in the soul of America. Trump’s posts serve as de-facto official White House press releases and have the capability to drastically swing financial markets back and forth at a moment’s notice.
With ethics having gone completely out the window, it is somewhat unsurprising to hear about the alleged insider trading activities surrounding this war. Over the course of the conflict, there have been many instances of massive trades being made on oil futures and in the stock market just minutes before major announcements were made by Trump regarding the starting and stopping of attacks on Iran.
To take it one step further, Truth Social, owned by Trump Media, is now offering users the chance to pay for early access to the president’s posts.
The program, known as “Truth API,” would give its users advanced information on the market-shifting announcements of President Trump, allowing them to make financial trades before the rest of the public knows about it. The Trump family are major stakeholders in Trump Media, and Donald Trump himself owns 41% of the company.
This quite literally means that Wall Street asset managers will be paying Donald Trump and his family in exchange for early access to his market-altering public statements.
We are talking about levels of corruption and greed that are unprecedented in modern history. It’s disgusting, and it’s beyond me how even the biggest Trump loyalist could defend this.
A decaying soul
This is the crumbing-empire style of governance. As the system degrades, everyone is trying to take as much as they can for themselves. In the end, they may be comfortable and wealthy as the country crumbles around them. Similarly, those who lack morals likely won’t notice the darkness that arises as a result of their behavior. We on the other hand will be left to fend for ourselves with a diluted currency and a weakened sense of national spirit.
Why should we allow the nation of our ancestors to be irreversibly damaged by these sinister actors? The virtues of liberty have not died, and anger towards pointless wars has only grown in prominence within the American public discourse. There needs to be a reckoning in this country over the damage these wars have done to our national soul.
If America is to once again serve as a shining city for the world to emulate, we must finally have leaders who understand that you can be a constitutional republic or you can be the world empire, but you cannot be both.
Nolan Denaro is a political commentator, writer, libertarian, and host of “The Quest For Clarity” podcast, which can be found on YouTube and Spotify. His work has been seen on Antiwar.com, and he writes on his personal Substack, which can be found at nolandenaro.substack.com. He can be reached for correspondence by email at nolansdenaro@icloud.com.
