A lot of persons of the elitist mentality deride toughness… so foolish they are. Elitism in America exists and existed because of individuals who shaped history after the events of December 7th, 1941 and September 11th, 2001 (to name a few). In each of these events, while led by two completely different persons, America did not choose to whimper in a corner but instead to harness American power in order to extinguish evil. Elitists see history differently, probably because elitists find it amusing or enlightening to twist the historical narrative to fit their own mind-set. This does not make this type of person more enlightened, it makes this type of person akin to the high school all-star athlete who ends up serving drinks at a bar: wasted potential. I see it constantly, at reunions with old friends and with people whose style is eloquent but whose content in vacuous. What I marvel at, in the midst of listening to their diatribes against the right, is their ability to use specious arguments and a smattering of facts, ill-interpreted, that make Dali look like a realist. What I take away every time is that true “enlightenment” comes not from the arrogance of believing oneself so clever, so wise, or so insightful but rather from having a true understanding of what matters and what one actually knows. I strive for that latter while elitists blindly thrive in the former.

Toughness, on the other hand, holds its nose up to no one. Toughness sees a necessity and pursues a course of action, be it perfect or imperfect, vigorously. That is not to say that many times ignorance does not accompany toughness, but toughness itself, what I term that visceral “gut” reaction that makes us stand up to an enemy or to bite our tongues in preparation for some necessary torture, is pure and beneficial to man. Without it, the Spartans who held back the Persian Empire, glorified in history books and Hollywood alike, would not have safeguarded Western Civilization. Without it, those who resisted the Nazi war machine would have succumbed to it and we would be celebrating our new years with book burnings and lynchings of “undesirables.” So when I hear people say that such toughness is a quality that leaders should not have, I fear for my country. To imagine a world run by Chamberlains, waving pieces of paper while enemies polish their bayonets, fills me with dismay… yet this is precisely what they want. Idealists, unfortunately for all of us, do not elect Chamberlains anymore, they elect Lenins, who argue for peace but deliver national holocausts. Therefore, let us not sue for an end to American toughness, for there exist two great evils that emerge upon its extinction: the vultures who await our moment of weakness and the parasites who promise us utopian dreams but end up sucking us dry. For all of history, only toughness has kept them at bay. In the future, we will need no less to guide us forward… which makes those who cherish toughness, in my eyes, wiser than those who disparage it.

-AG