So pervasive is the decline of America that it has given birth to its own school of thought.

Something in America is fundamentally wrong and until it is fixed, America will neither compete effectively in global markets nor provide an adequate standard of living for its citizens.

As you’ve probably noticed, America has changed fast in ways good and bad.

Strange as it may seem, a nation once celebrated for its irrepressible optimism now appears to be in decline.

On the plus side, we’ve become more aware of the challenges being faced by many American citizens.

On the minus side, America seems to be changing in some fundamental ways.

The list of complaints seems endless: Real wages are falling. Productivity growth is down. Companies aren’t competitive in global markets. White-collar jobs are no longer secure. Our nation’s infrastructure is collapsing. The federal deficit is soaring. The health system is deteriorating. Our cities are unsafe. Our schools are failing.

I do understand the Democrats’ view. To liberals, Trump’s “America first campaign” will turn its back on the rest of the world.

As an American Citizen, I must say I am far more concerned (and scared) about the changes coming from the liberal side.

I’ll mention just four big changes in recent times:  Attitudes toward free speech, identity politics, thought-and-speech policing, and increasing tendencies in liberals toward violence.

I believe that newcomers legally coming to America appreciate this country’s unique strengths more than its native-born citizens.

The fundamental idea, of course, is that what ultimately defines you and your destiny in this country are not your racial, cultural and religious identity but your unique talents and willingness to work hard.

In America’s past, your identity was meant to be transcended and not clung to as all-consuming and all-defining.

In the America I grew up in, it was OK to think differently on any number of things. What mattered was that we could vigorously debate, challenge, reason with those on the other side, and often agree to disagree.

What wasn’t the American way was to practice thought-and-speech policing: to shame, demonize, ostracize, silence or browbeat others into a one-sided way of thinking. And the American way, certainly, wasn’t to physically intimidate, heckle and endanger our political opponents or their supporters.

On many college campuses across America we see free speech being trampled upon in a bad way. It’s not just conservative speakers, liberal professors who challenge some ideas are being heckled and often silenced in a physically threatening way.

Frighteningly enough,  an alarming percentage of our next generation of entrepreneurs, leaders, thinkers and educators are hostile toward free speech.

The danger comes when socialist Democrats directly or indirectly assert that group identity is all that matters and is what ultimately defines and tells the whole story of any individual.

Some varied examples: To the left, any Trump supporter is a one-dimensional “deplorable,” never mind that Trump attracted different kinds of voters, educated, non educated, white, non-white, urban and rural, etc.

To the left, any minority person or any illegal immigrant is almost always seen as a victim or one nursing a grievance. They don’t take into account that not everyone’s the same, thinks the same, has lived the same experiences or even reacted to their adverse experiences the same way.

Whatever happened to the wonderful American idea that a person’s unique individuality makes instant classification difficult and that one’s individuality can transcend all labels and setbacks in life?

Good day!

Robert Ware

French Creek