Is it just possible the supposed “Land of the Free” has a significant problem with – freedom?

Let’s take a quick look. The outgoing presidential administration:

• censored conservatives online;
• had FBI agents visit them over their social media views;
• tried to jail its political rival, and did imprison his supporters;
• together with the media hid the president’s mental condition from the people until it was glaringly obvious;
• flat ignored a Supreme Court ruling on student loan forgiveness;
• actively facilitated an illegal immigrant invasion, breaking multiple laws;
• blunted investigations into the president’s son, then pardoned him of all crimes known and unknown;
• imprisoned even the most peaceful Jan. 6 protesters for their dissent.

It’s all frighteningly anti-free speech, anti-rule of law and anti-American.

Worse yet, a sizable chunk of federal, state and local governments went along with all that and more, as did millions of American voters Nov. 5.

You can’t fix a problem that sweeping, that fundamental, that systemic, with one election.

You can only fix it with education.

That means a return to teaching civics – most importantly the Constitution, separation of powers and the Bill of Rights. It means not letting students graduate from high school until they’re completely fluent in the American system of self-governance and the values underlying it.

Period.

But a new system of American education must go beyond even the best civics instruction. We need K-12 and college courses in:

• the vital link between freedom and peace
• freedom vs. tyranny today and in history
• atrocities of communism through history
• servant leadership for public servants
• principles of self-governance
• the First Amendment and Bill of Rights
• how to build peaceful lives and societies
• ethics, ethics, ethics

This is not a question just for America and Americans. After all, what should befall the world at large if America, the land of the free, were to see its historic experiment in freedom come to naught?

Nor is that an idle concern: The nonprofit advocacy organization Freedom House has reported 18 consecutive years of decline in freedoms worldwide. And of 210 countries, only 81 are considered free – though that may be overly generous, considering recent assaults on free speech in countries such as Britain and America.

In short, we’d better get our own house in order for the sake of the planet.

Yet, from what has gone on here in recent years, and the Third-World politics and justice system Americans have oddly been good with, one can only conclude our education system has failed catastrophically to teach basic Americanism.

Our schools are simply failing utterly to teach Americans about America.

That – more than war, pestilence or foreign enemies – is the gravest existential threat to this country.

Question is, are we going to do anything about it?