In a couple of posts I mentioned Marco Rubio’s speech in Athens. The short version is, I’m impressed. Rubio does an excellent job of explaining where we come from as a nation, culture, society, and government. He then explains a cautionary tale about how we are bit by bit, frittering away the good things we inherited from the Greeks, and sinking into a society without risk, a society of comfort, of averageness and of mediocrity. I could burden this post with pull quotes from his speech, but frankly there are too many. I think Rubio’s overall point is not to be ashamed of the accomplishments and achievements of western civilization, recognize our own exceptionalism and embrace it, don’t view nationalism as a dirty word, and commit a society of accomplishments, achievements, and most of all, the desire to do those things.
Rubio notes that under President Trump, the United States has made its choice. I agree. That is a good thing. When I hear the slogan Make America Great Again, I think of everything Rubio said.
The speech is lengthy, but if you read nothing else in the next day or two, read or watch this.
https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/11/the-west-at-a-crossroads-excellence-or-mediocrity/