This week’s non-shocking news out of the White House centers on Trump’s decision to withdraw America from the Paris Climate Accord. It’s non-shocking in that it was a campaign promise, although in the realm of politics, perhaps it is a shock that a campaign promise was actually kept. Cue, immediately, the caterwauling and gnashing of teeth from the usual suspects. Cue derision, hyperbole, condemnation, sniffing, and symbolic gestures. Indeed, we are told, we have joined Syria and Nicaragua as non-signatories, and via guilt-by-association we are as loathsome as they are. Indeed, golden boy (and unrepentant cronyist government teat-sucker) Elon Musk quit two of the President’s business advisory councils. As did Disney’s Robert Iger. Indeed, we are told, we are dooming the planet by our unilateral withdrawal.

Forgive me if I yawn.

The Paris Climate deal was a rather raw one for America and the balance of the first world. It imposes fully one-fifth of the total carbon emissions reduction burden on America, who is already among the cleanest emitters in the world. It calls for a massive transfer of wealth from the first world to the developing world. It has no enforcement mechanism, instead relying on everyone’s promises. And, it gives the biggest emitters carte blanche to continue increasing their carbon output. While the US pledged to reduce emissions by 28%, China merely agreed to stop increasing their carbon output by 2030. And, China’s publicly announced plans include an increase of 20% in coal energy production. All for… are you sitting down?… a miniscule 0.17°C reduction in predicted warming over the next century. IF you believe the models and the modelers, despite their record of inaccuracy, AND, at incredible cost.

And, let me repeat: the agreement is non-binding, and permits each nation to set its own targets.

So – why the brouhaha? Why the near-universal condemnation from the intelligentsia? After all, the Accord remains in place, and all the other nations that signed it remain obligated – no, strike that, it’s non-binding… “committed” to their goals.

Consider, for a moment, the rest of the world. Consider how many nations’ best-and-brightest dislike their nations so much that they advocate policies that diminish them in favor of the rest of the world. Consider whether China, Russia, India, the EU, and the balance of the world’s major economies are chock-full of people who think it better they subordinate their own interests to those of others.

Of course not. Even the EU, that bastion of (cough, cough) good and upright thinking, cares about the EU first.

This home-nation-disdain seems to be a particular attribute of the American elite. While it is quite true that there is a substantial anti-nationalism mindset in many European states, that’s a different animal than this “put the rest of the world ahead of America” outlook that we find here. We see it in the continual efforts to overemphasize every negative aspect of American history while diminishing or ignoring America’s monumental achievements. We see it in the perpetual pointing at other nations as how things in America should be, despite our superior living standards, greater wealth, better history of economic growth and achievement, and obvious position as world leader.

We saw it, starkly, in the rhetoric and policy trends of the Obama years. And, we see it in the Middle-America backlash that cost the Democrats 1000 elected seats and got Trump elected.

People are naturally proud of their homelands, their cultures, and their histories. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially when there’s stuff to be proud of. It’s good and proper to be disappointed and condemn past failures, but excessive fixation on those failures to the exclusion of all the successes is toxic. Worse, it’s an excuse to hate one’s fellow countrymen, in particular those who embrace the positives rather than fixate on the negatives, and it’s a justification for acting to the detriment of one’s fellow countrymen.

This Paris Accord reeks of nation-level self-loathing. It puts America’s interests behind those of other nations. NOT behind those of the world as a whole, mind you, but other nations specifically. That’s certainly one reason other nations are bummed that Trump is withdrawing us from the deal. But, we’re not obligated to do harm to ourselves merely to benefit others. In fact, we are stupid when we do. This isn’t a situation where America is a father figure and the rest of the world is a collection of tots, eager for inspiration and seeking a role model. When we self-flagellate or cut our own legs out, everyone else in the world quietly smiles, because they know we’ve handed them competitive advantage and made it easier for them to succeed without correcting their own flaws.

It’s sad to finally realize that self-punishment is a core tenet of modern political thought. It’s sad to realize that some consider having a choice among 23 types of underarm spray is to be criticized and actively fought against, especially when this choice is a product of the economic system that has done more to lift people out of poverty than any other ever conceived.

Could things be better here? Certainly and obviously. But, to make them better, we should look at and embrace what made America great in the first place, not what other nations have done (that’s made them less-great, by the way). We should be embracing the fact that our model has been the most successful one in the world’s history, and that our nation has done more for the freedom and prosperity of the world than any other in history.

Many Americans know this. Many Americans also recognize that some among them, against all logic and common sense, to put America’s interests behind those of other nations. If Democrats want to take one lesson away from their party’s catastrophic losses during the Obama years, and from the election of Donald Trump, it’s this: Americans are proud of their country, and justifiably so. They’re tired of being told America sucks, and they’re tired of politicians who put other nations’ interests ahead of their own. Trump, for all his flaws and for all the real concerns he’s elicited, understood and understands this, and he got elected as an anodyne to the years of America-hatred that our Best-and-Brightest have put forth.

The Democrats think that they can regain political ascendancy with their perpetual Trump-stomp, but if they don’t cease their hatred for all things “the American Way,” and fail to step away from their disdain for “deplorables,” for “bitter clingers,” for Joe the Plumber and the rest of the hoi polloi, they’re not coming back.

• About the Author

About Peter Venetoklis

I am twice-retired, a former rocket engineer and a former small business owner. At the very least, it makes for interesting party conversation. I'm also a life-long libertarian, I engage in an expanse of entertainments, and I squabble for sport.

Nowadays, I spend a good bit of my time arguing politics and editing this website.

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