Michael T. Flynn LTG USA (RET)

Sep 14, 2026

The Americans who signed the Declaration of Independence did not know whether the country they imagined would survive its first war, but they committed themselves anyway. Their names went onto a document that placed their families, property, and lives in jeopardy because they believed future generations deserved the opportunity to govern themselves.

Two hundred and fifty years later, we live in the country they risked everything to establish. We owe them our gratitude and an honest accounting of what we have done with their trust. Honoring that inheritance requires us to examine the condition of our Republic, acknowledge our failures, and accept responsibility for correcting them. That duty brings us to a question we can no longer afford to leave unanswered:

What are the top three things that America must do right now to stop its decline into the dustbin of other empires?

For me, the answer carries a personal obligation. My children and grandchildren will live with the consequences of the choices we make today. Having served more than thirty-three years in uniform, I also think of the Americans who I served with and the families whose loved ones never came home. We owe them a country governed with honesty and purpose, worthy of their service and strong enough to preserve the freedom they sacrificed to defend.

History provides ample warning about the misuse of power. Nations become vulnerable when their leaders place themselves beyond accountability, when they exhaust their resources pursuing ambitions they cannot sustain, and when citizens lose their willingness to accept responsibility for one another. Wealth and military strength offer little protection against failures that go uncorrected for generations.

Yet history has never relieved a living generation of its freedom to choose. America still possesses extraordinary resources, capable people, and a constitutional system through which peaceful reform can occur. We have the means to renew this country. What we must recover is the resolve to use them.

I would begin with accountability.

1. Restore Accountability to Public Life.

Accountability must come first, because nothing else can be repaired while corruption remains protected. For years, Americans have been promised accountability. Instead, they have received hearings, reports, investigations, press conferences, document releases, and carefully worded statements, but rarely meaningful consequences. A congressional hearing is not accountability. Neither is a critical inspector general report, the release of records years after the damage is done, or the quiet retirement of an official with full benefits after violating the public trust. Over time, that experience teaches a damaging lesson. Responsibility is something demanded of the citizen and negotiated by the powerful.

We cannot ask people to trust a government that will not hold itself to the standards it imposes on them.

My family and I know what weaponized government looks like. We know what happens when federal officials choose a political outcome and manipulate the process to achieve it. We know the financial, personal, and reputational devastation that follows when the federal government turns its power against an individual.

But accountability is no longer about what happened to one man or one family. The standard I seek must protect someone who disagrees with me as fully as it protects someone who stands beside me. That is what gives equal justice its meaning. The Department of Justice must enforce the law without regard to political party, wealth, office, or connections.

Intelligence agencies must return to their lawful missions and remain outside domestic politics. Inspectors general must have the independence and authority to expose misconduct. Whistleblowers who reveal genuine wrongdoing must be protected. Officials who knowingly violate the Constitution should lose their positions and, when the evidence supports prosecution, their freedom.

Accountability also requires the courage to examine our own side. A movement that excuses misconduct by its allies forfeits the authority to condemn it in its opponents. I expect leaders I support to accept scrutiny, explain their decisions, and correct their failures. Loyalty to the country requires that much of us.

The work extends to every institution entrusted with other people’s money or confidence. A county budget, a public contract, or a school district’s spending deserves careful oversight. The sums may be smaller than those debated in Washington, but the obligation is the same.

We should want good people to enter public service with confidence that integrity will be respected and misconduct will be addressed. Restoring that expectation would do more to rebuild trust than another promise that someone will someday finally be held responsible.

2. America Must Reclaim Its Sovereignty

America cannot remain free if it cannot control its borders, protect its land, produce essential goods, secure its elections, and make national decisions based upon the interests of its own citizens.

For decades, American leaders surrendered pieces of that authority. They transferred manufacturing overseas and called it efficiency. They allowed foreign interests to acquire strategic land and called it investment. They accepted dependence on foreign medicines, technology, minerals, energy components, and military supplies and called it globalization. They permitted international organizations, multinational corporations, foreign governments, lobbyists, and unelected institutions to influence domestic policy, calling it cooperation.

America must make it possible to build here again.

That requires dependable energy, sound infrastructure, practical permitting, competitive markets, and an education system that respects skilled work. A young person learning to maintain electrical equipment, operate advanced machinery, or build a home is contributing directly to the strength of the nation. We should make those paths accessible and treat them with the dignity they deserve. They are the backbone of this nation.

Our government should identify essential supplies whose loss would endanger American lives and work with domestic producers and reliable partners to reduce those vulnerabilities. Public spending should produce measurable improvements in capacity and readiness. Taxpayers deserve to know whether their money built something useful and whether the promised capability actually exists.

The same seriousness belongs in our approach to agriculture.

We must know who ultimately controls land near sensitive facilities and who has influence over critical parts of the food supply. Security reviews should examine ownership, location, and intended use with care. Americans also deserve policies that give working farmers a fair opportunity to compete and help another generation enter agriculture.

There is something profoundly important about a young family being able to work land, build a business, and establish a future through its own effort. A country that keeps that possibility within reach gives its people a lasting stake in its success.

Our dealings with other nations must be guided by the same sense of responsibility.

I want an America strong enough to deter aggression and confident enough to pursue diplomacy. Serious diplomacy requires preparation, patience, and the ability to understand another government’s interests without surrendering our own.

Before committing American forces, a president owes the country a clear explanation of the national interest at stake, the objective, the likely costs, and the conditions under which the mission will end. Fiscal discipline belongs in this discussion as well. Every commitment must be paid for, and borrowing carries obligations into the lives of Americans who had no voice in making those decisions. Leaders who promise strength must be willing to make choices about spending, examine failed programs, and explain the trade-offs honestly.

The purpose of American power should be clear to the people who sustain it. They work, pay taxes, raise the next generation, and provide the sons and daughters who serve. Their security and freedom must remain the governing consideration.

3. America Must Rebuild Faith, Family, and Citizenship

I believe America needs a renewal of faith. My own faith teaches me that authority carries a duty to serve and that every person possesses a dignity no government can confer or withdraw. It also requires humility. Anyone asking others to live by a moral standard should be willing to examine their own conduct against it. We must get on our knees before God, but then we must stand up and act.

Our churches must return to the public square. America does not need pastors who behave like political operatives. It needs men and women of faith willing to speak moral truth without fear. Faith that never leaves the church building will not defend the family, strengthen the community, or preserve the Republic.

We must also invite the next generation into public life. That takes more than telling young Americans they are the future. It means teaching them how decisions are made, asking for their judgment, and giving them useful work to do. An experienced citizen who helps someone attend a first public meeting or understand a local budget may accomplish something that lasts far longer than an argument online.

I have often spoken about local action because I believe the country’s renewal will depend upon people accepting duties close to home. School boards, county commissions, local courts, and election offices make decisions that shape daily life. They need capable citizens who are willing to learn the details and remain involved after public attention moves elsewhere.

There is room in this work for people with different talents. Some will seek office. Others will volunteer, teach, organize, examine spending, or help a neighbor understand an issue. It will require patience and the willingness to keep showing up. Our elected leaders remain responsible for doing their jobs. Citizens strengthen that accountability by staying informed and involved. A healthy Republic needs both.

At 250 years, America owes itself an honest assessment. We have serious failures to correct, and pretending otherwise would dishonor the people living with their consequences. We also have ample reason to believe that correction is possible. Across this country are Americans whose conduct deserves more attention than it receives. Their example gives me confidence in what this nation can still become.

Leadership should be worthy of those people. It should tell them the truth, use their resources carefully, and ask for their participation with respect. It should leave the country more capable of meeting its responsibilities than it found it.

The objective is not to preserve an American empire. America was founded as a constitutional Republic. Our purpose is not to dominate the world, finance permanent wars, enrich a political class, or manage the decline of our own citizens. Our purpose is to preserve liberty under law and pass it forward.

America is not destined for the dustbin of other empires. But we are not exempt from history. Whether this Republic survives will depend upon what we do now.

The hour is late, but it is not too late.

The original article can be viewed here

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  american collapse, American empire, Michael Flynn