At the recent ARC conference, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the West must reject borderless globalism, promoting an agenda of 'national renewal' based on the 'foundational principles' of Christianity, 'which lead to human flourishing.'
(LifeSiteNews) -- The Trump administration’s break with the economics, politics, and foreign policy of the last four decades was underlined in a speech given by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson at Jordan Peterson’s Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference.
Johnson, whose video linked keynote address followed Peterson’s opening appearance, spoke on February 17 of a need to renew America with a return to foundational conservative values.
Johnson said America – and the West – faced a future of globalist “tyranny” which could be countered by the values of “Christian community.” He told the conference:
“The only way to reverse this trend into further technocratic tyranny is to recommit to our foundational principles and live them out. What made the West, and what made our nations great, must now guide us once again.”
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Johnson said that the “forces ... of soft despotism” can be “seen in our society today.” Against this, Johnson continued, “we will choose renewal.”
Quoting the Catholic GK Chesterton, who said, “America was founded on a creed that is set forth with dogmatic and even theological lucidity,” Johnson went on to explain the principles which will guide America to a restoration of the West.
“In this civilizational moment, as our friend Os Guinness describes it, will we choose renewal, replacement, or decline? In the U.S., we have just embarked on a new path of renewal.”
A bold and optimistic vision emerged.
“We are determined to bring about a new golden age in America, as President Trump says, and we are convinced that we can, if we return to the timeless foundational principles which lead to human flourishing.”
Against the economic and political model of borderless globalism, Johnson promoted an agenda of “national renewal” based on the Christian and conservative “foundational principles which lead to human flourishing.”
“A key downside to the new global order is that it ultimately led to a devaluing of local communities and a weakening of national identity, which was replaced instead by a divisive new racial, sexual, and gender-based identity,” he explained – showing how the renewal of America would shape the renewal of the West beyond its borders.
“If Americans aren’t American anymore, and Brits aren’t British anymore, and Germans aren’t German anymore, then naturally something else will fill the void. If everyone is a citizen of the world, then no one is really accountable any longer to their own nation or to their own local community.”
What would this renewal look like – and what sort of communities does Johnson mean?
“In all of our shared history in the West, it has remained true that strong communities have formed a bulwark against tyranny. Strong mediating institutions ground us in the needs of our community and the outgrowth of these institutions formed the basis for a healthy, engaged citizenry.”
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In place of the free-market consumerism which has marketed itself as “conservative” for the last forty years, Johnson returns to the foundational conservative philosopher whose 17th century writings are older than America itself:
“Edmund Burke called them 'little platoons.' He was referring to the families and churches and civic organizations and community groups which began at the smallest, most local level.”
This is where Johnson sees the “foundational” principles of America and of the West in practice – not in markets, but in the family, the church, and the “voluntary associations” which grow out of them to form Burke's “little platoons.”
“Burke argued this bottom-up voluntary approach to society would deepen our sense of duty and shared responsibility to one another and also act as an important safeguard against a distant state authority.”
Pope Pius XII was cited, as Johnson quoted Ronald Reagan’s vision of an America inspired by God against the return of the “dark ages.”
“I’ll quote the president that I most fondly remember from my youth, and that’s Ronald Reagan: ‘When the economic strength and power of America was all that stood between the world and the return of the Dark Ages, Pope Pius XII said, 'The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions.'”
Johnson paused after repeating this final line from Ronald Reagan on the divine mission of the United States, “Into the hands of America, God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.”
This is a vision of America which sees its foundations shared with those of the West itself, says Johnson, and it does not concern America alone.
“In all of our shared history in the West, it has remained true that strong communities have formed a bulwark against tyranny.”
He warns that “the spirit of voluntary association is currently on life support throughout the West” - but adds “it is not dead.”
“While we have gradually lost sight of this concept, the new American government is proof positive that we can rekindle that spirit once again.”
When Johnson speaks of renewal in strengthening Christian inspiration, family and community, he is not retreating into a sentimental past. This is an idea of American leadership, of an America that sees itself as the guarantor of God, family, and country and of basic freedoms and democracy beyond its borders.
“As we seek to make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous, we will encourage all our friends and allies to do the same in and for their own countries. The survival of the West will depend upon that. And this is how we will turn the tides...”
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So what does this mean for the world? Johnson refers to the populist wave in Europe, whose globalist regimes have been condemned by Vice President JD Vance in his “Fall of Europe” speech two weeks ago.
Vance told European leaders they had retreated from the West’s “most fundamental values” in the state suppression of democracy, the criminalization of speech, and in the increasingly repressive surveillance and censorship measures. Johnson signals change will be coming to Europe, too.
"Recent elections in places like France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany signal that millions of freedom-loving people around the world share our concerns about unchecked power and the erosion of national sovereignty."Johnson’s remarkable speech was a vision for the renewal of Western civilization on the God-given principles which founded conservatism and the American republic. He speaks for the Christian inspiration which he says once guided the West, and will, according to him, guide it once more. Referencing a statement by ARC contributor, Os Guinness, he concluded by saying,
“This is our civilizational moment. The West is finally awakening once again. We have to seize this opportunity, and by God’s grace, we will.”
This signals a dramatic, permanent, and fundamental break with the economic, military, and political framework of a decades-old global system formerly celebrated by “neoconservatives” and “neoliberals” alike.
Economic and political globalism sought to replace the foundational values of Western civilization with its own. The values which made America and the West are coming back, and that is the future this administration presented through the most significant speech at this conference.
It is notable that Johnson’s speech is not included on the ARC website, nor on its YouTube channel. Against the tide of this conference, whose main speakers support the former economic consensus of a global marketplace, Johnson spoke for God, family, and country as the means of reviving a civilization under threat from the government sponsorship of global technocratic tyranny.
Mike Johnson’s speech can be read in full here on the Speaker of the House website.
