“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” – Benjamin Franklin

A democratic republic thrives when its citizens are virtuous, informed, and engaged; the same disintegrates under the influence of corruption, vice, and selfishness. A republic is not self-sustaining, rather, it is nourished by the body of men and women who compose it. As such, the longevity of our great republic – these United States of America – shall be determined in large part by each generation’s ability to persuade the next of the importance of embodying virtue, not by its economic or military might alone.