An honest review of our history shows many eras of only a minority level of intelligence, historical knowledge, ethics, and morality within a population.
Prior to and during the Revolution only 1/3 or so valued Liberty and supported or participated to free America.
During most of the 1800’s a great percentage of Americans more resembled pirates (practicing libertarians?) than intelligent patriots. Luckily American farmers did mostly reflect “American” values of honesty and work ethic.
America’s current populous now actually seems to be more interested in intelligence, historical knowledge, ethics, and morality in greater percentage than even during the Revolution, but not yet any majority. This gives me faith that the pendulum may very well be again swinging back to the vision of the Founding Fathers and away from the anti-American “liberal progressives” and anarchists.
You are certainly more optimistic than most. Certainly, what we have now in Washington in the White House, Congress, and even the Supreme Court does NOT reflect a knowledgeable and virtuous population.
Tonight's forecast Obama executive order on immigration emphasizes the decadence. Not only is this current president acting in defiance of the constitutional separation of powers by writing law himself, but the substantive content of his executive order will lead to even further decadence by promoting even a greater influx of uneducated, unskilled individuals with, for the most part, no understanding of the American republican constitutional tradition and no willingness to learn about it!