It seems to me, though, that the America of today is wanting in honor and virtue.
Discussion
I agree, and I do think today America suffers from defects in it's Constitution and confederation, perhaps due in part to dishonest money, and certainly due to want of honor and virtue.
Yeah the form of the Republic has slipped over time. I blame the 17th Amendment, in part, but that's certainly not the whole story.
That was one of three great evils that befell America in 1913, the other two being the establishment of the income tax and the Federal Reserve.
Man what a year 1913 was. Feels like all our problems go back to then.
That was the year Woodrow Wilson took office, one of the United States' worst presidents...😩
But I think more of America's problems also go back to the "Civil War" and it's aftermath, due to perhaps the U.S.' worst president ever (present occupant excluded):
Yes, Lincoln completed the transformation of America from the Articles of Confederation (1781-1789) to the Hamiltonian centralized crony system (modeled after the British system "we" had just seceded from)