A new opinion piece published in The Washington Post on Sunday warns that America’s declining “spiritual depth” could pose a serious danger to the nation’s democratic future. The op-ed, written by Utah Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, and Ian Marcus Corbin, director of the Public Culture Project at Harvard University, argues that the country’s democracy “will not last another 250 years” unless it confronts the corrosive effects of materialism and a loss of shared purpose.
Drawing inspiration from a 1926 speech by President Calvin Coolidge marking the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Cox and Corbin suggest that modern America has strayed from the values that once grounded the republic. They write that a fixation on wealth and consumption has weakened civic bonds and left citizens feeling aimless.
“The problem feels fundamental; many people, including many leaders, seem unclear about who Americans are as a people, who they want to become, and what kind of world they want to help build,” the authors note. “This drift amounts to a civilizational crisis of agency, interwoven with an epidemic of addiction. Addressing this crisis will require the nation — as it approaches its first quarter millennium — to reimagine the bounds of public life.”
The authors argue that the country’s prosperity, while a source of pride, has also encouraged detachment from deeper moral and communal commitments. Without spiritual renewal, they warn, material success alone will not sustain a stable democracy.
“Our democracy will not last another 250 years if it is populated by communities lacking direction and animated by addiction,” they write. “As Coolidge proclaimed, we cannot rely on material prosperity alone. We must recover the ‘things of the spirit’ — meaning, purpose and reverence for the good — if America is to endure.”
Cox and Corbin’s piece reflects a growing concern among political and cultural leaders about polarization, loneliness, and the erosion of civic trust in the United States. Their essay calls for a revival of shared meaning and moral responsibility that transcends partisan divides.
As the country nears its 250th anniversary in 2026, the authors argue that rediscovering “the things of the spirit” is not just a philosophical pursuit but a practical necessity for democracy itself. Without that renewal, they suggest, America risks losing not only its moral compass but the foundations that make self-government possible.