Manifest Destiny Is Born Again Among Young Conservatives On

So the kids are into empire now. The article about young conservatives rediscovering Manifest Destiny lands more like a confession than a headline. For years, the Right was supposed to apologize for the frontier, for expansion, for the whole messy business of building a continent-spanning nation. Turns out a generation of Republicans has read the history books and reached a different conclusion: the instinct to expand was not a sin. It was a statement of intent.

These are not the neocons of the Bush era. They are not looking for another trillion-dollar nation-building exercise on the other side of the world. They want an America that knows what it is and isn't embarrassed to act like it. The left keeps mocking the flag lapel pin, but young conservatives see something their elders forgot: a country that doubts itself will eventually lose itself. That's why the phrase "America is an empire" doesn't scare them. It clarifies things.

There is a risk here, and we should say it plainly. Empire without prudence is just conquest, and this movement will blow up if it turns into chest-thumping without strategy. But the underlying instinct is sound. The frontier spirit is coming home. Borders first, sovereignty always, and then a foreign policy that asks what is good for America before what is good for the world.

This is a healthy correction, but it needs a mature pilot. The new Manifest Destiny has to mean building strong families and self-sufficient industries, not just posting maps of historical territories. If the GOP can channel this energy into production, innovation, and a serious posture abroad, then the young conservatives are onto something. The empire is not a dream. It is a responsibility..