In 2002, I was fortunate to meet Balint Vázsonyi. Born in Hungary, Vázsonyi immigrated to the United States legally as a boy who could not speak English. In his early years in America, he would study music. He would become a remarkable pianist, making performance history by playing a chronological cycle of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas over two days in New York, Boston, and London. During the last six years of his life, he became a conservative commentator on American politics in Washington, D.C.
During our meeting, we discussed his book America’s 30 Years War: Who is Winning? In a friendly and enlightening back-and-forth, I sought to understand better his motivations for writing it. His central purpose was to clearly define and reveal to his readers the source of alien ideas that were subverting America’s culture and society. Vázsonyi knew of what he spoke.
Having escaped Hungary when Communism descended over it, he knew what it was to exist under tyranny. He wanted to escape that oppressive life and live freely in America. That is the goal of many today who come to our shores. Vázsonyi, however, did not attempt to enter the US in contravention of our laws. Indeed, he very much wanted to live according to them as he pursued his dreams, indeed, his American Dream.
In the book, Vázsonyi focuses on critical aspects rooted in our founding. The Founders were clear, not only in drafting our Declaration of Independence but also in our Constitution, that there are three fundamental concepts undergirding our freedom. Vázsonyi lists them as the rule of law, the right to possess private property, and a common American Identity. All of these deserve focus today, as they are under a withering assault from people expressing alien ideas that threaten our national survival and would turn America into the very dystopia that a young Vázsonyi escaped. Let’s consider the implications.
The Rule of Law
Our founders were devoted to the idea that the rule of law must be paramount to the rule of man. They were strongly opposed to the oppression imposed by King George III on the colonies. Despite having granted the charters of self-government, the King wrongly subordinated the primacy of the colonial legislatures to a Parliament that Americans had never elected. What the King was doing amounted to imposing serfdom on his subjects by extra-legal means. That was a threat to the very concept of the rule of law, whereby the people are treated equally to laws passed by people whom they elected to represent them. Moreover, the rule of law is fundamental to resisting the fiat of men and the imposition of requirements on people without their consent. Sound familiar? Consider the executive orders that presidents and governors impose that encroach on the province of elected representatives. Take note of how legislatures subvert their own rules and constitution as they impose on us unelected bureaucracies and partisan whims. We are seeing this very thing in America today. The rule of men is subverting the rule of law.
The Right to Possess Private Property
Under the King, all property belonged to the sovereign. However, in America, the founders believed that the people were the sovereign and the government was the servant. The implications of that are clear. People have a fundamental right to possess land and private property. That includes both your physical property and the money you possess. Yet in America today, those rights are increasingly deprived by governmental overreach. Today, there are forces at work that would impose confiscatory policies—like those under Communism—to seize your property and transfer it to others. Vázsonyi saw this and understood that a government that can take your property at will can eventually deprive you of your life.
A Common American Identity
Vázsonyi yearned not only to come to America but to become an American. He understood that America was, at its beginning, a nation of immigrants. However, those who immigrated were expected to put off their former allegiances and assume a new identity. That image is unique. Here, people live in freedom. They are the sovereign, and the government is the servant. The laws are designed to apply equally to all of us. And while we may take pride in the traditions and customs we bring to these shores, we subordinate them to emulate, inculcate, and celebrate traditional American values in all we do. However, Vázsonyi saw—as we witness today—that a nation that does not insist on the assimilation of American values and traditions is one set on a path of disunity. And that disharmony will be a great gift to our enemies—both foreign and domestic—as they seek to divide and conquer us.
Vázsonyi discerned the truth of our founding. It is time for us to re-embrace it.
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