OPINION:
Recently, a group of high school students made a pilgrimage of sorts to a natural cathedral high in the hills of Santa Barbara, California.
They came by the hundreds to this picturesque spot in a deep-blue state, hardly a logical place for a group of young conservatives to convene.
Still, they ventured into the mountains in search of something remarkable in today’s day and age. In the surrounds of a small adobe home tucked in the bucolic scenery, they were connecting with a time and place when Americans were comfortable with the exceptional nature of their nation and the values that made it the envy of the world.
Their pursuit of that spirit had led them to the home of America’s 40th president, Ronald Wilson Reagan. The Reagan Ranch — now owned and operated by an organization that helped birth the conservative movement, the Young America’s Foundation — is an analog blueprint for these digital-age youths who want to believe in America’s formula for greatness again.
They have been bombarded by left-wing teachers, race-obsessed media and divisive algorithms boosted by communist China and designed to create a nation at war with itself.
They have watched their leaders act like schoolchildren, or worse, and too many kneel at the altar of the social media gods.
The Reagan Ranch is the antithesis of that modern reality, a brand of politics that often plays to the worst aspects of human nature.
Walking through the ranch, these young conservatives instantly noted its simplicity. No gold-leafed anything. In fact, except for a presidential seal made from old finishing nails and hung above the fireplace, one would never know the leader of the free world had once lived there.
A plaque on the front door shows a touch of Reagan humor. It reads, “On this site in 1897, nothing happened.” The metal headboard in the bedroom is zip-tied together to fit the mattress that was too short for the president, yet never replaced.
The showerhead in the tiny bathroom is in the shape of the Liberty Bell. Thanksgiving dinner was served atop a bumper pool table crowned by a piece of plywood.
The ranch was hard work, and Reagan loved it. The students were drawn to stories of someone who worked with his hands. Reagan built the fences from old telephone poles and the dock that reaches out into the pond. He tended to his horses, cleared trails and rode for miles on horseback. His tack room was a place of peace and pride.
The impact of the visit on these young conservatives was clear. One after another talked not about Reagan’s handling of the Soviet threat, tax cuts or the resulting economic boom, but about the 40th president’s humility.
It is said that today, content is king. So much of that content has come at the expense of character. Reagan never swung at pitches in the dirt, and he rarely made things about himself.
A high school student named Aidan said of his ranch experience and Reagan: “He was a humble man, a good man, a man who understood hard work. I would say it helped form my view of how much I love America and how much I want to see America succeed and continue and prosper.”
A young woman from Kansas, Jane, also picked up on the theme of humility. “I think that leadership, being a humble servant leader, is something that Reagan just really exemplified,” she said, noting the absence of that characteristic in today’s politics.
Another young man inspired by the ranch (and named after Reagan) said, “The big lesson for me? Be humble, man. It all comes back to the president’s humility. He really was a humble guy and a great guy.”
As conservatives move beyond the Trump era, they would be wise to pay attention to the sentiments of the young explorers of the Reagan Ranch. Monuments to greatness aren’t built with granite and marble. They are shaped by the contours of one’s character and how that character inspires others to be great.
The YAFers, as they are called, seemed to grasp that America can win the ideological battle for its future without abandoning the principles of right makes might and the decency that should guide our leaders.
Back in 1962, when Reagan switched parties and became a Republican, he got involved in the Young America’s Foundation because he understood that freedom is only one generation away from extinction.
Perhaps genuine humility, combined with that signature Reagan optimism, is the key to the hearts of so many now searching for faith in themselves, their God and their nation.
Historical currency isn’t about whose face is on the money or whose name is on a building. It’s not about winning the moment. Rather, it is about a lasting inspiration that molds the hearts and minds of generations to come.
In those hills above the Pacific, the students at the Reagan Ranch got a glimpse of a world with no memes or artificial-intelligence-generated images. No social media messages “slamming” the opposition. No vitriol, viral videos or self-glorification.
They saw and learned about a man who put others first and the true freedom that comes from hard work and leading by example.
Sounds pretty good to me too.
• Tom Basile is the host of “America Right Now” on Newsmax TV.
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