Practitioners of Jungian psychology have a rule of thumb when plying their craft: “go where the energy is.” To save a nation, specifically the United States of America as a sovereign entity and the American people (as traditionally constituted) as the wellspring of that entity, a similar practice must be followed. In this case, we must remember that when Leftists, or even the nominally “Republican” members of the Establishment, howl and whine about how we must never say or do certain things, it is a sure sign that eating this “forbidden fruit” is precisely what we need.

President Trump “went where the energy was” when he announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, prompting the resignation of SecDef James Mattis. Politicians from both sides of the aisle swiftly bemoaned that Trump was eroding the “bipartisan consensus” that had been built in the foreign policy arena since at least 1945. Excellent! The “bipartisan consensus” is exactly what the President was elected to destroy–indeed, he may be our last peaceful chance at doing so.

To be sure, General Mattis is a fine warrior and he is to be commended for his service. He would never have become a general, however, if he didn’t believe in the “post-war bipartisan consensus.” Mattis would have been filtered out very early in his career had he harbored Trumpian or paleoconservative notions about America’s role in the world. All elite universities, including the service academies, teach some flavor of globalism, be it the multilateral approach preferred by the likes of Obama or the more unipolar version of the neoconservative clique that operated under both Bush Administrations.

President Trump at last gives a strong voice to the traditionally American view that this country is not a means to the ends of others, but an end in herself. American blood and treasure–her most precious resources–must not be scattered to the four winds of the earth in a quixotic bid to right every wrong. And there is that old maxim that to attempt to defend everywhere defends nowhere. It’s time to finally recognize that not everyone living overseas has an “inner American” just waiting to spring forth into the sunlight if only enough bombs are dropped on them–or enough foreign aid checks arrive in their hands.

“What about the Kurds?,” they scream. Listen, I’m a nationalist–I understand the aspirations of the Kurds, as any nationalist would. I cheer on the efforts of any identifiable group of people to carve out a territory of their own and live free to map their own destiny according to that inner call which only they can perceive. A free and independent Kurdistan would be a wonderful thing to behold, because that too would be a blow against globalism. And they are in a tough situation–in order to have an independent Kurdistan, they’d have to chop pieces out of Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey–no easy task to fight on so many fronts. But I’m an American, not a Kurd, so I wish them well but my participation and assistance ends there. We live in a world marked by scarcity, so it makes little sense to fritter away the resources of Americans in order for Kurdistan to be born. I put Americans first.

Jeane Kirkpatrick, at the end of the Cold War, had hoped that America would be able to “become a normal country again,” rather than serve as a perpetual global policeman. President Trump is giving us that opportunity to simply be ourselves again, and even enjoy it. The actual American people, as opposed to the elites, never really wanted to assume all these overseas burdens and obligations. This is our chance to free ourselves of the chains of globalism–let’s take it.