Alexander Hamilton said it first: As a nation, we are united by our desire to make money off one another.

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE L ately, we have heard lamentations from public intellectuals that the bonds of our union are fraying. It is worse now than at any point since the 1850s! And of course we all know what happened next . . .

Nonsense. Our union is all right. It may not be the happiest of moments in our nation’s history — though it is far from the least happy! — but the state of our union is strong.

To me, this whole argument illustrates that we need a better class of public intellectuals — the current crop seems not to understand the origins of our …