The U.S. and the Stockdale Paradox

I am hearing from many Americans who are discouraged about the future of their country. Many of them think I'm some kind of Pollyanna in my efforts to take America back from the precipice.

Some suggest it's too late for America — that its time is past and there is no finding our way back to the freedom road.

While I hardly believe it is inevitable that America will recapture the spirit that made it great, I remain hopeful that God is in control and that He's got a better plan than I or any other man.

And that's the kind of thinking that can and will lead us out of the wilderness of despair, depression and decline. In other words, we need to adopt "the Stockdale Paradox" on a national scale. What is "the Stockdale Paradox"?

The late James Stockdale rose to the rank of vice admiral in the U.S. Navy and served as president of the Naval War College. He also famously ran for vice president of the United States in the 1992 presidential election on an independent ticket with Ross Perot.

But in September 1965, while commander of Carrier Air Wing 16 aboard the USS Oriskany, he was shot down over North Vietnam. He was savagely beaten and held as a prisoner of war for the next seven years.

Many men were broken in those North Vietnamese POW camps. But Stockdale wasn't. What was his secret? It was "the Stockdale Paradox."

"I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade," he explained later.

Stockdale had a realistic understanding of the situation. But that was tempered by an absolute conviction that he would prevail in the end.

That kind of faith can pull you through — either as an individual facing perilous trials or as a nation facing them.

"This is a very important lesson," Stockdale added. "You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."

Stockdale was right. He came home eventually. He went on to be awarded 26 personal combat decorations, including the Medal of Honor and four Silver Stars. He died in 2005 one of the most highly decorated officers in the history of the Navy.

What can we, as a nation, learn from that experience?

We need to maintain a realistic understanding of the situation. And we need to have absolute conviction — and faith — that we will prevail in the end.

By the way, that is a thoroughly Christian view. It is a biblical mandate. It is a scriptural commandment. God has a plan for this world, for this nation and for each of us as individuals. It's a good plan. He has revealed some of it to us.

The Apostle Paul tells us in his famous words from Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

That's the blessed hope — that God is watching out for us, and if we are faithful and obedient, we will be rewarded. The world itself will be remade according to His will.

We whisper these words before we go to sleep at night: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." So, don't pretend the situation is better than it is.

But never surrender to the idea that we cannot and will not prevail. Take a lesson from Adm. Stockdale.

To find out more about Joseph Farah and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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