Daniel McCarthy and Justin Shubow at ISI’s Homecoming Weekend Roundtable.
In September, NCAS President Justin Shubow participated in the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s Homecoming Weekend as part of a roundtable discussion titled Golden Age Mindset: Restoring Western Civilization. He spoke alongside Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, British author Mary Harrington, ISI President Johnny Burtka, philosopher Phillip Blond, and Modern Age Editor-in-Chief Daniel McCarthy, among others.
Shubow reflected on the importance of the present moment, pointing to President Trump’s recent actions on federal architecture as a pivotal development. Through his Executive Order, Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again, the President reaffirmed that the United States remains the same regime established at the Founding, more than two centuries ago. Such a continuity stands in contrast to nations like France, now in its fifth republic.
He noted a parallel renewal in the nation’s civic monuments. In recent decades, memorial design has too often emphasized victimhood rather than valor. The Flight 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania, he observed, offers no tribute to the passengers who heroically prevented the destruction of a key government building. By contrast, Sabin Howard’s magnificent World War I Memorial in Washington restores the heroic and narrative tradition, depicting courage, sacrifice, and the triumph of the human spirit.
The roundtable discussion of Golden Age Mindset: Restoring Western Civilization.
As Shubow concluded, “The greatest work of civic art in the modern era is the National Mall and the surrounding monumental core. This is not something we should take for granted. There are plenty of other world capitals that don’t have this kind of beauty or magnificence. The Mall is a sacred space, surrounded by luminous classical temples that serve as sites for commemoration and public life. … There’s nothing more thrilling than flying into Reagan Airport and seeing the layout of the entire Mall. It hasn’t been there forever, but it feels as though it has—and it makes you feel that America will last forever.”