Quote via Wrath of Gnon.

I suppose that for many Americans and other Westerners, individual ‘autonomy’ or ‘freedom’ is paramount, and this, I’d say, is part of our predicament. Do we see ourselves as ‘rugged individuals’, or part of an unbroken chain, going back through the generations? Do we think of ourselves as self-created, self-determined individuals, beholden to no previous generations and no traditions?

Blogger Cambria Will Not Yield I think rightly emphasizes  pietas, and the importance of regaining that lost virtue.