“I want the people of America to be able to work less for the government and more for themselves. I want them to have the rewards of their own industry. This is the chief meaning of freedom. Until we can reestablish a condition under which the earnings of the people can be kept by the people, we are bound to suffer a very severe and distinct curtailment of our liberty.” ~ Calvin Coolidge
It was evident 100 years ago. The exceptionalism of being “true American”. In nature, deed, commitment and character. The very same characteristics that led yours truly to voluntarily seek out that gem of American citizenship tethered to the dictates of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Bought for a price through those generous patriotic souls who went before, and gave their lives to the cause of freedom. Bought for another price monetarily and legally, through times of study as to the foundation of this nation and the principles involved in its existence. Bought for the future of the generations to follow and uphold its most significant accomplishments.
Sadly, very sadly, our descent into soft tyranny can be shown by the fact that nothing, zip, nada has been done in the last 25 years to advance the concept of personal freedom in the United States; in fact, the exact opposite has taken place. The end of the Reagan era ushered in the embarrassment of the Clintons, and a rancorous relationship between GWB and Congress, leading up to the denigration of Constitutional Republicanism in the disaster that is OBO the Clown. All new laws, regulations, decrees and state actions have broadened government control and further restricted citizen’s rights – For “our own good”, of course. The out-of-control regime (a glorious word which covers both tyrannical parties) hardly bothers to give lip service to the Constitution anymore. It simply brushes it aside, and We The People are rapidly becoming a country of serfs to the ruling classes. Period.
Oh to bring back the Coolidge Doctrine and to make America great again – and not just as a logo for The Donald’s baseball cap. As to the invented slogan “redistribution of wealth”, the Bible long ago rang to the wisdom of one, Jesus Christ: Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s.
I for one see OBO the Clown Caesar taking far more than his fair share while stealing so much from We The People; and still perpetrating that hideous, progressive “pay your fair share doctrine” overtly in our faces. Talk about obnoxiously brazen arrogance! His true nature and character was on display for the entire world to witness this past Sunday evening during his grilling from Steve Kroft – One of the very few times that this treacherous Trojan Horse Manchurian Candidate has had his butt well and truly whupped from a member of the media.
I am reminded of the statement that “America is great because America is good”; personal sacrifice, being willing to give the other fellow a leg up has been a key factor in America’s success. Throughout my career, I think of the many mentors (both formal and informal) who have expended time and effort to help me (and others) along the way. They weren’t compensated for this effort and there was nothing in it for them beyond helping others achieve their goals and ambitions, and I am not ashamed to admit that I’ve been inspired by their efforts in doing the same.
God will bless America in proportion to the extent that we are worthy of his blessings. Right now we are metaphorically spitting in his face with where we are in relation to him and we need to do a one-eighty in real short order before we feel the full force of his righteous wrath and indignation.
Noel S. Williams and “Thanks for the Last best Hope on Earth” in today’s American Thinker…
It’s no coincidence that those who exhibit humility and give thanks for America are more likely to achieve the American Dream.
Bernie Sanders’ assertion that America was founded on racist principles is demagoguery, something socialists revert to often since many of their precepts are rotting atop the scrapheap of history. Unfortunately, some of his malcontented constituency have more hubris than humility, choosing to seek solace in the victimization syndrome that entraps them in the sticky tentacles of government largesse.
Freedom was not universal at our founding, but it was more prevalent in America than most places. Our founders crafted mechanisms of government that inevitably undermined the predicate for slavery that theretofore existed all over. Envisioning “the last best hope of earth,” they infused classical liberal constructs of natural law into the confines of organized, civil society.
The American Revolution was like no other, emphasizing individual liberty rather than obedience to the General Will of the state. Most of our brave founders believed slavery violated natural law. Between Independence and the Constitutional convention, eight states had begun emancipation and ten had abolished slave trade. Indeed, part of the argument for constitutional ratification was that it would quicken the demise of slavery.
As Charles Cooke put it in National Review, “As one would not examine an incident of marital infidelity and presume that the wedding vows must necessarily have been defective, one should not infer from the Founders’ betrayals that their essential precepts were in some way unsound. They weren’t. Man, as ever, is imperfect.”
Imperfect, sure, nevertheless America formed a more perfect union from which civil liberties would inevitably sprout. Rather than succumb to a tyrannical “dictatorship of the proletariat” like many post-revolutionary societies, we bolstered our national treasure with the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. While corruption and nepotism prevail in many of our ancestral homelands, America adopted landmark Civil Rights laws that provide protection for, and empower, people of all races, religions and genders. Indeed, minorities exercised their ultimate power by voting at higher rates than whites in recent elections.
We really could be more thankful because America is likely better whence we, or our ancestors, came. Just imagine, somehow, if our founders were from Africa. Based on their pre- and post-colonial history, do you think they would have laid the groundwork for freedom, private property protections, and prosperity?
Probably not. Across that vast continent you’ll find nothing akin to the promissory note that Martin Luther King so eloquently demanded cashing on behalf of African Americans. Their vaults of opportunity have been plundered by despots and warlords who perpetrate a form of tribalism as rotten as racism. Minority rights are trodden into muddy oblivion like a herd of wildebeest trampling the savannah.
But the American Dream is alive and well for those who spurn the invidious, self-imposed victimization wrought by spurious notions about our founding principles. As Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly said when discussing the American Dream: you will not succeed if you believe “that the U.S. is a rotten, awful country… you should not walk around with a sense of entitlement or portray yourself as a victim of historical injustices.”
Ben Carson refused to be a victim. Instead of worrying about “acting white,” he discarded the knife he once used in an attempted stabbing and picked up a library card.
Carson grew up in poverty in inner city Detroit that rivals what any minority faces today. Instead of hiding from opportunity and shirking personal responsibility, he pursued his American dream, transforming from a knife-wielding miscreant to a scalpel-wielding wizard in the O.R.
While his friends were embracing mischief in the streets, Carson was tasked by his strict mother to produce two book reports per week, though she could barely read them. He excelled academically and was primed to cash his American promissory note delivered by the oft-derided establishment — he won a scholarship to Yale. One wonders if Carson, or anyone, would’ve been so motivated under Mr. Sanders’ mind-numbing socialist ambit which elicits equality in mediocrity rather than inequality in meritocracy.
Now a retired, world-renowned neurosurgeon and formidable presidential candidate, he remains humble and gives thanks. At the Heritage Action presidential forum in South Carolina in September he said “American is the greatest country the world has ever known,” and that America is “An exceptional nation. We are by far the most exceptional nation.”
Carson is exceptional, but he’s hardly the exception. There are many other minorities who, free of the monotonous mantra of self-righteous socialism, are thankful. More importantly, our black middle class is poised to burgeon when pro-growth polices usurp pandering politicians perpetuating government dependence in exchange for votes.
Through American imagination, invention, illumination, and industry, we’ve wrestled comfort and plenty from an unforgiving world. By efficiently leveraging our natural resources even those who have setbacks, less skills or otherwise struggle to compete can still lead lives of relative comfort that royalty couldn’t imagine not so long ago. America’s ruling majority, naturally, help themselves, but they should be thanked for their philanthropy as well as their beneficence in promoting minority interests — often to the detriment of the majority (reverse discrimination).
Thank you, America, for forming a more perfect union that ameliorates human imperfections. Thank you for largely eviscerating institutional racism. Most of all, thank you for being “the last best hope of earth.”