Following up on the post from Labor Day, you are the ones who have made America the exceptional country that America is.
America has been asking “What if?” since its beginnings. What if ordinary people could govern themselves? What if a person could own the fruits of his labor? What if a child born without wealth could rise by talent and determination alone? The answer to all of this created the greatest country in the history of the planet.
Now, however, there are elements seeking to fracture the coalition of pragmatic conservatives who believe in the premise that founded this country. The noise is getting louder and the distractions more intense. Resetting the economic balance sheet in favor of Main Street and everyday Americans is being challenged harder. For all of these reasons and more, it seems more difficult to keep moving forward with economic nationalism as the roadmap to making America great again.
Thery are lying to us saying that socialism is the way forward to a greater society. They are indoctrinating our young with this idea. Let’s be reminded as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously said:
“The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. One word of truth outweighs the world.”
And a lie it is. In the twentieth century, over 100 million people died because of socialism. America had its own experience with socialism during the early days of the Massachusetts Bay colony.
When the Pilgrims landed on the shores of Cape Cod Bay in 1620 and set up the Plymouth Colony, they tried to equate Christianity with socialism. Their socialist system quickly failed. In the first two years, some 80% of the colonists died from starvation and malnutrition. The colony was experiencing economic disaster. Something had to be done. The colony’s governor, William Bradford assigned all able-bodied persons or families a portion of land as their own in 1623. Before long the slothful and unproductive Pilgrims turned from laggards and idle-bodies to willing, productive workers. The rest, as they say, is history.
Sundance notes:
No other nation on earth was conceived to allow people to manifest their own destiny while keeping government out of their lives. The vision, the premise and the purpose, was to allow you the freedom to determine your place in life; and even, at any time, change that determination and strike off in an entirely new direction.
Our American labor and aspirations would not be pre-determined by caste, tier, creed or social status; but rather by our personal vision for our own future. The right of self-determination. This is a uniquely American attribute.
When you hold open the door, you make a difference. When you choose to stand against fraud and deceit, you make a difference. When you pray with purpose you make a difference. When you hold no tolerance for chaos, you make a difference. When you show up, even when you are not sure what comes next, you make a difference. When you achieve in silence because silence is not a mistake, you make a difference.
It is who you are that makes a difference. That is the currency of our life.
Every individual matters! You are not some nameless cog in some grand collective.
America is the shining city on the hill. America is a place where a human being could arrive with nothing and still possess a chance. America is possibility.
God bless America. And thank you all who work and contribute to the American dream.
