A Call to Excellence

DISCLAIMER: This will be one of my Political Opinion posts. If you're not interested, then don't read it. If you are, and I upset you, I'll be more than happy to trade emails. You have been warned. ************************************************************************************* For the last decade or more, some in our country have attempted to make America and Americans to be less than we are. One in particular speaks of "American Arrogance" and says that we "are one nation among many." I call B.S. Among the nations, America alone has stood as the defender of all men's rights to liberty. Even when we do not act directly to secure it, we do not deny it's existence, and lend what support we are able. Twice in history have we stood up to Evil when we could easily have stayed at home. In WWI, we had no legitimate reason to go to war. One passenger ship was mistakenly sunk by German forces. But we, who had been looking for an excuse, took it. In WWII, the only nation we had reason to fight was Japan: we focused on them second. Instead of spending our considerable might crushing the Japanese, we sent innumerable troops to shed their blood once more on foreign soil fighting for the rights of Europe. We have spent our blood, our sweat, and our treasure to secure freedom, liberty, and hope for as many as we can. Domestically, we have advanced the human condition to such a point that humans are free to believe that animals are more important than we are. Health care is such that any person can get immediate, life saving care with no thought to their ability to pay. People by the millions brave dangers we can hardly imagine- literally risking death- to come here; and the vast majority of those are willing to come and settle for a less-than-second-class existence because that is better than their "middle class" existence in their home countries. Despite all this, we are told that we are arrogant, not excellent. We are told that we are "one nation among many," not "the bright, shining City on a hill." My fellow Americans, I call once more for American Excellence. Our country was founded on the idea that free persons, pursuing their passions without government interference, could become the best place on Earth. Despite this, there are those who wish us to cede more and more of our freedom in the name of security. We are told that only the Great-and-Powerful Federal Government can save: our banks, the car industry, our health care, and even our own computers. This is the same Federal Government which has: bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, instituted policies which encouraged and(by one interpretation) required the banks to make loans to people who could not afford them, encourages sloth and indolence by rewarding them through welfare programs, and has usurped the rights of "the several States, and the people." So I call for Excellence. I call for "We, the People" to stand up and say, "no more." We can take control of our own destinies, and we can succeed in anything we wish. To do so, we must no longer assume that those who "have not" are victims. Calling them "victims" denigrates them and makes them less than us. They, too, are free Americans, able, by the fruits of their labor, to overcome obstacles and to succeed in life. Do not enslave them to the state by saying they are unable to care for themselves, and do not enslave the rest of us by saying we must care for them. To be free means to be responsible for oneself. It means taking chances and risking failure. Liberty means that what I work for is mine. It means the Government does not interfere with my life any more than necessary for any reason. Most of all, Freedom and Liberty mean that all men are truly equal in worth, and equal in opportunities. Freedom does not mean a right against being offended. It does not mean that I do not have to worry about my next meal. Liberty does not mean that I will be cared for. It does not mean that I will never be worried. Most of all Freedom and Liberty do not mean that others must work so that I can live well. To find your worth, go and be excellent. Find what you do best and be the best. Don't let anyone tell you that you are unable to succeed, and, most of all, when you fall down, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep trying.