Current music:

The Dodos - Walking

The Speech
He said:

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

For us? Try removing all personal incentives for working and see how many people continue to do it. People work to advance their lives and the lives of those they have a personal interest in. For these same reasons we fight for freedom. Ayn Rand told the 1976 graduates of West Point, "You have chosen to risk your lives for the defense of this country. I will not insult you by saying that you are dedicated to selfless service— it is not a virtue in my morality. In my morality, the defense of one's country means that a man is personally unwilling to live as the conquered slave of any enemy, foreign or domestic. This is an enormous virtue."

He said:

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

The market's failings are due to the inherent failure in government regulation, not government's failure to regulate. The market is freedom. Yet when things don't go as desired, people call out to government to help and help it does. It helps to feed itself and solidify its power. Ultimately, each person must decide what is most important to him. To me, freedom is paramount. I want transparency and to be the master of my own destiny. We can build anything we desire without government. People are crafty and find ways to deal. However, we cannot allow mankind's own ingenuity to be turned against us, used to steal from us and enslave us. Business gets its power directly from us, through our spending habits. Government has too many buffers, too much influence, and can so easily exercise power precisely where it has no right to be exercised. As easy as it is to be won over by our new president's charm, don't become blinded by anything so petty as party lines and nationalistic romanticism.

Thomas Paine wrote:

A great part of that order which reigns among mankind is not the effect of government. It had its origin in the principles of society, and the natural constitution of man. It existed prior to government, and would exist if the formality of government was abolished. The mutual dependence and reciprocal interest which man has in man and all the parts of a civilized community upon each other create that great chain of connection which holds it together.

The landholder, the farmer, the manufacturer, the merchant, the tradesman, and every occupation prospers by the aid which each receives from the other, and from the whole. Common interest regulates their concerns, and forms their laws; and the laws which common usage ordains, have a greater influence than the laws of government. In fine, society performs for itself almost everything that is ascribed to government.