THE AMERICAN DREAM
MAGNIFIED

August 16, 2009

We live in America where there is liberty, freedom, and hope. Every person, regardless of birth, social, or financial standing, should have the shinning opportunity for success and happiness and, to feel safe and secure from enemies both foreign and domestic. Each person deserves the right to live, to be one's self, and to become all for which she or he is capable. Each individual deserves to reside and work in an environment where there is confidence in our economic and monetary system. And, to live where our economy is garnered and supported by a vibrant free market system with free market solutions to meet the economic and social challenges of the day. Government legislation did not outlaw typewriters and demand the use of computers, free markets did. The only true lasting change is that which the market brings. 

Each person deserves to have the opportunity to live a wholesome and productive life and to be able to attend to the unmet needs of loved ones and those of needy neighbors wherever they might be. This is so much a part of the American Dream.

In the United States' Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers stated: "...we hold certain truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they Are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Could these words be the foundational setting for the American Dream? We believe in a harmony of interest, as Adam Smith put it, and rules of cooperation that have developed through generations of human experience and collective reasoning. These rules promote the betterment of the individual and society. And thus, each individual through one's own pursuit should have an equal opportunity to achieve the fruits of the American dream.

It is true, the American Dream may mean something different to everyone. Throughout history, great accomplishments have always started with the vision of an individual or individuals who mustered the courage to overcome the fear of failing. We believe that each achiever has a dream which is so much the key to their vitality and which so clearly defines one's character. And at the same time, the achiever finds the excitement of limitless possibility which tends to inspire one to endeavor and strive to achieve even beyond minimal expectations. And it is this zest and imagination which overrides fears with the emergence of hopeful possibilities. 

In the America we know, the individual is to be recognized as a unique person, free to discover one's own potential and to pursue one's own interests tempered by a moral order of right and vigilance. And then also, that individual has a duty to respect the unalienable rights of others and the values, customs, and traditions tried and tested and passed on from one generation to the next. This then becomes a rich part of one's personal and societal identity.

As part of our American dream, private property and liberty are inseparable. The individual's right to live freely and safely and pursue happiness includes the right to acquire and possess property, which represents the fruits of one's own intellectual and/or physical labors. The denial or diminution of one's private property or the collectivization of that property by government denies that person the right to liberty and thereby seriously encroaches on one's freedom. Just as excessive taxation, which is now the case diminishes ones right to enjoy the bounty of their life and labor. Unfortunately, current events seem to suggest that this is the track on which we are headed.

With the fast moving events of our times, willful ignorance of realty is no virtue. True wisdom suggests that when driving in the wrong direction, as we seem to be going these days, you don't step on the pedal and go faster, but you turn around and get back on track. And liberty carries with it the moral imperative that all in our society must have the opportunity to live and work in a society where there is homeland security and where our national interests are protected elsewhere. It is imperative there be an end to the war waged against profit and prosperity and that we stabilize our bleeding economy, control our egregious deficit, put an end to generational theft, balance the federal budget and work toward the renewal of sources for energy independence. And, imperatively, these three: where there is no more apologizing on foreign shores for our American Exceptionalism, where the out of control national debt is ended, and where there is the utilization of free market solutions to solve the challenges facing our times.

These matter weigh heavily on the minds of most Americans. The American Dream is that we live in a land in which life is better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to their ability and achievement. It is spurred on by hope, faith and charity, with a vision for the future, resilience for the now, and appreciation for the past. This dream is guided by moral virtue, transmitted by a determined zeal, under girded by a noble work ethic, and valued by a sense of accomplishment for the better and encouragement for the many. This how we see it FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE.