Charlotte Tea Party Headquarters

I must admit that given my age (26) and my public school education what I know of history is what I have chosen to research on my own. I have a very good grasp on Revolutionary history, the founding of the country and the early years of our Government. Those topics interest me greatly so it is easy for me to choose books on Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Washington, and others. But what I have only started to read about historically is the leftward shift that occurred during the crisis of the Great Depression and the years following the disastrous decisions made by our federal Government. I do remember as a child hearing about how benevolent the federal spending was during the Great Depression to keep people working on roads, bridges, rail lines ect. I believe there was a video I watched in high school about the great efforts FDR took on and the programs they created just to keep people working for a paycheck. In my reading I came across a quote from FDR that absolutely flattened me, I had never heard it before…

FDR’s Proposed 2nd Bill of Rights

“The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation; to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation; of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living; of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad; of every family to a decent home; to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health; to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment; to a good education.”

This quote was attributed to a speech he gave in 1944, some 65 years ago. The language in here is incredible. To think that all people have rights, granted and protected by the federal government, to a job, to food and clothing, to a home, to medical care, and most importantly the RIGHT to protection from all sorts of economic fears! Hells bells, why do I even have to get out of bed in the morning if the Government will afford me the right to all these things?

I think it is important to note that from the first line in the quote, the term remunerative is a synonym for “suitable.” Suitable according to whom? I have the right, granted and protected by the federal government, to a suitable job? If they are the ones doing the granting and protecting, who do you think is the one defining “suitable?” All of these things are very nice to think about, but Utopia is unattainable. Results of free markets and private enterprise have always more closely resembled Utopia than uniform misery granted by central planners! When the government is in charge of making sure everyone has a home, medical care, a job, and “protection from the economic fears”, what do you suppose the quality of those items will be? The impetus for me getting out of bed at sunrise to go and make a living is so that I can provide all of those things for my family. If the government were just to give it to everyone, regardless of their work ethic, what quality of work would be produced in America?

Bit by bit these “rights” are being promised and delivered to a very dangerous group of would-be-productive people in this country. Once they have these “rights” provided to them by the Government it is impossible to take them away. We are being slowly sucked down into an ever expanding entitlement culture that only armed conflict can negate. Sounds brash I know, but once more than 50% of the people are reliant on the Government to provide them these “rights” what chance do we have to peaceably save this Country? How important are the 2010 and 2012 elections? They may be the last chance to peaceably avoid a Civil War based on Class and Wealth envy.

Give me libery or Give me Death,

Patrick Henry