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"With malice toward none, with charity toward all," free individuals
can resolve to work together and exercise their local responsibility to
ensure that government of the people, by the people, and for the people
shall not perish from this country, or this earth. It's up to us.
We are our own leaders. The "American dream"
is not entitlement to prosperity or charity through government
power. It is the power of freedom as individuals to pursue and
achieve our own dreams within limited societal constraints. |
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pledge allegiance to our country as a republic for which we stand as
free individuals, determined to do what is right, as God gives us to see
the right, rather than pledge to political leaders, right or left. |
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do not pledge allegiance to any individual leader, political party,
or social program. It is rather for our leaders to resolve to
renew their dedication to the great tasks remaining before us with the
honor, integrity, self-restraint, and humility of public servants in
whom we have conditionally placed our trust. |
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invest in government services. It needs to be a limited investment
at all levels. We cannot afford to expect
government services to satisfy every human want or need which the
private sector doesn't. The private sector is what pays all the
bills,. We have to compete with other countries.
Keynes is dead. So are many other economies and
communities in which government spending has grown beyond control.
Government spending can crush our national, state, and local economies. |
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do not seek progress through federal programs or redistribution of
wealth. We believe in a very limited federal government as
well as the important role of state and local governments as a check on
federal power. Dependency on federal programs weakens that
essential check on federal power. |
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do not seek to "divide and conquer", or "beggar thy neighbor".
We respect those who may not share our views. Our pursuit of
prosperity does not impair the ability of others to pursue their own.
We seek ways to work together respectfully to mutual
benefit with those who are willing to do so. We do not, however,
simply concede defeat to the insurgents who implacably oppose everything
we believe. |
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create our own futures as free individuals by choosing to take risks
and accept the responsibilities of making our own tough decisions in
life. We are not the innocent victims of an unfair society, or of
the exploitation or abuses of power by others. Life is hard.
Some people do bad things. Deal with it.
We all have great potential. We are very lucky to be in
this country, instead of some others. There's a good reason why
immigration is a constant problem here, and non-existent in some
countries. We take our progress and prosperity too easily for
granted. It has been so enduring that it seems inevitable. |
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Our prosperity is not inevitable. We have the power to destroy
what we have created. We live in a very
competitive world full of very smart, capable, and motivated people.
Many have been held back in their own pursuit of happiness as they
sought social progress and prosperity as defined by whatever cultural
values they shared. They have labored under oppressive regimes or
the dead weight of unsustainable government programs which, despite any
good intentions, perpetuated their misery. |
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Those who envy our prosperity may try to imitate and exceed it, or they
may try to destroy it. We have to compete
for the economic leadership of the free world - as well as the power
necessary to protect ourselves against those who don't share our
commitments to freedom and to free markets. |
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dare not assume that the moral "justness" or "fairness" of our
intentions will be shared. We do not seek to
impose our values on others, or to exploit them unfairly, but that
doesn't mean we can trust them to not try to seize any opportunities to
impose their own values or rule over us.
We need to maintain the economic, military,
diplomatic, intelligence and other powers at the federal level which can
defend our interests against all threats, foreign or domestic.
That includes vigilance against multilateral threats to our freedoms,
including among our "friends" and allies. The world remains a very
dangerous place. It would be foolish and naive to let down our
guard at any time, or to assume that others will agree to act to protect
our interests. They will protect their own perceived interests. |
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trust each other to work together to achieve the progress we seek.
We do not put our faith in a distant government bureaucracy to drive the
economic progress and prosperity of our country. |
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seek to innovate as a society and lead the world with unrelenting
determination, creativity, and resourcefulness to achieve extraordinary
progress. Government doesn't drive innovation. It can
usefully consolidate resources to pursue major long-term goals, but in
the process it can also waste vast resources indefinitely on
unjustifiable initiatives which demonstrably are not achieving their
original goals. |
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choose to share our prosperity and help others with the compassion,
charity, and humility of friends and neighbors who respect and care for
each other without being told that they must do so. Ours is not
the false tolerance of creeping legal mandates. Ours is a
fundamental core value. |
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respect the extraordinary capabilities of free individuals to find
creative solutions to our common needs. We honor their innovation
and achievements. We encourage the open sharing of the lessons
learned so that success can be quickly spread or be replicated by those
with similar needs. The great social needs of our time can be met
through private rather than bureaucratic leadership.
This is very different than the for-profit business model
of private investment in intellectual property as a way to build wealth.
Instead, individuals are free to choose how to invest and share their
own experience to achieve larger results than by acting alone with
limited resources. It is business-like collaboration to achieve
desired social outcomes together, rather than a for-profit business
venture. This has been a key characteristic of American
philanthropic and charitable organizations for a very long time.
The focus needs to be on results, rather than on bureaucratic turf and
resource battles as in government programs. |
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