There is a way to achieve the end of hunger. It starts with fiscal reform right here in the United States. Yes, we are the wealthiest country in the world, and there is a reason for this; it’s called free market capitalism within the framework of the U.S. Constitution.
Nowhere in world history can you find a more successful system as ours. It is time to shed the fiscal policies that have proven over and over and over never to have worked. I am speaking of the socialist welfare policies written by left wing politicians who would be out of work if poverty did not exist.
A good example is the payroll tax of every worker in the United States. The socialist elements of our tax system takes $15 dollars out of every $100 dollars you earn and delivers it to the entitlement fund. Our government, both Republicans and Democrats, seem fine with collecting $900 Billion per year in these taxes while only paying out $600 billion dollars to individuals in amounts that barely pay the rent. Where does the balance go? Nobody knows.
Now if you were to put that same mandatory $15 into a government regulated lockbox with your name on it under your control in terms of where it is invested (such as a government guaranteed diversified stock fund) you would retire a millionaire with a minimum $10,000 per month interest check and a million dollar nest egg that you can leave to your children after you die. And this is if you were to make minimum wage for 45 years.
Now here is where the end of poverty comes into play. When you set up your Living Will you can leave your nest egg to your children so that they can have permanent health care coverage, the best education, auto and life insurance and never, never go to bed hungry.
It doesn’t stop there. By shifting the $15 tax out of the public coffers and into the private sectors generates more capitol to expand business in terms of market share. When a business grows it needs educated employees who in turn pay taxes to the federal government. The result is a huge decrease in government spending and a huge increase in government revenues allowing the government to reduce taxes putting more money into the pockets of the citizens allowing them to better educate their children so they could get better jobs. This would result in less crime, less gang membership, less homeless and significantly less poverty.
The only problem with this is it will mean less government jobs which means the end of purposefully perpetuating poverty to make people permanently dependent on government employees to keep them poor.
This system of failure and corruption can be best illustrated here in Los Angles. We have a 70% dropout rate in our high schools. We have 120,000 gang members armed to the teeth ready to loot every jewelry store in LA as soon as there is a Katrina like catastrophe. There are only 9,000 police officers. Crime is on the rise. Our Mayor thinks it is a better idea to spend $2 billon dollars on planting tress in the LA River than to hire more police officers. Homelessness is at an all time high of 90,000 in the streets of LA County, and there are 300,000 illegal immigrants living in garages breaking all kinds of civil building codes. And speaking of illegal immigrants 90% of all outstanding murder warrants in Los Angeles is for illegal immigrants. Our schools, jails and hospitals are beyond the stress points because of illegal immigration. But I regress...
Charity starts at home. We can best take care of the world if we take care of our selves first. In terms of foreign policy why feed the dictators and tyrants the goodwill of the American people if all they do is keep the money? Why should the most compassionate nation/people on earth stand by while these same tyrants and dictators kill their own people by the millions through neglect and corruption?
Why would anyine choose not to help the family next door if there was a bad man looting their property and murdering their kids?
The world has change more in the last 35 years than in all time before it combined, because of one thing. The innovation of individuals who live in free countries with the United States in the lead by a huge margin. Technology is bringing awareness to an ever-shrinking world. How are we going to put shoes on all those kids? We need business to develop new materials, cleaner methods of manufacturing and newer means of distribution so these children can go to school with good shoes on their feet. The innovation needed to do this is bred only in free societies with free market economic systems not centrally planned socialist economies.
A good example of this innovation is the Internet. Look what it has produced. One great idea is Micro Loans. A company called Kiva has a website that acts as a loan broker between poor working people in third world countries and people that want to help. Here is a quote from there website. “Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.”
This is innovation at its finest - that only a free market can create. I love it.
Our system works theirs doesn’t. Face it conservative economic polices have created the most compassionate economic system in the history of the world. It is time to shed socialism because there is absolutely no example of its success anywhere in the world. Never has never will be.
If you want to discuss this with me please email me at Jeffers@thirdplanet.tv.
And that my friend is all I have time for…
Jeffers
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Open Letter To Democrats
Jeffers MacArthur Dodge
July 4, 2005
To my Democratic Friends,
There is a growing distinction between political parties that should concern all Americans. As you know the words and their meanings in the Constitution of the United States originated from centuries of Judeo-Christian values. As your belief in the natural laws of selection justify your reason for existence then it should not be hard for you to reason that the literal meaning of the Constitution is by far the most enlightened document ever written by man.
From final victory of independence from England till now take stock of the incredible advancements we have made, all attributable to the secure environment this document provides and guarantees. We have achieved so much as two opposing parties working together within the context of this document and now we stand apart at a very critical time in the history of the world.
Out of the mess of an unregulated laissez fair system of commerce evolved a successful capitalistic society. I'll dispense with a history lesson especially concerning the first third of the 1900s when some considered Stalin a hero. This country flourished because of its capitalist system, framed in democracy and bathed in the warm water of freedom, and as a result so has most of the rest of the world as it continues to win the war of ideas.
As our competitors for the hearts and minds of Americans you have always opposed the “unbridled surges of capitalism” and forced social responsibility down the throats of conservatives in the form of shifting capital from the private sector to the state. This has loosely been a good thing in terms of social security and schools, but as an experiment it really hasn’t worked. After all the prolific laws and social programs you have come up with while comparing it to the relatively consistent level of poverty, crime and lackluster public education over the last forty years it has turned out to be a utter failure or as we Republicans like to put it a learning experience. The Kennedy Democrat is now extinct.
As we elbow our way into the 21st Century it has become obvious that your Party has been taken over by leftist so blinded by their hate for Republicans that you are failing to see the con job they are pulling on you. Josef Stalin was right when he said, "America is like a healthy body and it's resistance is threefold: it's patriotism, morality and spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within." His followers are making inroads with your help.
Are your narrow-minded liberal intellectuals so gullible as to have failed to connect the dots of history? Fascism has always been preceded by Socialism, and there has never been a war between two Democracies. It is hard to imagine how anyone can ignore these facts of history. Or is it intentional? Sometimes we feel as if we are standing in the theater yelling fire when there really is a fire.
Our current president has proven to be one of the most compassionate leaders in history when you look at just a few FACTS, i.e., the huge amount of effort and money he has marshaled to free the continent of Africa from AIDS and poverty and the freeing of 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan. (We hear many of you thinking now - you are saying to your collective self with a cynical holier-than-thou ego that those people are not free - and we will tell you that you are simply not the bug-eyed dirty hippies that we have any use for or wish to converse with, but don’t worry we will still protect you.)
Our president follows in the footsteps of many great Republicans that have quite literally saved this Union. Shall I name them and their achievements? Sometimes I ponder what our society could be if these men and their achievements were really studied in our schools and celebrated as the greatest Americans and the robustness of our society if we didn’t have to contend with the dark forces of tyranny and fascism these men were fighting. Washington, Lincoln, Eisenhower, Regan and Bush. (Eisenhower was finally called on by FDR, after a long delay that may have killed 4 million Jews, to beat back and destroy Hitler while another great conservative; MacArthur beat back and disabled Japan.)
If you listen very hard you can hear the collective screaming of most in your party about how it was the Democrats that were for the civil rights of woman and blacks and it was FDR’s policies that has shaped modern America. The reason you are screaming is because the truth has its own voice and it is very loud. All you have to do is a little research, maybe read the 2005 Freedom Calendar celebrating150 years of the Republican Party. Indisputable facts such as the Republican Party were founded to stop your pro-slavery agenda. Every single Black-American in congress until 1935 was a Republican. It was the your party in the south that founded the Klu Klux Clan. It was the Republicans that extended the Bill of Rights guaranteeing equal protection of laws and due process to all citizens regardless of race. Republicans, despite fierce opposition and filibustering, enacted the first-ever Civil Rights Act. Republicans led the fight for woman’s rights with Susan B. Anthony bragging in 1872 she had voted a straight Republican ticket. The NAACP was founded by two Black-American woman both of them Republican. A devout Communist Roger Baldwin founded the ACLU. (Hmmm?) Eisenhower enacted and won passage of his landmark Civil Rights Act of 1957 and Republican Senator Everett Dirkson authored and introduced the 1960 Civil Rights Act. By a much larger percentage than your party the Republicans supported the 1964 Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act that became Law only after overcoming a fervent filibuster by your party. The first Asian-American Judge was a Republican and so was the first woman on the Supreme Court. The first Hispanic presidential cabinet member was a Republican and look at the diversity of George W. Bush’s government now. And all I here from your leadership, especially the black caucus lead by Jackson, Sharpton and the usual suspects and the National Organization for Women (NOW) is how Republicans are racists. I think Sigmund Freud would conclude this is a matter of projection, if you know what I mean.
We are hoping to engage those in your Party that don’t keep themselves locked up in a hermetically sealed box chatting amongst themselves about all the lies they so discriminately picked out of their favorite “Bush Is Hitler” blogs. Much more often Conservatives get to enter the box and observe you guys validating your lies and distortions. It spills out all over the media. It is really amusing to watch this phenomenon except we have to point out that this behavior is dangerous. We may be sending our soldiers off to war to make thee ultimate sacrifice, but the recent methods of your leadership undermining our efforts to win the war by supporting the enemy has killed many of our soldiers and many civilians. 50 front page above the fold stories on Abu Ghraib and the constant harping on the treatment of the murderous slims detained at Gitmo has done more harm to this country than anything we have done in the history of this country.
There are only two entities in this world that want us out of Iraq; one is our sworn enemy the Islamic terrorist and the other is the leadership of the Democratic Party and its mouth piece the mainstream media. Our enemies are overjoyed by your willingness to use these methods and tactics. They have learned that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. What you guys don’t know is if they win they are going to slit your throats as well.
I am absolutely convinced that you don’t care about the incredible advances in Iraq such as;
1) That 47 countries have re-established their embassies in Iraq.
2) That the Iraqi government employs 1.2 million Iraqi people.
3) That 3100 schools have been renovated, 364 schools are under rehabilitation, 263 schools are now under construction and 38 new schools have been built in Iraq.
4) That Iraq's higher educational structure consists of 20 Universities, 46 Institutes or colleges and 4 research centers.
5) That 25 Iraq students departed for the United States in January 2004 for the re-established Fulbright program.
6) That the Iraqi Navy is operational. They have 5- 100-foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels and a naval infantry regiment.
7) That Iraq's Air Force consists of three operational squadrons, 9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130 transport aircraft which operate day and night, and will soon add 16 UH-1 helicopters and 4 bell jet rangers.
8) That Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a Commando Battalion.
9) That the Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 fully trained and equipped police officers.
10) That there are 5 Police Academies in Iraq that produce over 3500 new officers each 8 weeks.
11) There are more than 1100 building projects going on in Iraq. They include 364 schools, 67 public clinics, 15 hospitals, 83 railroad stations, 22 oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69 electrical facilities.
12) That 96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have received the first 2 series of polio vaccinations.
13) That 4.3 million Iraqi children were enrolled in primary school by mid October.
14) That there are 1,192,000 cell phone subscribers in Iraq and phone use has gone up 158%.
15) That Iraq has an independent media that consist of 75 radio stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations.
16) That the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened in June of 2004.
17) That 2 candidates in the Iraqi presidential election had a recent televised debate recently.
(Source: The DOD website)
Of course you didn’t know this. CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NYT, LAT and the Washington Post would rather see the world blow up than lose their power by showing any support for a war that did not start during a Democratic Administration.
Ah yes, then there is the question of your global consensus building, a kind of advice and consent policy that your presidential nominee talked so much about. On one hand lets bring the United States into the fold of the United Nations but on the other hand lets leave the world out of any economic progress. Just stop the screaming about the outsourcing of jobs to the rest of the world if you want so desperately to cozy up to them. I am again so amused at how long it takes for people to see the hypocrisy of your dualism in regards to globalism.
In conclusion, as I see it, an American is a capitalist whose belief in democracy, honor, individual freedom as outlined by the Constitution, and a faith in God (and/or yourself) are the guiding values and principals that are worth dying for. There is no such thing as an American Socialist. If you think there is and you are bent on taking what we capitalist have built and destroying it like the looters you really are - prepare yourself; read the Bible or Atlas Shrugged and learn the fate of your blindness.
So here is the distinction; you decide. On which of the three sides do you identify with. Oppose the Republicans constructively if you are a Kennedy Democrat, or, meet us on the battlefield if you are a socialist, or, join us and become a member of the most compassionate political party in the history of the world.
It’s cool to be a Republican!
Jeffers MacArthur Dodge
HUMOR
A U.S. Navy admiral was attending a Naval conference that included admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a group of a half dozen or so officers that included personnel from most of the countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked: "Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?"
Without hesitating, the American admiral replied: "Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German."
July 4, 2005
To my Democratic Friends,
There is a growing distinction between political parties that should concern all Americans. As you know the words and their meanings in the Constitution of the United States originated from centuries of Judeo-Christian values. As your belief in the natural laws of selection justify your reason for existence then it should not be hard for you to reason that the literal meaning of the Constitution is by far the most enlightened document ever written by man.
From final victory of independence from England till now take stock of the incredible advancements we have made, all attributable to the secure environment this document provides and guarantees. We have achieved so much as two opposing parties working together within the context of this document and now we stand apart at a very critical time in the history of the world.
Out of the mess of an unregulated laissez fair system of commerce evolved a successful capitalistic society. I'll dispense with a history lesson especially concerning the first third of the 1900s when some considered Stalin a hero. This country flourished because of its capitalist system, framed in democracy and bathed in the warm water of freedom, and as a result so has most of the rest of the world as it continues to win the war of ideas.
As our competitors for the hearts and minds of Americans you have always opposed the “unbridled surges of capitalism” and forced social responsibility down the throats of conservatives in the form of shifting capital from the private sector to the state. This has loosely been a good thing in terms of social security and schools, but as an experiment it really hasn’t worked. After all the prolific laws and social programs you have come up with while comparing it to the relatively consistent level of poverty, crime and lackluster public education over the last forty years it has turned out to be a utter failure or as we Republicans like to put it a learning experience. The Kennedy Democrat is now extinct.
As we elbow our way into the 21st Century it has become obvious that your Party has been taken over by leftist so blinded by their hate for Republicans that you are failing to see the con job they are pulling on you. Josef Stalin was right when he said, "America is like a healthy body and it's resistance is threefold: it's patriotism, morality and spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within." His followers are making inroads with your help.
Are your narrow-minded liberal intellectuals so gullible as to have failed to connect the dots of history? Fascism has always been preceded by Socialism, and there has never been a war between two Democracies. It is hard to imagine how anyone can ignore these facts of history. Or is it intentional? Sometimes we feel as if we are standing in the theater yelling fire when there really is a fire.
Our current president has proven to be one of the most compassionate leaders in history when you look at just a few FACTS, i.e., the huge amount of effort and money he has marshaled to free the continent of Africa from AIDS and poverty and the freeing of 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan. (We hear many of you thinking now - you are saying to your collective self with a cynical holier-than-thou ego that those people are not free - and we will tell you that you are simply not the bug-eyed dirty hippies that we have any use for or wish to converse with, but don’t worry we will still protect you.)
Our president follows in the footsteps of many great Republicans that have quite literally saved this Union. Shall I name them and their achievements? Sometimes I ponder what our society could be if these men and their achievements were really studied in our schools and celebrated as the greatest Americans and the robustness of our society if we didn’t have to contend with the dark forces of tyranny and fascism these men were fighting. Washington, Lincoln, Eisenhower, Regan and Bush. (Eisenhower was finally called on by FDR, after a long delay that may have killed 4 million Jews, to beat back and destroy Hitler while another great conservative; MacArthur beat back and disabled Japan.)
If you listen very hard you can hear the collective screaming of most in your party about how it was the Democrats that were for the civil rights of woman and blacks and it was FDR’s policies that has shaped modern America. The reason you are screaming is because the truth has its own voice and it is very loud. All you have to do is a little research, maybe read the 2005 Freedom Calendar celebrating150 years of the Republican Party. Indisputable facts such as the Republican Party were founded to stop your pro-slavery agenda. Every single Black-American in congress until 1935 was a Republican. It was the your party in the south that founded the Klu Klux Clan. It was the Republicans that extended the Bill of Rights guaranteeing equal protection of laws and due process to all citizens regardless of race. Republicans, despite fierce opposition and filibustering, enacted the first-ever Civil Rights Act. Republicans led the fight for woman’s rights with Susan B. Anthony bragging in 1872 she had voted a straight Republican ticket. The NAACP was founded by two Black-American woman both of them Republican. A devout Communist Roger Baldwin founded the ACLU. (Hmmm?) Eisenhower enacted and won passage of his landmark Civil Rights Act of 1957 and Republican Senator Everett Dirkson authored and introduced the 1960 Civil Rights Act. By a much larger percentage than your party the Republicans supported the 1964 Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act that became Law only after overcoming a fervent filibuster by your party. The first Asian-American Judge was a Republican and so was the first woman on the Supreme Court. The first Hispanic presidential cabinet member was a Republican and look at the diversity of George W. Bush’s government now. And all I here from your leadership, especially the black caucus lead by Jackson, Sharpton and the usual suspects and the National Organization for Women (NOW) is how Republicans are racists. I think Sigmund Freud would conclude this is a matter of projection, if you know what I mean.
We are hoping to engage those in your Party that don’t keep themselves locked up in a hermetically sealed box chatting amongst themselves about all the lies they so discriminately picked out of their favorite “Bush Is Hitler” blogs. Much more often Conservatives get to enter the box and observe you guys validating your lies and distortions. It spills out all over the media. It is really amusing to watch this phenomenon except we have to point out that this behavior is dangerous. We may be sending our soldiers off to war to make thee ultimate sacrifice, but the recent methods of your leadership undermining our efforts to win the war by supporting the enemy has killed many of our soldiers and many civilians. 50 front page above the fold stories on Abu Ghraib and the constant harping on the treatment of the murderous slims detained at Gitmo has done more harm to this country than anything we have done in the history of this country.
There are only two entities in this world that want us out of Iraq; one is our sworn enemy the Islamic terrorist and the other is the leadership of the Democratic Party and its mouth piece the mainstream media. Our enemies are overjoyed by your willingness to use these methods and tactics. They have learned that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. What you guys don’t know is if they win they are going to slit your throats as well.
I am absolutely convinced that you don’t care about the incredible advances in Iraq such as;
1) That 47 countries have re-established their embassies in Iraq.
2) That the Iraqi government employs 1.2 million Iraqi people.
3) That 3100 schools have been renovated, 364 schools are under rehabilitation, 263 schools are now under construction and 38 new schools have been built in Iraq.
4) That Iraq's higher educational structure consists of 20 Universities, 46 Institutes or colleges and 4 research centers.
5) That 25 Iraq students departed for the United States in January 2004 for the re-established Fulbright program.
6) That the Iraqi Navy is operational. They have 5- 100-foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels and a naval infantry regiment.
7) That Iraq's Air Force consists of three operational squadrons, 9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130 transport aircraft which operate day and night, and will soon add 16 UH-1 helicopters and 4 bell jet rangers.
8) That Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a Commando Battalion.
9) That the Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 fully trained and equipped police officers.
10) That there are 5 Police Academies in Iraq that produce over 3500 new officers each 8 weeks.
11) There are more than 1100 building projects going on in Iraq. They include 364 schools, 67 public clinics, 15 hospitals, 83 railroad stations, 22 oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69 electrical facilities.
12) That 96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have received the first 2 series of polio vaccinations.
13) That 4.3 million Iraqi children were enrolled in primary school by mid October.
14) That there are 1,192,000 cell phone subscribers in Iraq and phone use has gone up 158%.
15) That Iraq has an independent media that consist of 75 radio stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations.
16) That the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened in June of 2004.
17) That 2 candidates in the Iraqi presidential election had a recent televised debate recently.
(Source: The DOD website)
Of course you didn’t know this. CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NYT, LAT and the Washington Post would rather see the world blow up than lose their power by showing any support for a war that did not start during a Democratic Administration.
Ah yes, then there is the question of your global consensus building, a kind of advice and consent policy that your presidential nominee talked so much about. On one hand lets bring the United States into the fold of the United Nations but on the other hand lets leave the world out of any economic progress. Just stop the screaming about the outsourcing of jobs to the rest of the world if you want so desperately to cozy up to them. I am again so amused at how long it takes for people to see the hypocrisy of your dualism in regards to globalism.
In conclusion, as I see it, an American is a capitalist whose belief in democracy, honor, individual freedom as outlined by the Constitution, and a faith in God (and/or yourself) are the guiding values and principals that are worth dying for. There is no such thing as an American Socialist. If you think there is and you are bent on taking what we capitalist have built and destroying it like the looters you really are - prepare yourself; read the Bible or Atlas Shrugged and learn the fate of your blindness.
So here is the distinction; you decide. On which of the three sides do you identify with. Oppose the Republicans constructively if you are a Kennedy Democrat, or, meet us on the battlefield if you are a socialist, or, join us and become a member of the most compassionate political party in the history of the world.
It’s cool to be a Republican!
Jeffers MacArthur Dodge
HUMOR
A U.S. Navy admiral was attending a Naval conference that included admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a group of a half dozen or so officers that included personnel from most of the countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked: "Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?"
Without hesitating, the American admiral replied: "Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German."
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Give Me Liberty of Give Me Death!
No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The questing before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free--if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength but irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
Patrick Henry March 23, 1775
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free--if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength but irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
Patrick Henry March 23, 1775
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