Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry solidified the cause of independence before the House of Burgesses. He exclaimed:

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 so long engaged... we must fight! It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter, Gentlemen may cry, Peace, peace – but there is no peace... Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? 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 for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

'Nuff said.  For more visit Patriot Week and America's Survival Guide.

Why do we have a government?

Thomas Paine expressed the American sentiment when he wrote that:

“Man did not enter into society to become worse than he was before, not to have fewer rights than he had before, but to have those rights better secured.”

This is why we have a government.  Too often we seem to forget that that entire purpose of government is to protect our unalienable rights.  The government is our servant, not the other way around.

To learn more, visit Patriot Week and America's Survival Guide.

What Price Freedom? Responsibility

"Responsibility is the price of freedom." Elbert Hubbard.

So true.  Yet so hard.  Perhaps this is why so many in human history are willing to forgo freedom - yes, they don't have liberty, but they don't have to responsible for their own lives.  Complacency and laziness are truly the enemies of our unalienable rights.

For more, visit America's Survival Guide and Patriot Week.

The Purpose of the Republic: Protecting Unalienable Rights

President Harry S. Truman put it this way:

Democracy maintains that government is established for the benefit of the individual, and is charged with the responsibility of protecting the rights of the individual and his freedom in the exercise of his abilities . . . .

Indeed, that is what one of the defining purposes of republic (I forgive the President for using the more colloquy term of "democracy") - to protect the unalienable rights of individuals.  Seems that is something all but forgotten today.

We never get past the rancor and vitriol so prominent in our public discourse until we can unite on our common core principles - and this one - drawn right from the Declaration of Independence, is essential.

To learn more, visit Patriot Week and America's Survival Guide.

Unalienable Rights - A Key to Our Liberty

"Our Constitution is not alone the working plan of a great Federation of States under representative government. There is embedded in it also the vital principles of the American system of liberty. That system is based on upon certain inalienable protections in which no event the government may infringe and which we call the Bill of Rights." Herbert Hoover.

Hoover may have been bashed by history for his handling of the Great Depression - but this he got exactly right.

A Nation at Risk - STILL

During the early years of the Reagan administration, it published A Nation at Risk, which reported that there was a crisis in our educational system that threatened our ability to compete and succeed in the global economy.  Over 25 years later, its the same old story.

According to a recent report from the Council on Foreign Relations, "educational failure puts the United States' future economic prosperity, global position, and physical safety at risk."  About 25% of students drop out of school, and only 22% of high school students are ready for college in the core topics.  We are well past the time of diagnosing the problem - in fact, we have had two sets of K-12 generations begin and graduate since Reagan sounded the alarm.  Time to make some real changes in education.

Civil Rights, Deaf Arts Festival, and 9/11 Events « CW Detroit

Civil Rights, Deaf Arts Festival, and 9/11 Events « CW Detroit