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(1 of 38)
America is the greatest country in the world: Freedom and Responsibility.
May 3, 2003 8:15 PM
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In recent days, I've heard many on this forum whining about how this country is controlled by another "Hitler." I've seen many posters here whine on and on about the wealthy in this country. Some here act as if they're living in Africa or Iraq. So, all this whining reminded me of something I read a few months ago by Sean Hannity regarding freedom, opportunity, and responsibility in this country. So, I hope you enjoy it.
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Years ago, I worked as a contractor in Rhode Island. I was just finishing a job at an office building late one Sunday night, and I got to talking with another guy who was working late that night. He was from Czechoslovakia. He'd grown up under Communist oppression and persecution, but miraculously he'd gotten out and headed West, even at the height of the Cold War. Now he was living in the United States, working hard, trying to make ends meet, trying to build a new life for himself and his family. He was responsible for cleaning the entire office building every night, and his son was there helping him.
He struck me as a good guy, honest and sincere, and he had a fascinating story. He described his life under communism his entire dramatic escape. He told me what it was like to come to America and start his life all over again. I must have sat there listening for two or three hours, captivated by his journey from tyranny to freedom.
And there was one image from that night that stayed with me more than any other. When he arrived in England, just before he and his family got the chance to come to the United States, all this fellow owned in the world was a bottle, of champagne that someone that someone had given him to celebrate his newfound freedom. That's all he had to his name: a bottle of champagne. Yet by the time I met him, though he'd been in the United States only two or three years, he already owned two houses. He owned several vans. He ran his own office-cleaning business. No sooner had he begun to breathe the air of freedom than he began pursuing his dreams, carving out a good life for himself in just a few short years.
It was only a chance encounter, but one that had a profound and lasting impact on me. I've often found myself marveling at the way this young Czech man appreciated America's freedoms. He drank them in with the thirst of one who had been deprived of liberties his entire life. So I've repeatedly wondered why so many Americans take their entire freedoms for granted and refuse to avail themselves of the limitless opportunities they provide.
Let's face it: there are too many Americans who have lived in freedom here for years but who act as though they aren't free, and who might as well not be. I'm not talking about all Americans, of course, or even most. But there are far too many people in this country who simply refuse to develop the gifts God has given them. Some are spoiled to the point that they don't even have real dreams. Some act as though they've been cheated, as if being given the opportunity to achieve is not enough. They act as though they expect material blessings to be bestowed upon them without any effort on their part. Some have bought into the lie that America is a racist, sexist, bigoted, homophobic country that keeps minorities down and does so intellectually. How can that be?
How can so many people, like many who call my radio show, have grown up in this nation feeling bitter, angry, and resentful? They haven't grown up under Communism or some other despotic regime. They haven't had to run for their lives under cover of darkness. Yet often they, too, have little more to their name than a bottle of cheap champagne. They've had more opportunities to make something of themselves and create a real future for their families than most of the six billion people on this planet. But they talk as though America were a miserable, repressive country. They talk as though they've been ripped off, cheated, and scammed. They don't own a home or a car; they don't take their kids out fishing or hiking or camping on the weekends, and all they can do is sit back and wonder why.
What I tell such people usually isn't what they want to hear. But it's the truth. If you're not living your dreams in this country, if you're not living up to your highest potential, it's not America's fault. It's yours. You've got to start asking yourself not What's America doing wrong to cheat me of my birthright? but What am I doing wrong that's holding me back from a life of spiritual, emotional, and financial success?
I don't care how Pollyannaish it may sound, or how unconventional in today's climate, but America is a land of dreams, not nightmares. With the right attitude you can pursue and have a great chance of realizing your dreams. You don't have to be "somebody" to make something of your life, provided your willing to roll up your sleeves and get to work. But remember: The American dream isn't necessarily a house with a garage and a pool and a dog and 2.2 children. It can be. But ti doesn't have to be. It is whatever you want it to be. It's about having the freedom to pursue whatever goals you set for yourself.
How do I know? Why do I believe so passionately in the power of the American dream? it's simple: I'm living it. My parents didn't come over on the Mayflower. I wasn't raised in high society. I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth.
But so what? I had dreams, and still do. I'm far from satisfied yet;I'm just beginning. I've worked hard to achieve my dreams. I've seized opportunities as they've arisen. I've sought to live a good and honest and honorable life. I've tried to be true to my faith in God and my faith in others. I've been blessed with a wonderful wife and two beautiful children, and I've tried, even with the considerable pressures of a three-hour radio show and a one-hour television show and other responsibilities, to be a blessing to them.
So when people call me up and tell me you can't make it in America, or that it takes welfare or a bunch of government handouts, I tell them they're crazy. Of course you can make it. If I'm doing it, you can. You don't have to make it big, that often takes breaks beyond one's total control. But you can make it and do quite well, if you're willing to invest the effort.
With all due respect to Al Gore, life itself is a "risky scheme." There are no guarantees, except one: You can't win if you don't play. You've got to be willing to jump from the high board. You've got to have courage to take risks, to try new things, to seize new opportunities. And you've got to have the courage to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes, or trust me, you'll never achieve anything in life.
That's the thing about freedom. It doesn't guarantee success. It guarantees your right to make your own choices. How you choose wil go a long way toward determining your level of success. That means that with freedom comes responsibility. It means that freedom will do you little good if you are not willing to accept its sobering responsibilites. Life is about making wise decisions. It's about being disciplined, delaying gratification, and taking "the road less traveled." Otherwise you'll limit your chances for success.
Sure, you can stay up partying with your buddies all night. You can sleep in until noon. You can hang out at the mann or at the beach or sit around watching movies all the time. You can waste your money seeking pleasure through drugs and excessive use of alcohol. You can rack up credit card debt; you can be lazy with your schoolwork or on your job. You can squander your future if you want. It's a free country. But if this is the life you choose, you shouldn't blame other people when you fall flat on your face. Just polish your mirror and take a good look.
But let's say you show a little self-discipline, even if you haven't before. )One of the great things about this country is that it's rarely too late for another chance.) Let's say you go to bed at a reasonable hour at night and get up in the morning ready to tackle the day. Let's say you really work hard. You develop marketable skills. You help invent or produce or distribute some product or service that people want or need. You get out there and hustle. Rather than waste your money, you pay off your college loans and your credit cards and your car loans. You start socking some money away in a savings account or begin to invest it in a reasonable, responsible manner. You get into a twelve-step program, if you have to, to get out of a life of drinking or smoking or drugs or promiscuous sex. You get serious about your life and about your sense of worth and your sense of personal responsibility. What's going to happen? I guarantee you: You'll be on the road to success.
The point is, though, that the road to success is one paved by your own industry and determination, not by a caretaker government from Washington, D.C. So don't invest your hope for prosperity and happiness in government. Believe in yourself, and while you're at it, help to promote policies designed to keep government out of your way, so that you'll possess the freedom to fulfill your dreams.
As Americans, we've inherited our traditions from men and women who made sacrifices to acquire and preserve freedoms, the freedoms we enjoy today. They laid the path for us. Let's not whine and complain about the hard work it will take to maximize our potential. Let's be grateful for the opportunities.
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861
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9/17/02
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(2 of 38)
Sounds Like a Dale Carnegie refugee.
May 3, 2003 9:16 PM
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Too bad his great words of insight and wisdom can't fit on a doily, because that is about how deep they are.
The world and America is a far more complex and challenging proposition than Hannity's Norman Rockwell/George Patton portrait. And there isn't a single lefty who doesn't love the country as much as he does. His implication that they don't shows he is the one who neither understands nor can impute what the country or the nation is really about at all.
This is as feckless an appreciation of America ever written. Balderdash, what I could get through.
I If I could speak to Hannity, I would say: brevity, brevity. Or should I say, organization, intelligence and concision.
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5,194
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12/30/02
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(3 of 38)
Re: America is the greatest country in the world: Freedom and Responsibility.
May 3, 2003 9:17 PM
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Excellent post!
I am a conservative because I believe in the American dream of bettering yourself. I believe that bettering yourself is something you have to do on your own. The American dream is not a government give away program. ~TwoFootOnion~
My country, may she always be right; but my country right or wrong. ~ginandjuice~
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2,742
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(4 of 38)
Re: Sounds Like a Dale Carnegie refugee.
May 3, 2003 9:27 PM
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Or could you answer my question?
God Bless America
BPA75
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410
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(5 of 38)
Re: Sounds Like a Dale Carnegie refugee.
May 3, 2003 9:32 PM
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Or should I say, "I'm ashamed that Bush is from my state of Texas." Or should I say that you are far too enlightened for me. That 3.75 GPA has me floored.
Gosh, now lefty hates America, but they hate everything it stands for.
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Re: Sounds Like a Dale Carnegie refugee.
May 3, 2003 9:32 PM
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Please. I know all about you. I haven't seen one liberal who had a keen grasp of American history. These are the same windbags taking men Like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson out of our school textbooks because they happened to own slaves.
I know all about how much liberals love America. In fact, I've witnessed it first-hand. Don't tell me about how much you love America. You and the rest of those puzzlewits can go you nowhere. The only time you love America is when its in your best interest, which is very rare. You and your ilk have destroyed this nation and it's not getting any better.
Sean Hannity was right on the money with this. But I wouldn't expect a feeble minded pseudo-intellectuals such as yourself to embrace this verity. You're a purveyor of lies and trickery.
You make me sick.
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149
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(7 of 38)
May 3, 2003 9:40 PM
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America is a good nation, the best in history. There are sharks in the tank, however.
There are people who work with the purpose of ruining the dreams of someone else, simply because they have the determination and opportunity to do so. Likely, there have been several souls in American history who have fallen victim to such sharks, though they were otherwise committed to excellence and hard work.
There are those who fuel the rhetoric that there are people who are opposed to their opportunities, though these speakers are never required to actually proved this to be true. While there is truth to it in some cases, the rhetoric inflames those who are naive and don't know whether the truth permeates everything or not. In the environment of such talk, how can negative and degrading thoughts not take root in those who have little inspiration to hear from?
In truth, for the people to rise up and live their lives in America all that they must do is believe in America, and believe in their right to pursue their own part of America. When I was young, I can tell you that this simple understanding was not always readily apparent. I was well out of my teens before it dawned on my mind that I could do anything I wanted. Would it surprise you that throughout my teens, and even after this dawning that many of the closest people around me would say differently?
Why?
Not that I really need to know, because I have since learned that people with such attitudes are plain not on my side, regardless of what they might say.
America is a great place, but there are sharks in the tank and it is easy for even a believing fish who wants to be successful and is determined to do their best to be bitten by the shark and cut up into pieces. Some people never recover or have the opportunity to do so. I pity them because of the sharks.
But, once bitten, should the chance arise to deal with the sharks and opportunity lost be found again, then in America even that dream is not beyond reach. There will always be sharks, and they'll take you to the brink and leave you, but if you are smart, determined, and uncompromising about what is the right choice, then I believe that almost anyone at any age can forge a new opportunity from nothing.
Here's to those people, because they are they American dream come to life.
The sharks, however, can make the beauty of America seem a curse to their victims. Someone who has been so discouraged might seem bitter because they are and probably have reason to be.
There are those who are simply out to find the worst in everything so that their job is to put down everything.
Sharks are everywhere. Not everyone knows that until it is too late. Moreover, they don't realize as they are bitten that the sharks are a small amount of folks with nothing better to do than bite them. They lost their trust and faith in the whole world because of the pain of one infliction that cost them much.
I have had to learn not to be bitter in adversity because I can tell you that the easiest temptation in the world, when the chips are down, is to fall into hating, berating, and lashing at anything or anyone. It is so easy that coming out of it takes a large amount of time in good moods. Once trained, however, I've learned that a good mood is hard to put away if you truly choose to have one. Even in pain.
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(8 of 38)
Re: America is the greatest country in the world: Freedom and Responsibility.
May 3, 2003 9:46 PM
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what he basicly is saying is work hard and you can make it.
well i think that goes for a lot of countries in the world.
i agree that America is a great country but this article does not explain why you think this is the greatest country in the world.
so Mario explain why America is the greatest country in the world, make your case young man 
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(9 of 38)
Re: this is powerful words
May 3, 2003 9:50 PM
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Good post, disruptor.
I love this line in particular: I have had to learn not to be bitter in adversity because I can tell you that the easiest temptation in the world, when the chips are down, is to fall into hating, berating, and lashing at anything or anyone.
-You just described many liberals in this country, especially lepidoptera herself. Yoor words are words to live by and the sooner this woman and other like her realize that, the better this country will be.
Take care, sir.
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(10 of 38)
I have a challenge for you
May 3, 2003 9:53 PM
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one that is deep and requiring very careful consideration.
I want you to name for me a nation with greater opportunities and empowerment for the average citizen in the history of the world than this United States of America.
Dale Carnegie was an intelligent motivator. You could learn from him.
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402
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(11 of 38)
Thats what I like about you Lepi....
May 3, 2003 9:57 PM
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....Never a positive thing to say....
By the way did you get any cheese to go with your whine yet? Did you get that tattoo I recomended? Hows your blood pressure doing? Pop any blood vessels yet? Score any more of that kind bud you've been smoking lately? How's your doily coming out?
Keep us all laughing Lepi.....
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(12 of 38)
May 3, 2003 9:59 PM
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Question the patriotism of Lepidoptera you McCarthy bastard.
I took the words out of your mouth now, Lepi, so you can give a real answer, if you're capable.
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3,241
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(13 of 38)
May 3, 2003 10:03 PM
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Well, my dear sir, Mr.Hannity explained it rather well. I have my reasons. As a great admirer of American history, I have a strong sense of the foundation of this great nation. I have a much better sense of its short but interesting and turbulent history than individuals like Leppy. I know the Constitution well and I know what our founding fathers envisioned for us. This country had come real far in just over 200 years, a miniscule amount when compared to other nations. We are the most powerful and most free nation in the world. I could go on and on, but I won't. As Hannity implied, we have many in this country who are part of the "Blame America First" crowd. Yes, we've had our mistakes, every nation does. But we've learned from those mistakes and they have made us better as aa people and a nation. However, I fear that there are many like lepidoptera who will bring this country to its kness when they attain enough power to do so. They have no regard for our customs, our way of life, and the Constitution. And many other Americans are so apathetic and out of touch with reality that they aren't cognizant or aware of this.
I love this country and I don't like seeing people like leppy denounce it every chance she gets. She and her ilk have enver once protested in favor of America. There are many in this country who deride Bush as "Hitler", but they know very little about Hitler and about the world. They instead come out from under their holes to criticize everything about America, and praise countries like France and leaders like Castro. We have many sick people amongst us, Albert. You will see much change within the next 20 years. And not for the good or better. This great nation is falling apart not from the outside, but from within. It's a true shame, but to not admit it, would mean I was disingenuous. BTW: I'm not paranoid, just pragmatic and realistic. The people in this country today are not of the same caliber of the Americans during WW1, WW2, and the 1950's. Don't get me wrong. We still have many great people, such as yourself, and many good guys on this forum represent different parts of this country. However, unfortunately the idiots and pink haired hippie whiners outnumber us intelligent and American patriots. It's the sad truth.
Like I told you before, I'm very blunt.
But Sean hannity touched on many great points and he was right. The opportunities in this country are like nowhere else in the world.
Take care, sir.
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109
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(14 of 38)
Re: America is the greatest country in the world: Freedom and Responsibility.
May 3, 2003 10:05 PM
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Great story and all, but if the Majority of the People supported that gov't or didn't care. Not everyone is happy with their gov't and make their great escape. Am sure there are Americans that move out of the country to other countries because they are unhappy here. and sure he seemed like a good guy, but I've met alot of Sharks with nice Grins.
"Those who would give up their freedom for protection deserve neither freedom nor protection."-Benjamin Franklin
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(15 of 38)
Re: Sounds Like a Dale Carnegie refugee.
May 4, 2003 6:37 AM
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With all due respect (and as much as I don't like defending Lepi), you seem to love this country only when its in your own best interests. At least that's what I see every time you talk about how the liberals are flushing this country down the toilet.
As for Hannity's article, I think he has a good point. But everything he says about Americans being spoiled and expecting thinks being given to them is what I see in our foreign policy. We're not willing to make the difficult decisions required to make the world a better place. We have done a lot of great things in the world, but we've also done a lot of horrible things. We're not willing to take repsonsibility for those things. Yet, we expect the world to lavish us with love for those great things.
As a single, and I think most glaring example, of how spoiled we are, we get up in arms any time the price of oil raises, but its still so much lower than the price of milk (or even bottled water). We're 5% of the global population and yet use more than 25% of global natural resources, at prices lower than most of the world. We put out more that 20% of global pollution. Do you really think that we're entitled to this?
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