OPINION:
Ronald Reagan gave a nationally televised speech on Oct. 27, 1964, called “A Time for Choosing.” It captured the attention of millions of Americans — many of whom voted for him for governor of California and later for president of the United States. That speech is still relevant today.
Reagan began with a focus on how much money was taken out of our economy by taxes, yet the federal government was spending far more than it took in. He spoke about the consistent lack of a balanced budget and the ever-increasing U.S. national debt — which was far greater than that of any other country.
Nearly 60 years later, the script is about the same.
Reagan went on to talk about what was at stake, saying: “History will record with the greatest astonishment that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening. Well, I think it’s time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers.”
Reagan’s words are a good description of what is happening on our college campuses today.
He went on to relay an anecdote that could still be relevant today: “Not too long ago, two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped from [Fidel] Castro, and in the midst of his story, one of my friends turned to the other and said, ‘We don’t know how lucky we are.’ And the Cuban stopped and said, ‘How lucky you are? I had someplace to escape to.’ And in that sentence, he told us the entire story. If we lose freedom here, there’s no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.”
All too often, we Americans take our freedoms for granted. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly. So many have been willing to sacrifice these fundamental liberties in the past few years. Ronald Reagan spoke to this issue when he said, “Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course.”
The expanse of government into every aspect of our lives is gaining speed at the federal, state and local levels. Reagan warned about it when he called out liberals who wanted to meet the “material needs of the masses through the full power of centralized government.” As he noted, this is the very thing our founders thought to minimize.
“They knew that governments don’t control things. A government can’t control the economy without controlling people. And they know when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and clear iron to achieve its purpose,” he said.
Denouncing the so-called war on poverty, Reagan went on to explain the failures of excessive welfare payments and the warped incentives that encourage people to get divorced to increase their benefits. He exposed the racket of bureaucracies eating up much of the money intended for those who are truly poor and in need.
In an observation that rings true today, Reagan said: “Anytime you and I question the schemes of the do-gooders, we’re denounced as being against their humanitarian goals. They say we’re always ‘against’ things — we’re never ‘for’ anything. Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”
Reagan saved some of his harshest attacks for the federal bureaucracy. He nailed it when he stated: “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. So governments’ programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”
Imagine what Reagan would think of the size of the government today.
Reagan noted that longtime Democrat Al Smith had observed how his party had gone from that of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland to that of Marx, Lenin and Stalin. What an appropriate description of liberals in the 21st century.
The man who would become our 40th president understood that the real battle was not between left and right but right and wrong. He knew that we must stand on the side of freedom — across the country and around the world.
Ronald Reagan concluded “A Time for Choosing” with these words:
“You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We’ll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we’ll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.”
As was the case then and is now, we must see the light. We must choose to defend freedom.
• Scott Walker is president of Young America’s Foundation and served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin.
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