Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address (1981):
"We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look. You can see heroes every day going in and out of factory gates. Others, a handful in number, produce enough food to feed all of us and then the world beyond. You meet heroes across a counter, and they're on both sides of the counter. There are entrepreneurs with faith in themselves and faith in an idea who create new jobs, new wealth, and opportunity. They're individuals and families whose taxes support the government and whose voluntary gifts support church, charity culture, art, and education. Their patriotism is quiet, but deep. Their values sustain our national life."
I chose this passage from the Reagan's First Inaugural Address because I feel as though this all still rings true today. Reagan is pointing out that although we may not notice it, the true heroes are within ourselves. The average shopper, student, entrepreneur, worker, farmer and business person is what allows this country to stay afloat. It is true that we need our government to back us and ultimately govern so that we have some kind of order. But the fact is, without the "average Joe", America would not continue to function and prosper. It is the person who works 16 hours a day for 7 days straight who sustain our being by providing the world, as well as their own family, with produce, cattle, fresh fruit and vegetables. They provide the simplest yet most important resource, sustainability.
Nowadays, the average worker is paid just enough to survive, yet, without that cashier, bank teller, or child care teacher is vital when trying to survive everyday life. We need these unspoken heroes just as much as we need those heroes who fight for our country and our freedom. Reagan hit the nail on the head with this speech. He made me aware of the importance of the little people. It helped me realize that I underestimate the power of a store that just opened up and created 20 new jobs. I appreciate the small contributions that we all make in order to live the American Dream. Not everyone achieves their goals, but its not for lack of hard work and dedication.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
The Progressive Era
Woodrow Wilson:
"We believe that the power of America resides not in the men who have made good and gained a great supremacy in the field of business but in the men who are to make good. Where is the power, where is the distinction, of the great office of the President of the United States? Is America going to be saved because George Washington was great, because Lincoln was great, because men of devoted characters have served in that great office? Don't you know that America is safe only because we do not know who the future presidents of the United States are going to be? If we had depended upon the lineage of these gentlemen they might have failed to have sons like themselves. But we are not depending on anyone except the great
American people, and we know that when the time comes some figure, it may be hitherto unknown and from some family whose name and fame the country has never heard, will come-a man fated for the great task by the gift of God and by virtue of his own indomitable character."
Wilson is stating that the American people believe that the fate of America is resting solely on the next person to become President. We, as a whole, believe that those who held office are in the past and that America will be saved when a new president is voted into office. But what if the presidency was chosen based on blood relation to the previous president? Then, it wouldn't matter who came into office because we are expecting them to perform in the same fashion as their predecessor. Wilson is stating that America is saved solely because we do not know who will be voted in next. If we did know, we would be able to manipulate them (or rather, the government could manipulate them).
The Great Depression: "The presidential campaign of 1932 was chiefly a debate over the causes and possible remedies of the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover, unlucky in entering The White House only eight months before the stock market crash, had struggled tirelessly, but ineffectively, to set the wheels of industry in motion again. His Democratic opponent, Franklin D. Roosevelt, already popular as the governor of New York during the developing crisis, argued that the Depression stemmed from the U.S. economy's underlying flaws, which had been aggravated by Republican policies during the 1920s. President Hoover replied that the economy was fundamentally sound, but had been shaken by the repercussions of a worldwide depression -- whose causes could be traced back to the war. Behind this argument lay a clear implication: Hoover had to depend largely on natural processes of recovery, while Roosevelt was prepared to use the federal government's authority for bold experimental remedies."
This passage highlights what I stated previously about voting in a new president by the American people. Roosevelt was innovative and a fresh face. Many blamed Hoover for the crash of the stock market, when in fact, he was only in office for short period of time. The fact is, the market was going to crash no matter who was in office. Roosevelt basically offered a new way of thinking. Hoover was looking for the economy to remedy itself while Roosevelt was willing to use the government to achieve this economic turnaround.
William Gropper, Miners (1935)
Watercolor, 11"x11"
"We believe that the power of America resides not in the men who have made good and gained a great supremacy in the field of business but in the men who are to make good. Where is the power, where is the distinction, of the great office of the President of the United States? Is America going to be saved because George Washington was great, because Lincoln was great, because men of devoted characters have served in that great office? Don't you know that America is safe only because we do not know who the future presidents of the United States are going to be? If we had depended upon the lineage of these gentlemen they might have failed to have sons like themselves. But we are not depending on anyone except the great
American people, and we know that when the time comes some figure, it may be hitherto unknown and from some family whose name and fame the country has never heard, will come-a man fated for the great task by the gift of God and by virtue of his own indomitable character."
Wilson is stating that the American people believe that the fate of America is resting solely on the next person to become President. We, as a whole, believe that those who held office are in the past and that America will be saved when a new president is voted into office. But what if the presidency was chosen based on blood relation to the previous president? Then, it wouldn't matter who came into office because we are expecting them to perform in the same fashion as their predecessor. Wilson is stating that America is saved solely because we do not know who will be voted in next. If we did know, we would be able to manipulate them (or rather, the government could manipulate them).
The Great Depression: "The presidential campaign of 1932 was chiefly a debate over the causes and possible remedies of the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover, unlucky in entering The White House only eight months before the stock market crash, had struggled tirelessly, but ineffectively, to set the wheels of industry in motion again. His Democratic opponent, Franklin D. Roosevelt, already popular as the governor of New York during the developing crisis, argued that the Depression stemmed from the U.S. economy's underlying flaws, which had been aggravated by Republican policies during the 1920s. President Hoover replied that the economy was fundamentally sound, but had been shaken by the repercussions of a worldwide depression -- whose causes could be traced back to the war. Behind this argument lay a clear implication: Hoover had to depend largely on natural processes of recovery, while Roosevelt was prepared to use the federal government's authority for bold experimental remedies."
This passage highlights what I stated previously about voting in a new president by the American people. Roosevelt was innovative and a fresh face. Many blamed Hoover for the crash of the stock market, when in fact, he was only in office for short period of time. The fact is, the market was going to crash no matter who was in office. Roosevelt basically offered a new way of thinking. Hoover was looking for the economy to remedy itself while Roosevelt was willing to use the government to achieve this economic turnaround.
William Gropper, Miners (1935)
Watercolor, 11"x11"
This picture symbolizes the fear that miners had to endure during the Great Depression. They had no choice but to work in the mines, risking their lives as there was no work. This picture shows how the government forced miners to work under unfair and unsafe conditions. Times were rough and revenue had to be made no matter what the source was.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Lincoln (Part 2)
Second Inaugural Address (1865):
"The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come but which, having continued through his appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both north and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which, the believers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly we do hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled up by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as we said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, "The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
In this quote, Lincoln is stating that the Civil War is a product of the oppression that the slaves endured during the 250 years of slavery. He quotes the Bible because it seems fitting that those who promoted slavery should be punished for punishing others. He is stating that although we can hope and pray that this "judgement" brought down by the word of God is a brief war, it wouldn't be unlikely that, if God willed it to be, this war could last as long as slavery lasted. In other words, this was an "eye for an eye" war geared towards the end of slavery. Lincoln also states that no matter what, this war was the work of the divine God and that nothing could have changed the fact that this war was certain and inevitable.
"The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come but which, having continued through his appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both north and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which, the believers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly we do hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled up by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as we said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, "The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
In this quote, Lincoln is stating that the Civil War is a product of the oppression that the slaves endured during the 250 years of slavery. He quotes the Bible because it seems fitting that those who promoted slavery should be punished for punishing others. He is stating that although we can hope and pray that this "judgement" brought down by the word of God is a brief war, it wouldn't be unlikely that, if God willed it to be, this war could last as long as slavery lasted. In other words, this was an "eye for an eye" war geared towards the end of slavery. Lincoln also states that no matter what, this war was the work of the divine God and that nothing could have changed the fact that this war was certain and inevitable.
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