�owhere left to run?

I want to look at the big picture today. We spend so much time analyzing

whether we approve or disapprove of this law or that law. This tax or that

tax that sometimes, we lose sight of the large political “forest for the

trees.” The debates about ObamaCare and the nationalization of the auto

industry can wait for another day. Today, we look at the long arc of

history.

The history of human civilization has been a battle between those who

wish to live their lives independent of other men and those who wish to live

their lives on the backs of other men. On one side we have people who are

willing to take risks and accept the responsibility of failure if in return

they get to accept the rewards of success. On the opposing side, we have

people who base most of their decisions out of fear. What if I fail? What if

I don’t have enough money? What if I can’t provide. These men seek

safety in the labor of other men. They seek prosperity in the assets of what

others have created. In the name of “community” or “sharing” they use

governments to take what they want from other men.

The battle between these two world views have ebbed and flowed for

centuries. In general, time has been on the side of men who seek to take

wealth rather than create wealth. They have learned over and over again

that all you need is the support of 51% of your fellow citizens and you can

take whatever you want from the other 49%. This is an appealing

argument. Why work when you can vote to make other people give you

their money? Why pay for heath care when you can vote to make the

government give you health care? Because it has always been easier to vote

than work, the people who hold this world view have enjoyed great

success.

But, their success has never been complete. Because the other side…those

men who seek to live life on their own terms, take risks, create, build

something out of nothing…have always had one “ace in the hole.” The

EXIT OPTIO�. They could leave. They could move. And so part of this

long arc of history has been brave men choosing to live among other brave

men rather than men who did not have the courage to face the world God

created. And so as long as we have seen the creation of “collectivist”

societies, we have seen the exodus of stronger people. Show me

communism and I’ll show you people jumping over a wall. Show me

socialism and I’ll show you entrepreneurs escaping to America, Singapore,

Hong Kong.

Those men and women who have always been more attracted to freedom

than security, to opportunity than tranquility, to the idea of making

something rather than taking something. They have been called Pilgrims,

Pioneers, and dare I say it…Conservatives.

It was the people who didn’t ask for or expect anyone else’s help that got

into boats and landed at Plymouth Rock. But their victory was short lived.

Societies develop. People without the courage to live their own lives

eventually become a majority. Collectivism returns. So the next generation

leaves. Men of vision and strength flee West. They go to live where other

men won’t tell them how to live and won’t take what they create. But that

victory is short-lived as well. Their children are seduced by the ease of

collectivism. And the men and women of independence are overwhelmed

again.

It is this story that highlights why the battle we are facing right now is so

important. We are confronting the forces of collectivism again, just as past

generations have. But this time, there is no where left to flee. Where are

we supposed to go? Alaska and Idaho don’t have room for us all. Without

an “exit option” we have to stand and fight.

Our situation today reminds me of when Ronald Regan met a recently

arrived refugee from Cuba. The Cuban refugee got a chance to tell Regan

personal stories of oppression, tyranny and loss. Reagan shook his head

and said Americans don't know how lucky we are. The refugee says

"Lucky? Mr President, I had somewhere to run to. Where would you go?"