- Life, Liberty and Pursue of Happiness: Still Self-Evident Rights
The American dream covers a wide range of accomplishments from Manifest Destiny to freedom ride, from the civil right movement to human right initiatives. Yes, We can… We are the United States of America and not the divided State of America, so Stand United for freedom…Si se puede…America was built in the spirit of industry. America can change …so can we. We remember Ann Nixcon Cooper from Atlanta, a 106 year old African American woman born several generations past slavery who danced in the white house with President Obama, she saw it all. There is nobility in struggle. The Fourteenth Amendment and the famous civil rights cases became a reality. Equal protection under the law. YES, we can…
The only way to do great work is to love what you do. When the power of the Love overcomes the love of power, then you will have find your inner calling. You need to have dreams, but dreams without goals are just dreams and ultimately fuel disappointment, do have a dream but have a goal, discipline and working hard to reach it. President FDR said: The only thing you should fear is fear itself. What is important is we do not plan to fail, we fail to plan. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So, take the first step. You have a choice, will you wither or will you thrive, only time will show and the effort you put it in. President Theodor Roosevelt said I believe in men who take the next step not the one who theorized the next two hundred steps. Be the changes you want to see in the world. Let’s change the passion to action. I never imagined that the Berlin wall would come tumbling down, but some passionate people did. What sorts of thing are you passionate about, that you feel you could make a difference in the world? Follow your heart with vision and actions. It will end up satisfaction.
President FDR, when announced the new deal, he said, “this country demands bold persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it and if it fails, admit it frankly and try another but above all try something. You cannot connect the dots looking forward, you only can connect the dots looking backwards. Trying something has been an important milestone in the world. Let’s look at Malala Yusefi, a young brave woman who was shot because she wanted to be educated (a universal right became a crime). Mathew Goniwe, from a small village in South Africa, changed South Africa forever. Persecution on account of race, religion nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion and gender – that is the thing America stands against, and time after times lawyers, judges, and our judiciary systems tackle these evils of our time with Brown vs Board of education, Barnette vs West Virginia State Board of Education, Miranda vs Arizona, Gideon vs Wainwright… and many others that make the world proud of its American judicial system. Thank you to you all the lawyers and professors defending the defenseless.
America stands for the fact that it does not just aspire people to make a living, but it aspires to make a difference in the life of people. President Reagan said, Freedom is not the sole prerogative of a lucky few, but an inalienable right and the universal right of every human being. Free people are worthy of freedom, and determined not only to remain so but to help other to gain their freedom as well. “Noblesse oblige” is that responsibility.
There are seized opportunities and lost opportunities. Seize it. We stand at the altar of democracy, let’s us stand together. United we can achieve everything, divided we can do nothing. To Improve is to change, to Perfect is to change often. Heroes did not build this country; ordinary people being given half a chance are capable doing extraordinary things.
Marbury vs Madison (John Marshall) brought us the power of judicial review and from the other side, Justice Taney brought us Dred Scott vs Sanford. There are times when circumstances may call you to risk your career in favor of your principles, you can go elsewhere for a job, but you cannot go elsewhere for a soul. Admiral William H. McRaven has been a great example of this. we need to be pioneers and renegades and not be paralyzed with the tyranny of now (what is popular rather than what is right). Instead of legislation we need education and to stand tall for liberty and democracy.
As Thomas pain wrote in Common Sense, we do not have King George, in America the Law is the king, the magna Carta showed us the path. YES, WE CAN…
The only way to have a friend is to be one, America has been a friend to many as written at the statue of liberty: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. As Albertus magnus said about the friendship, the friendship between America and us is an honorable friendship.
The important issues of today and yesterday is the same. As General George Marshal once said our battle is against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos and it is still so, and the only way to achieve victory against all this will be this important fact – for all of us to be united with any creed and color and religion we have under one nation. It’s time for the great silent majority just to stand up and be counted. God bless YOU and May God Bless the United State of America