Re: The Clear Vision of Ronald Reagan
Brandon9000 wrote:Quote:Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
Ronald Reagan
40th president of US (1911 - 2004)
And by the way, that doesn't just refer to bringing domestic lawsuits, it also refers to employing the military against enemies in wars in which people die.
Brandon
Really, there is very little in your Reagan quote which is noteworthy or remarkable. Political speeches are constructed with just such elements of generalization and hopeful sentiment or dire warning as you see in that one.
"Freedom is at risk and we need to keep watch for the loss of it." Sure.
"It is a product of our institutions and not our genes." Yes.
"If we lose freedoms, we'd likely tell our kids about it." Yup.
But as an earlier bright post said to you, this is rather like a horoscope or a tea-leaf reading where many agreeable things can be read by many different readers. Or, think of those aphorism signs we sometimes see out on the roadside in front of a diner - "Divided we fall", etc.
For example, you apparently see a justification for warfare (perhaps Iraq) in Reagan's words. But our concept of political 'freedom' relates not just to keeping our sovereignty safe from external attack, but it also relates to what we've come to consider the fundamental right of citizens to be free from the coercion by the powerful or the state - as when feudal lords forced the peasants to fight some battle to increase that lord's territories or power. Thus one can find historical and cultural justification for dissenting a war too, or for refusing to join in it, or even for seeking to bring down a power structure (a government administration) which one perceives is moving in such a direction.
If you wish to study really quality speeches, then turn to Lincoln.