Restoring The Founding Fathers' American Dream

“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths,
and where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Jeremiah 6:16

Today, America is at a crossroads.

The 2008 Presidential Election may well be the most important election in the history of America. The outcome will impact the future of this country as well as the world for many years to come.

In his summary of the May 15 GOP debates in South Carolina, Steven Yates described the ramifications of the 2008 elections.

“We saw, dramatized on national television and in ensuing media discussion, the two worldviews that may battle it out over the next year or so for control of the Republican Party—and possibly the country itself—with ramifications well beyond Election 2008.”

“This is not simply a clash between “left” and “right,” or between “liberal” and “conservative.” We may be approaching a major dust-up between those who want freedom and those who want power, between those who believe society must be aggressively centralized and those who wish to see power dispersed. We may see a struggle between those who want policies that allow the common man to live as he sees fit if he isn’t bothering anyone else, and a cadre of oligarchs who view the world as theirs, and who see themselves as unaccountable.”

During the few years that I have followed Congressman Paul, I have seen people describe him in a variety of ways and compare him with many famous people. Congressman Paul’s consistent voting record prompted one of his congressional colleagues to say, “Ron Paul personifies the Founding Fathers’ ideal of the citizen-statesman. Ron Paul has been called “America’s Braveheart”, “The Modern Cincinnatus” and a “twentieth century Thomas Jefferson”.

Indeed, those who support Dr. Ron Paul realize that he is the only candidate running for President that can lead America back to the ancient path, … where the good way is. Sensing the restlessness across America, Dr. Paul has already addressed the question Why Are Americans So Angry?

Honest, principled leaders with character and integrity tend to be humble. And even though Dr. Paul himself has said that at times he is not sure whether he is the right person to deliver the freedom message to the American people, he is absolutely certain that the freedom message IS the right message.

Restoring America to a Constitutional Republic is an idea that resonates well with constitutionalists, libertarians and all freedom loving Americans. In fact, it is more that just an idea, it is a dream.

During Ron Paul’s FOX News BYA appearance, Bill Hemmer asked Dr. Paul why he wants to be President. Dr. Paul replied,

“…I have this dream, I’d like to reinstate the Constitution and restore the Republic. …I think the Republican Party and all of Washington have lost their way.”

While the freedom message also resonates with many others who hear it for the first time, I believe it takes a while before it is transformed from an idea to a dream. That is especially true with those who are still entrenched in the left/right, two-party paradigm and its statist mentality. The transformation would not take long if Dr. Paul was receiving a fair amount of exposure by the MSM, but as we have seen, this has not been the case so far.

We should remember the words of Samuel Adams:

“It does not take a majority to prevail… but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”

The challenge then is to not only reach people with Dr. Paul’s message, but to motivate and inspire them, so that the message becomes their dream also.

I believe the way to motivate and stimulate interest is to articulate how Dr. Paul’s message of freedom is actually the foundation and embodiment of the American Dream, i.e., the “original intent” of the American Dream. People around the world and especially here in the United States identify in some way with the American Dream. Although most people have their own understanding of what the American Dream means to them, it is a phrase that catches peoples’ attention and resonates with just about everyone. Not everyone gets excited when the Constitution or Founding Fathers are brought up, but when the ‘American Dream’ is mentioned, most people will at least want to hear what you have to say.

Just as most Americans’ perception of the role of government has been distorted, diverted and perverted, so has their perception of the American Dream. The October 1973 issue of The Freeman, included John E. Nestler’s essay entitled “The American Dream”. Here is how Nestler described it over 30 years ago:

“Whereas the American Dream was once equated with certain principles of freedom, it is now equated with things. The American Dream has undergone a metamorphosis from principles to materialism. … When people are concerned more with the attainment of things than with the maintenance of principles, it is a sign of moral decay. And it is through such decay that loss of freedom occurs.”

While many in America have been led to believe that the role of government is to take care of them from cradle to grave, so too, most of today’s Americans would say that home ownership is the American Dream. Others would say that it is being your own boss, having your own business or becoming rich and famous. While the American Dream certainly could include some or all of these things, none of them by themselves constitute the American Dream. Rather, they are a result of it.

More recently, Forbes.com asked 60 great achievers, including actors, artists, politicians and executives, to answer the question “What is the American Dream?” While I didn’t read all of the responses, most of the ones that I did read were, in my opinion, a distorted view of the American Dream which confirmed the observations Nestler wrote about 34 years ago. The only one who didn’t was Chuck Norris. Here is what he had to say about the American Dream:

“I believe the American Dream is not something we’ve invented but inherited. When our founding fathers created our country, Thomas Jefferson penned that dream in the Declaration of Independence: … I used to think the American Dream could be obtained through the accumulation of possessions, positions and prestige. The “truths self-evident” to our founding fathers eluded me for too long. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is so much more than fulfilling our own dreams, doing what we want and feeling good. It’s about using our God-given potential to make a positive difference on this planet.”

Likewise, Chuck Baldwin emphatically stated in his recent article “Can You Imagine This Country?”, that material gain is not the American Dream. Baldwin writes:

“We hear much today about the American dream. By “the American dream,” most people mean buying a big house, driving an expensive automobile, and making a lot of money. However, this was not the dream envisioned by the Founding Fathers. Remember that, for the most part, America’s founders gave up their material wealth and substance for something they considered of far greater worth. Unfortunately, this hedonistic generation knows little of the kind of sacrificial spirit personified in the lives of America’s patriarchs.

In the minds of the founders, liberty–with all of its intrinsic risks–was more desirable than material prosperity, if that prosperity was accompanied with despotism or collectivism. So strong was their desire that they were willing to give up the latter in order to procure the former for themselves and their posterity.

How dare Americans today refer to material gain as “the American dream.” It is not! It is the freedom to honestly pursue one’s goals that should be celebrated. Material gain is only a fruit of freedom, not its root.”

While writing this article I began to wonder if other Presidential candidates have tried to invoke the American Dream’ into their campaign rhetoric. Here are a few links to articles showing the connection between Presidential candidates and the American Dream.

Invoking American Dream, Romney Begins Run

Dems Float New ‘American Dream’ For ’08: Potential Presidential

His American Dream

An Open Letter to the Republican Presidential Candidates

The American Dream is a concept that’s deeply ingrained in the American psyche and I believe Dr. Paul would be wise to integrate that into his message. Ron Paul’s freedom message holds the high moral ground above all the Presidential contenders, since it follows the Founding Fathers and the Constitution. His message also holds the moral high ground with regard to the American Dream. While others promote a distorted version of it, Dr. Paul’s message IS the American Dream.

Let’s not forget the words of John Adams:

“But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations…This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.”

We have already seen the American Dream through the eyes of Mrs. Ron Paul I’m looking forward to seeing it through the eyes of Presidential Candidate Ron Paul.