Earlier this week, I posted a lengthy speech from Dennis Prager at the Talk the Vote rally. The best part of his speech came near the end of the 23 minutes, and I suspect many people may have missed it due to time constraints. Prager discusses the difference between “change”, as in “Hope and Change”, and improvement:
The feminine laughter you hear after Prager’s remarks about listening to one’s spouse comes from the First Mate. Otherwise, Prager was spot-on …
If you believe that America’s primary mission in the world is to be loved, then that leads to the following foreign-policy choices:
- Redistribute American wealth to other countries on a massive scale without preconditions
- Withdraw our military presence from the world, including our defense of global trading routes
- End support for Israel
The mission to spread freedom and liberty, which has been our primary focus for at least the last sixty years, does not bring immediate popularity. It challenges the entrenched interests of oppressive ruling classes, and it irritates those who would rather turn a blind eye to tyranny in order to make a short-term profit from it. The reward for freeing millions and defeating tyrants is not in the immediate gratification of self-indulgent “love”, but in the security of reducing oppression and allowing people to rule themselves and make their own decisions — which has inevitably led to safer, less hostile nations.
Focusing on the need for “love” is a significant change, and definitely not an improvement. America has, with all its flaws, served as a gadfly to tyrants and a beacon of hope to the oppressed. Without a doubt, we can improve. I hope we never change.
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