Writer encourages leadership, decision making
By: Kevin Joseph – Senior, Entrepreneurship
The city rests at the top of the hill, yet there seems to be a slight dull in its shine. The fortuitous rock at which it once stood upon is not broken, but is beginning to erode. The city upon that hill is America and for the first time since 1776 its people face an ultimatum.
Never before in our history have we placed faith in the idea of “hope and change.” We are better than hope and change. Americans have never and will never sit around and hope for a more prosperous future. We won’t sit around and watch as our constitution is being blatantly disregarded. No, not Americans. Men like Thomas Paine, George Washington and Patrick Henry didn’t believe in such a motto. Rather, they had a plan and action, to create the freest country in the world. Smart men and women stood up, spoke, wrote and fought against oppression. Paine’s “Common Sense,” Jefferson’s “Summary View,” these writings were no accident. They were part of the plan to fight for a God-given right — liberty.
The choice is simple. It’s not between left and right, nor up or down. The choice is between fight or retreat. Winston Churchill once famously said, “Let us go forward together.” Divided we will fall, united we will succeed. Ask yourself, should the colonial militiamen have laid down their rifles and retreated under the pressure of the revolution, should the 101st Airborne have refused to take the beaches of Normandy, should Ronald Reagan have ignored the Russian threat against democracy?
The welfare state is alive and real; people who contribute nothing to society think that society owes them something in return. Our medicine is socialized, taking from those who have and giving to those who have not. In these desperate times, we look to be led but can find no one. Our government acts not on what the people want, but on what they think is good for us. Our military is being decreased, our borders are non-existent and, until recently, America had retreated from the war on terror. A great man once said, “If nothing in life is worth dying for when did this begin?” The liberal solution is peace without victory. They are under the assumption that if we just forget about our enemies they will forget about us. This mentality is unacceptable. With great power comes great responsibility. A leader who ignores our great responsibility to this world and to our people is not worthy to lead such a free and powerful populace. The choice is clear: we must move forward as one, united under the same principles that our country was founded on, or we will be sentenced to eternal oppression that we once fought to destroy.
I don’t know about you, but like our founders, I, not my government, want to be in charge of my own life. I call on all Americans to return to the principles that made us great: personal responsibility, hard work and a passion for unity and liberty.
At the University of Dayton, this passion is unequivocally renewed every August when students storm the neighborhood from all over the country. Students who know that their purpose in life is more than themselves. You see, at the University of Dayton, we understand that it is our duty to use our God-given abilities to lead when others will not. Pro Deo et Patria: For God and Country. Let our motto speak for itself. At UD, we have made our choice very clear.
The city still rests at the top of the hill. The people — now more than ever — have a choice to make, a choice that bares the greatest of consequences if made incorrectly. The world has never known America as one to retreat, but once we do, our surrender will be voluntary. Which path will you choose?