Tom Kawczynski - Off the Record

I read an interesting article in the Financial Times today talking about the new role of America in the world.  Countries that are nominal democracies such as India and Brazil gladly line up with China as partners, looking for something different than they once did.  I am not so naive to believe international politics is about anything more than power, but when you look at the geopolitical situation, and bring it back home, you have to wonder.

America has spent much blood and treasure in the world.  Some of the motives were pure, some were not.  But in sum, for all the missteps, we created a world where the idea of freedom was possible and desired.  We have an idea where people would prosper in liberty rather than toil under authority.  Even now, we find that battle happens daily under our own shores as we have a government that seems more concerned with the interests of the few rather than the benefit of the many.  But, I ask now, what would we become as Americans?

I have a vision of a nation that finds prosperity through liberty.  Democracy means nothing where people don't have the chance to think and decide things on their own freely.  We have celebrated that ideal for too long, not recognizing that democracy without the idea of individual freedom is just a rubber stamp for mob rule.  I am not claiming any country is that, but I also know democracy alone will not make the world safer or better.

We live in a dangerous world, and to pretend otherwise is folly.  America, for our benefit, security, and our own people must look to its own.  That we depend on other nations for so much of our resources and industry is a threat to our security.  Moreover, it is foolish.  We have people here who want to work, who are industrious and willing, and ample natural resources to produce for all our needs and be the great traders of the world.  What we lack is leadership that shows the vision how we can take those resources, take our very best beliefs, and build a future both prosperous and just.

It is not the responsibility of one man, one party, one government, or one state to do this.  Instead, I think of this as our mission to share together, where we can find and create the America of our imagination.  There is no other place in the world that can do this, or desires to do this.  They would have wealth, but what about justice?  They would equality, but what about plenty?  What about the individual?

It is this conflict that will define this decade, and this century.  Will humanity chart a course whereby we choose to become a social organism, sublimating our desires and skills to some larger created purpose by a fortunate elite?  Or, will we choose freedom, ushering in an era where the innovations we create serve to allow each man, woman, and child, a chance to better their lives?

The world seems to be making their choice.  We must begin making ours.  Liberty or security?