America's problem is mankind's pursuit of prosperity through self-predation namely theft of the efforts of other men. The ideals of human liberty were clearly articulated by America's founders and they have been rearticulated and contemporized by each generation of Americans. America's path toward an enlightened society based on those ideals has been full of temporary reversals. These reversals have been caused by wars to overcome the theft of other societies and by social redirections to overcome the theft of our own citizens. America is currently emerging from the longest war in our history. The stress of that engagement may have been partially responsible for our failure to curb the growth of political theft in American society. This threat of foreign theft and the reality of domestic theft have seriously eroded American prosperity. Fortunately our American nation still possesses a limitless potential based on our diverse society of intelligent, innovative human beings who will respond with great motivation to an American society based on freedom.
America was founded as a representative democracy, but our present system is neither representative nor democratic. Reforms of representative government and increased popular financial support of our representatives will help improve the responsiveness of our political system. However the power of special interest groups and the diffusion of organized single issue voters throughout our society seriously impairs the ability of the representative process to deal with crucial social issues. Democratic expression of popular will through referendums is the only way to significantly reduce the pervasive forms of both legal and illegal theft that are destroying American society.
America's two great political parties are in a very real sense vital organs of our great social structure. The Democratic party is the heart of America. The Democratic party embodies the feelings of compassion and mutual concern that are essential for maintaining our altruism and sense of common purpose. The Republican party is the mind of America. The Republican party embodies the capacity for clear pragmatic thinking and logical direction that are essential for success and therefore also essential for maintaining our altruism and sense of common purpose. The functions of these vital organs and their ability to constructively interact are being seriously disrupted by the cancer of political theft. The Republican party is weakened by the forces of right wing theft and the Democratic party is misdirected by the forces of left wing theft. American prosperity requires the healthy function of both these great social organs. Only the American people have the capacity through their democratic expression of purpose to control the cancer of political theft in American society.
The ideals of the United States of America offer the best model for the prosperity of mankind and for all life on Earth. The wonderful diversity of humanity makes a society based on homogeneous altruism impossible. However the light of the Statue of Liberty offers all mankind a sense of common purpose and the altruism that goes with it through individual liberty and theftless competition. The resulting self-motivated individualism provides extremely fertile ground for education, investment and especially for the social and technical innovations that are essential to the continued ascent of man.
America's challenge is a challenge of will not a challenge of understanding. As we approach the 21st century we need to heed this call to prosperity to carry our nation to an American Renaissance. For me there are no more compelling words to express this call than the words spoken by Ronald Reagan, "If not us, who ? If not now, when? American prosperity and the prosperity of mankind await our answer.