From the Introduction to Common Sense

"The cause of America is, in a great measure, the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all lovers of mankind are affected"

These words are so true and reflect the clarity Thomas Paine had at the time to recognize the uniqueness of the forming of this nation. We had the potential to go down the same road as all the nations before us, to become nothing more than a new monarchy/tyranny. There were many of the day that would have personally seen much benefit from such an end, and sought to block the way to our renegade notion of a government by and for the common man rather than the elite aristocracy they were lucky enough to belong to. It was not an easy idea to sell, it was totally foreign. It was an experiment that had never really been tried. It is an experiment which, to succeed, must be continually nurtured. We can not turn away from the founding principles which acknowledged for the first time in history that humankind by right of birth alone had certain rights which were not for any other man to grant or take away. It was the first time a government would be created to defend the rights of those it governed - from itself as well as from others. Paine saw with great clarity the deplorable abomination that was slavery as well as the treatment of women as property. He understood the necessity of acknowledging the equality of ALL humankind. Greed, economics, politics, fear and corruption prevented the adoption of his full vision for this country from the beginning. But it was by necessity a painful reconciliation that must come between our aspirations and our reality. But the world watched and saw what we did with little more to work with than hope, belief, anger, and faith. We created a world of possibility which had never been known before. This "American Dream" seems to be something which is now very poorly understood by our populace. They seem to think it means nothing more than the goal to buy a house, have a big screen tv, and 2.5 kids with a dog named Fido. This is the most bland and insulting interpretation of the lofty principles on which this country was founded. The American Dream is the dream of every human being to be able to come from any socio-economic background, to use their own ingenuity and fortitude to create an existence of their own making. To be free from repression and tyranny to pursue their dreams, goals, ambitions - to be free to fail as well as succeed. With no ability to fail, we can never know victory. The American Dream is NOT about easy street, a silver spoon, or a life without consequence. It is not about spending 60% or more of the fruit of your labor to support a political elite class in their goals to promise to "give" you everything you "need". We are a charitable nation, we help those that need it. We give more aid around the globe than any other nation in history - we give our treasure, our blood, and our very lives in the cause of freedom for humankind. But the more that is taken from us, the less we have or want to give. As America goes, so goes the world, so goes hope, so goes progress, so goes freedom. If we are so eager to sell out our freedom - our American Dream - we will not have any of the false promises offered by those that would dupe us into accepting their ideas of a socialist utopia - what we will have is the same mess that much of the rest of the world has. That is not supposed to be the lot of this grand nation. If we let down our founders, we let down not just ourselves and our progeny - but all those in the world who have looked to us as a beacon of hope for freedom.