Dear Mr. President,
Your speech last night was excellent. You have a gift.
At the same time, I think you’ve missed an opportunity to
inspire the American people. As a
leader, it isn’t your job to fight the battle yourself, but to guide your
soldiers in how to fight this battle on all of our behalf.
Humans are defined by their valleys, not by their
peaks. In my life, I’ve learned more and
have been shaped to a greater extent by my struggles than my successes. If you ask those who've lived through WWI, or The
Great Depression, or WWII, or Vietnam about their lives they will invariably
remember their defining moments as rations, or battles or protests. It won’t be the time they broke 80 on the
golf course, but the time they broke the door of Sproul Hall.
We're in such a struggle now. Our nation is burdened by debt, idleness and selfishness. We’ve lost our sense of a deeper meaning of individual choice, and more importantly accountability.
Accountability is the wellspring of freedom.
Freedom is a fragile and precious thing. If our captains of industry and political leaders forget this, then they'll lead us to a tyrannical ruin. In the end, the rule of law will prevail. It can be a law we impose upon ourselves, or a law which is imposed upon us, but it will be imposed.
Now is the time to call the American people
to action. To tell them that this
generation will be defined by how they act at this moment. They can either get to work and take ownership of the greater meaning of their choices, or take their
place on the wall of formerly great nations.
Put the burden on us Mr. President and we will rise to the occasion.
Our generation will be defined by this struggle and your
leadership will give meaning to the lives of tens of millions of people. Give us the battle plan, we’re ready to
fight.
US Citizen,
Ezra Roizen
Great post, Ezra! I think this is an important point that you have expressed well. I'm with you...
Posted by: Nathan Entrekin | February 26, 2009 at 09:49 AM
He did call for National Service, better parenting, and getting a better education.
Two ideas for your extra credit:
1) Hire three unemployed people, make something, and export a ton of them to China.
2) Get a job abroad, save as much as you can, and send it to family members in the US
I think you need some examples of what he can ask people to do.
Posted by: Peter Roizen | February 26, 2009 at 09:56 AM
Thanks Nate.
Peter, great points. And I do think the President did give some great examples in the speech - I guess I felt he could have articulated more clearly a deeper meaning to the struggle - the moment called for a dose of Churchill.
Posted by: Ezra Roizen | February 26, 2009 at 09:59 AM