From Calvin Coolidge, an answer to everyone who wants a different nation than what we have. The liberal progressives of today simply do not understand that the America they wish for is regressive, not progressive. Their views will not usher in progress, but destruction. As the Bible says, there is nothing new under the sun. There are simply things that cannot and need not be improved upon, such as freedom and liberty. Many a civilization in the past never knew such things. Liberal progressives would be wise to heed Coolidge’s words. If they don’t, it is ultimately to the peril of themselves and the rest of us as well. The people of Venezuela now know this intimately.
“About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning cannot be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction cannot lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.”
Happy July 4th!
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