The Paperboy
Times Square
No cheating. Read and post your thoughts about it and then I'll reveal who wrote it.
There have been populations of people organized as countries since the founding of the planet, since it was created, and since humanity first appeared. People have organized themselves in various ways: groups, families, nations. Now, the earth and humanity, depending on who you talk to, is millions of years old, billions of years old, and throughout the history of human beings, no group of human beings has ever produced the wealth, the freedom, the opportunity, the prosperity, the security, as Americans. The United States of America, throughout human history, is the greatest nation however you wish to define it, in history. Now, how did this happen? We, the United States of America, are just human beings. There are countries that exist at the same time we have, there are countries that existed long before we came into being, of course in Europe and Asia, Africa, Australia, the subcontinents.
How is it that in less than 250 years, this group of human beings called Americans has revolutionized everything about life? We've produced the greatest standard of living and shared how to do it with others. We have produced a standard of living unheard of and undreamed of even by people who were alive 100 years ago. We have produced a country where the occupants, the residents have the highest expectations of opportunity, security, wealth, all of these things, education, than any group of human beings has ever had. I really would like for you to take a moment and, when you have a moment, ask yourselves how this can be. And do it honestly. How can it be? And not to besmirch some of these other countries, but just to give you an example. China, Japan, Russia, the satellite countries, Rome, Italy, take your pick, France, all these countries have been around much, much longer than we have. And admittedly, people that founded this country came from Europe. Why were they not able to do where they lived what they did here? You realize our Founding Fathers were Brits. Why were they not able to turn Great Britain or England into the United States when they lived there?
Why did they have to leave these places to come here, the new world, in order to create this? Why couldn't they do it where they lived? As human beings we're no better than any other human beings on the face of the earth. We're not any different whatsoever, in terms of the way we're born. Human beings are human beings. How is it, then, that the United States has become the most powerful, and for good, the richest, the most technologically advanced, the most industrious, the most productive country in history, in human history? A nation that has liberated hundreds of millions of people from oppression, a nation that has -- talking about sharing the wealth -- a nation that has rebuilt Europe after World War II, a nation that turned imperial Japan into a thriving, burgeoning economic power of a democracy. We're a nation that rebuilt Germany after World War II. All the while, continuing our own growth. We are a nation that invented so many of the things that have improved the quality of life for human beings around the world. We are the one nation that can and offers substantive relief efforts to other nations devastated by natural disasters.
How does this happen? When we're no better than anybody else, when we're no different than anybody else, how does this happen? The answer is very simple. Without being too esoteric about it, freedom is the answer. Most of the people around the world have not lived with the great degree of freedom that our country was founded with. And you can read it in the Founding Fathers' ruminations at the days of the founding, talking about the industriousness of individuals and how to promote it for the common good. You can look at the original true story of Thanksgiving and find out how they tried socialism. The whole community produced whatever it produced and everybody got to go take what they want from the production, and some people figured out after awhile they didn't have to produce anything in order to get something. It didn't work, they changed it. Everybody was assigned a plot of land, grow what you want, grow as much as you want, and you keep it, sell your excess. Plymouth colony expanded like crazy.
The answer is freedom. The answer is also that our Founding Fathers recognized that freedom is part of our creation, and so our founding documents recognize that we are all endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, and these are human rights, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. We all have these. Every human is born this way, with that yearning spirit. However, depending on where the human being is born, they never get to exercise it. We and our ancestors had the chance to exercise it, and they did, and they built, and they created, and they invented. And as a result, the greatest country in the history of humanity became the United States of America. And it is that freedom allowing each of us to use our own ambitions, our own desires, our own ingenuity, our own creativity, unshackled, to pursue our passions, to do what we love with as few obstacles in our way as possible, certainly fewer obstacles than any other nation's people have faced in their lives. And we see the result. We see the greatest country in the history of civilization.
There have been populations of people organized as countries since the founding of the planet, since it was created, and since humanity first appeared. People have organized themselves in various ways: groups, families, nations. Now, the earth and humanity, depending on who you talk to, is millions of years old, billions of years old, and throughout the history of human beings, no group of human beings has ever produced the wealth, the freedom, the opportunity, the prosperity, the security, as Americans. The United States of America, throughout human history, is the greatest nation however you wish to define it, in history. Now, how did this happen? We, the United States of America, are just human beings. There are countries that exist at the same time we have, there are countries that existed long before we came into being, of course in Europe and Asia, Africa, Australia, the subcontinents.
How is it that in less than 250 years, this group of human beings called Americans has revolutionized everything about life? We've produced the greatest standard of living and shared how to do it with others. We have produced a standard of living unheard of and undreamed of even by people who were alive 100 years ago. We have produced a country where the occupants, the residents have the highest expectations of opportunity, security, wealth, all of these things, education, than any group of human beings has ever had. I really would like for you to take a moment and, when you have a moment, ask yourselves how this can be. And do it honestly. How can it be? And not to besmirch some of these other countries, but just to give you an example. China, Japan, Russia, the satellite countries, Rome, Italy, take your pick, France, all these countries have been around much, much longer than we have. And admittedly, people that founded this country came from Europe. Why were they not able to do where they lived what they did here? You realize our Founding Fathers were Brits. Why were they not able to turn Great Britain or England into the United States when they lived there?
Why did they have to leave these places to come here, the new world, in order to create this? Why couldn't they do it where they lived? As human beings we're no better than any other human beings on the face of the earth. We're not any different whatsoever, in terms of the way we're born. Human beings are human beings. How is it, then, that the United States has become the most powerful, and for good, the richest, the most technologically advanced, the most industrious, the most productive country in history, in human history? A nation that has liberated hundreds of millions of people from oppression, a nation that has -- talking about sharing the wealth -- a nation that has rebuilt Europe after World War II, a nation that turned imperial Japan into a thriving, burgeoning economic power of a democracy. We're a nation that rebuilt Germany after World War II. All the while, continuing our own growth. We are a nation that invented so many of the things that have improved the quality of life for human beings around the world. We are the one nation that can and offers substantive relief efforts to other nations devastated by natural disasters.
How does this happen? When we're no better than anybody else, when we're no different than anybody else, how does this happen? The answer is very simple. Without being too esoteric about it, freedom is the answer. Most of the people around the world have not lived with the great degree of freedom that our country was founded with. And you can read it in the Founding Fathers' ruminations at the days of the founding, talking about the industriousness of individuals and how to promote it for the common good. You can look at the original true story of Thanksgiving and find out how they tried socialism. The whole community produced whatever it produced and everybody got to go take what they want from the production, and some people figured out after awhile they didn't have to produce anything in order to get something. It didn't work, they changed it. Everybody was assigned a plot of land, grow what you want, grow as much as you want, and you keep it, sell your excess. Plymouth colony expanded like crazy.
The answer is freedom. The answer is also that our Founding Fathers recognized that freedom is part of our creation, and so our founding documents recognize that we are all endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, and these are human rights, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. We all have these. Every human is born this way, with that yearning spirit. However, depending on where the human being is born, they never get to exercise it. We and our ancestors had the chance to exercise it, and they did, and they built, and they created, and they invented. And as a result, the greatest country in the history of humanity became the United States of America. And it is that freedom allowing each of us to use our own ambitions, our own desires, our own ingenuity, our own creativity, unshackled, to pursue our passions, to do what we love with as few obstacles in our way as possible, certainly fewer obstacles than any other nation's people have faced in their lives. And we see the result. We see the greatest country in the history of civilization.
