The Fall of Rome and Modern Parallels | Lawrence Reed at FreedomFest
If you have 17 minutes to spare this is an excellent, quick description of the Fall of Rome. The speaker need not even draw the parallels to modern society, it will be so obvious, you will do it on your own.
Bad character leads to bad policy and bad economics, which is bad for liberty. Without character, a free society is just not unlikely, it’s impossible.
To avoid the fate of the dead and buried Roman Republic, what does America need today?
America needs more men and women who do not have a price at which they can be bought; who do not borrow from integrity for expediency; who have their priorities straight and in proper order; whose handshake is an iron-clad contract; who are not afraid of taking risks to advance what is right; who are honest in small matters as well as in large ones; who treat the rights and properties of others as they expect others should regard theirs.
More transcript available after the break, or just watch above…
America needs more men and women whose ambitions are big enough to include others; who know how to win with grace and lose with dignity; who do not believe that shrewdness and cunning and ruthlessness are the three keys to success; who still have friends they made 20 years ago; who put principle and consistency above politics or personal advancement; who are not afraid to go against the grain of popular opinion and who regard their own self-reliance and responsibility as infinitely more sacred than a handout from the government.
America needs more men and women who do not forsake what is right just to get consensus because it makes them look good; who know how important it is to lead by example and not by barking orders; who would not have you do something they would not do themselves; who work to turn even the most adverse circumstance into opportunities to learn and improve; who truly love liberty and are eager to give more, much more, than lip service to it, and love even those that have done some injustice or disservice to it.
In other words: America, if it is to survive the fate of the Roman Republic, Desperately needs more men and women of character.
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