This article was written in response to the Pritchard letter in the previous post:


Inspiration

Inspiration is only necessary when the times are bad and people are afraid. Franklin Roosevelt has given us one of the most often quoted statements concerning fear in his 1933 inaugural speech:

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

The context of “fear” in this example relates to the hard economic times of the Great Depression. It was an attempt to tell people that everything is fine if we believe and are not scared. This concept is similar to the premise in the book, “Animal Spirits” that is well read and practiced by the White House staff.

I have received three separate emails in the span of one day to read a story called “An Open Letter to President Obama” by Lou Pritchett. Mr. Pritchett was a vice president at Procter & Gamble whose career at that company spanned 36 years. He is also the author of the book, “Stop Paddling & Start Rocking the Boat”.

The beginning of this letter is shown below:

Dear President Obama:
You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.
You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.
You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

The entire letter can be viewed at http://www.afa.net/youscareme.asp .

The overall point of the letter is that Mr. Pritchett is scared of President Obama. As I read the email, I found that I agreed with his points but not his fear. As usual with today’s opposition, they do not present a solution, let alone any inspiration.

I was reminded of another quote as I read his letter:


When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
Thomas Jefferson

Do we agree with Mr. Pritchard’s letter, fear our President and just roll over for tyranny. I would definitely agree that the government has no fear of the people. Our liberty is a fleeting concept that most people would have trouble clearly defining. Webster’s dictionary gives the following definitions:

the quality or state of being free
the power to do as one pleases
freedom from physical restraint
freedom from arbitrary or despotic control
the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges
the power of choice

What does liberty mean to you? Our Congressional representatives have been told by the Obama administration that they are being watched to ensure that they vote as told, not by their conscience or constituency. Our guarantee to private property has been usurped in the case of General Motors’ secured bond holders. Is this Liberty?

I agree with Thomas Jefferson and Mr. Pritchard: fear the government for we have a tyrant running our nation. Can we regain our liberty or was John Adams right:

But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.

We have a choice to make: do we lie down in fear or do we act? What would our founding fathers have done? Inspiration comes to the individual in a variety of ways. I believe as our founding fathers, that the Constitution of the United States was divinely inspired. What are you going to do to ensure your children’s future? What is the cost of Liberty for them?


David DeGerolamo
(reprinted here with permission of the author)