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Finding Our Way Back To America - One Project At A Time by Michael D. Hume, M.S. As a freedom-loving wealth-mongerer, you have an important restoration project to undertake. You have to do your part to help restore America to the free-market Constitutional republic it once was, and can be again. Our freedom to start a business, run an enterprise, build prosperity, protect ourselves, seek Divine grace, and pursue happiness depends on this project of American restoration. America is fading away; at times, you can hardly see it any more. Why? Because a minority among us are enemies of the very idea of America, and they've been slowly pulling us away from our intended nation for more than a hundred years. And because the majority of us, perhaps duped into believing the "professionals" in our government had everything under control, have blissfully ignored the creeping cancer of statism that's been growing on our country. But since America has led the free world for generations, the strength and prosperity of us all depends on the all-important restoration of America. How did this all start? The foundation of this struggle is the fact that there are, essentially, two types of person out there (and in each of us). The Victim type is a self-defeated beggar who doesn't have the slightest interest in being the best he can be, but whose focus is on making sure no one else gets something he doesn't get. He's suspicious, and therefore political and critical. To the Victim, life is a win-lose game; and while his victim-mentality doesn't permit him to compete to win, the Victim is very competitive, seeking to make sure no one else wins, either. Luckily, there's a second type out there, and in each of us. It's the opposite type; but I don't think of it as the "victor," because that implies an attitude which simply isn't present in this type. No, the Victim's opposite is the Entrepreneur. The Entrepreneur is a self-reliant creative force. She's always striving to improve herself, and to help others be the best they can be. She's curious about others, and always wants to learn everything she can from everyone she meets. If she wants something, she's willing to work for it, to take risks for it, and to leverage her ideas and creativity to make it happen... and she's quite willing to share it, and to share the story of how she got what she got. She loves entrepreneurship, and encourages it in others. To the Entrepreneur, life is always win-win. While the Victim only wants to sit back and criticize the leadership, the Entrepreneur is happy to jump out there and do the leading. America, as founded and intended, is an entrepreneurial nation. Its hallmarks are limited government, Constitutional protection, free-market economy and encouragement of personal responsibility. The idea was to keep the government small and out-of-the-way, allowing Entrepreneurs to do what they do best, and inviting every American to pursue the entrepreneurial American dream. And that idea has created more strength and prosperity than any other idea in world history. The competing idea is statism. Statism has been embraced by every other nation on Earth, and in some cases, has been taken to the extreme. Statism seeks an all-powerful government controlling life and redistributing resources as it sees fit. In the most extreme example, the former Soviet Union, statism (also known as socialism, collectivism, fascism, or communism in its various shades) was established through bloody revolution. In America, the statists' effort over the last century-plus has been to effect a gradual, bloodless "evolution." This is progressivism; and though the word makes you think of "progress," it's anything but. The idea of progressivism is to get America to willingly hand over its hard-won republic to the authoritarian statist government by slowly changing opinions and beliefs, a little at a time. It has worked very well. Too well. And today, the progressives are closer than they've ever been to overthrowing the American idea. The struggle is fairly easy to understand: who's pushing for big government, and who for small? Who's feeding your inner Victim, and who your inner Entrepreneur? The progressives feed your inner Victim, and seek to have all of us dominated by victimhood and eventually beg for "help" from the government. They've been successful, over the generations, in slowly taking great control of every opinion-influencing institution in America, from academe to the news media to labor unions to Hollywood. They've taken over one of our two major political parties, and have a scary foothold in the other. And that hardly matters anymore, since the progressives have a firm grasp of the "permanent, professional" (but unelected) part of our government - the bureaucratic administrative state, which really runs the country no matter which letter ("D" or "R") follows the name of the politicians we elect to nominally oversee them. All of these institutions push Victim ideals: wealth and private corporations are "bad"... get your fair share of "entitlements"... those who've succeeded are victimizing you... your only chance in the game is to have an all-powerful referee who can keep those greedy wealth-mongerers from winning by making sure no one wins. Progressives don't want equal opportunity - if enough of their Victims crawl up out of their misery, the statists lose power. No, they seek equal outcomes, and an all-powerful government that can see to it. Opposing them is the Entrepreneur. She represents the original idea of America. It's her spirit that will restore America, if ever it's to be restored. Some Entrepreneurs start or own businesses. Many others simply enact the entrepreneurial spirit in their leadership missions. But you can always recognize them by the ideals they live and espouse: personal responsibility, limited government, and equal opportunity for everyone to be as successful as their imagination and talent can make them. Progressivism will have to run its course before America can be restored. The question facing us now is how far we'll let things "progress" before we restore our republic. And the solution is to undertake projects, conceived and executed by each of us, individually and in teams, to promote the original idea of America and to push back against the progressives. What can you do? What project can you undertake, at work or on the side, to help us all find our way back to America? Can you start a business? Can you educate yourself? Can you build a new product line at work? Anything entrepreneurial will do the trick... even if you do nothing more than take one potential Victim (you) out of the rolls of the progressive movement. Let's think about those projects, let's talk about those projects, but most of all, let's get busy on those projects. The game is not yet lost, and though the progressives will tell you it's over, they haven't won yet. Develop the conscience of a restorationist, and you'll see the progressives tremble. And that's a good thing. You're not going to hurt anybody (far from it) - but America's Founders envisioned a republic in which the government feared the people, rather than the other way around. That's the way America is supposed to be, and it's our job to restore it. One project at a time. -30- Michael Hume is a speaker, writer, and consultant specializing in helping people maximize their potential and enjoy inspiring lives. As part of his inspirational leadership mission, he coaches executives and leaders in growing their personal sense of well-being through wealth creation and management, along with personal vitality. Those with an entrepreneurial spirit who want to make money "one less thing to worry about" can learn more about working with Michael at http://tinyurl.com/myownbiznow Anyone wanting to jump-start their vitality can browse through the best (and most convenient) nutraceuticals on the market at http://shop.enivausa.com/239824 Michael and his wife, Kathryn, divide their time between homes in California and Colorado. They are very proud of their offspring, who grew up to include a homemaker, a rock star, a service talent, and a television expert. Two grandchildren also warm their hearts! Visit Michael's web site at http://michaelhume.net
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