Demonization of Success

Ted Leonsis, the owner of Washington Wizards and the Capitals, has posted an article on his blog.  It is an article that calls out Obama for his class warfare tactics.  What makes this interesting is that Ted Leonsis is a life-long Democrat who has maxed out his contributions to Obama's re-election campaign.

Mr. Leonsis is a self made billionaire who came from a humble background.  He may be a Democrat but he is not a crony capitalist a la Soros, Immelt, or any other of the billionaires or business leaders around the President.  As such, he understands what makes America exceptional.

What sets the U.S. apart is its unique founding principles.  All that anyone has to do is to read the Declaration of Independence.  The proposition that “all men are created equal” was at the time a wholly new basis for legitimate government; likewise, to pronounce certain “rights” “inalienable,” such as those to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” meant that an objective standard of justice was to guide our experiment in self-government.  Equality, especially, is the foundation for legitimate government in that it points to government by consent, because there can be no claim to legitimate rule by a man over his fellow men if all are equal in their rights.  Personal responsibility, lying at the foundation of individual liberty, allowed Americans to exceed the personal boundries other societies have artificially imposed on their members by lacking similar founding principles.  Finally, limited government has allowed us to be free to pursue our God given rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, thus unleashing the potential that lies in every human being.

Ours is a country built upon free market principles that values success and individual initiative.  The fruits of our unique adherence to individual liberty above all has propelled us to global leadership in innovation and entrepreneurship, making us the indisputable world leader for over a century. 

Demonization of success that has become the cornerstone of the Democrat Party accomplishes one thing only: Destruction of the human spirit.  As strong as we can be when left alone, human beings are also weak in nature.  The conflicting needs to be set free and provided for are the basis of the two major political philosophies of individualism and collectivism.

The U.S. has a simple choice to make: Do we abandon what made us exceptional (therefore great) in favor of a flawed philosophy that sees individuals as weak and feeble minded beings who require assistance in living their lives, or do we recommit ourselves to our founding principles and champion individualism?

We will know the answer in fourteen months.