Let me make a suggestion to you. Go back and re-read the speech, and when you read it, imagine that Reagan is slamming government in general in every paragraph, because he was. Imagine, when he talks about the enemy, he's not talking about the Soviet Union, but about government in general. See if it doesn't make even more sense.
Up to man's age-old dream-the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, "The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits."
The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing.
Public servants say, always with the best of intentions, "What greater service we could render if only we had a little more money and a little more power." But the truth is that outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector.
I think he's talking about OUR government. |
