Hello again, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome again to another episode of Freedom's Creed. I was actually thinking earlier a little bit about my last episode, and that I actually said the word booger on the episode. And surely this will not tarnish my credibility. And I debated long and hard about actually letting that word slide through. Well, okay, it really wasn't a slide through, it was a blatant use of the word. It was just one of those situations where the current moment took me away and I said it and I even laughed about it out loud, and it was a genuine laugh, mind you. But I said the word. So in any case, that's how I'm starting the show off today. But in all reality, to put some context with it, I could most certainly have said a word much worse than that, one in which my mother would be appalled at, I'm sure, and by no means not to belabor the point, if I had been talking to a two-year-old and we were talking about boogers, then yeah, there'd be plenty of context for that. But as I said in the episode, I've seen it, I'm sure many of you have seen it too. You look over outside the window of your car, and you see somebody at a red light, and they're going to town. They are mining for the thing, like I talked about it in the episode. But I'm digressing big time here, and I didn't mean to do this, but I'll leave it as is. I'm on a mission. Yes, it's true. I am on a mission no not to discuss boogers or any other bodily function or product, but I'm on a mission to to talk about freedom, to talk about liberty. No matter what you want to do in life, you have the freedom to do it, and that's paramount. Whether that's starting a business, you want to create an invention, or get all the education that you desire. Or I don't care, sit on your couch and eat chips and Oreos all the time. You have the freedom to do it. Now, sitting on the couch eating chips and cookies or doing anything else that's sedentary, the outcome is gonna be pretty horrible if you do that a lot. I'm not talking about, you know, once or twice a month or something. But again, you have the freedom to do that. That is the point that I am trying to make. That is in this country, because of our founding documents, we have the freedom to do as we please. And again, I've talked about this before. That just because the founding documents were not upheld or respected for generations doesn't mean that we cannot uphold and promote them today. And it should have been from the beginning, yes. But what does that have to do with the here and now? It's important that we acknowledge these things. To not acknowledge them is to walk through life with horse blinders on, not looking left, not looking right, looking straight ahead, and totally denying our history. If we refuse to look back at history and deny that certain things happened, then we're fools. We're kidding ourselves. It's a pie in the sky dream. These things happened, and none of us today can change it or do anything about what was. I understand there are plenty of people who want to complain about it, but how about instead of complaining about the way things were, how about we get more people who are willing to not only teach the principles contained in our founding documents, but to actually live by them, to extol the virtues of doing so. Yes, I said it, to extol the virtues of doing so. We have witnessed a multitude of people complain about the founding documents, as opposed to looking at them, studying them, and dissecting the merits of the words from those documents and applying them to 21st century America. And isn't it interesting, by the way, to witness those who do complain about our founding documents, yet who are taking complete and utter advantage of what the founding documents secure for all of us? Now, I'm not complaining. I just find it interesting that if you're going to, I mean, I'm not complaining about those people, whoever they are, taking advantage of our system. What I'm saying is if you're going to complain about the system that you're standing on its shoulders to succeed in, then you might want to get a different perspective. You might want to get a little more humility and be appreciative of that foundation that you're standing on. So as I said, I'm on a mission. I'm on a mission to declare some things that need to be declared. For instance, the Declaration of Independence states that, quote, we hold these truths to be self-evident, close quote. And what are those truths? Well, that all men, meaning humankind, are created equal, that they're endowed with unalienable rights, that they're able to pursue life, liberty, and happiness in the way that each of them, each of us sees fit as individuals. Let's explore this phrase self-evident. What does it mean? Well, it's axiomatic, meaning that it's something that is taken for granted. In fact, that is the definition of axiomatic. It's self-evident, meaning that something is taken for granted. Have you ever thought of this? That the founders actually prefaced the idea of everyone being created equal, that we have certain rights that we can pursue life and liberty and happiness, that they prefaced it by saying that these are truths that are self-evident, meaning axiomatic that we take them for granted, that they are things that we should just know as human beings. Obviously, the founders had a much different perspective than we do. They were fighting against the tyrannical and monarchical rule of King George III. So of course, it was very self-evident to them. It was very obvious to them. It was something that they probably all took for granted. And because they were living it, it was like second nature to them. So perhaps these truths that the founders extolled were self-evident to them, but not so much to us, which makes it so that we should be teaching these things to the rising generation. Because of this fact, it's up to us to do our part to correct this notion that these truths are self-evident. So therefore, uh we need to teach these truths to the next generation. In other words, they need to become self-evident to us. As individuals, we can't necessarily rely on other people to teach these things to us. This is something that we can go and explore on our own. Each of us can get access to a copy of the Declaration, to a copy of the Constitution, we can read it and we can study it. Because one thing seems evident to me, unfortunately, and that is it doesn't seem to be taught in the public school system. Instead, our founding documents are being derided as outdated, written by the white patriarchal establishment. Therefore, it cannot possibly be something that benefits the whole of society, no matter who you are. Ludicrous. What I would say to people who have that thought is that just the opposite is true. It's unfortunate that it took so long for the benefits of the Constitution and the high ideals of the Declaration of Independence to be recognized. That's true. But these wonderful principles and precepts from our founding documents have been realized by millions of people today. And that realization applies to every one of us. I don't care what you look like, I don't care what your sexual orientation is, I don't care what your skin tone is. All of these ideals from our founding documents truly do apply to all of us, every one of us. Isn't it about time that we start doing more to teach these principles and these truths, not only to ourselves and our family members, but to the rising generation, to those who have a hand in teaching children? These things ought to be taught solidly and confidently, not forgetting history, but taught in a way that looks at history with eyes wide open and recognizes that in our day and age there is no one in this country who is going to be denied these freedoms. Now, that's not to say that we don't have a bunch of jackasses running around trying to teach something different, trying to push a destructive narrative. That's happening for sure, and it happens in every facet of our lives, not just with respect to our founding documents. But these are the people that we have to defeat. They cannot be compromised with, they cannot be coddled, they must be defeated, and we must do it in a way that is dignified, but that is strong and true. Period. When we truly teach these principles that are found in the Declaration and the Constitution, there is every opportunity for every person in this country and every person who comes to this country in a legal way. There's no better place on earth that I'd rather be right now. And it breaks my heart to know that there are people in power, those that we elect to represent us, who have no concern, no desire to extol the virtues of the declaration and the constitution. They want to put in a different form of government, one which, frankly, will trample on and make the Constitution and the Declaration relics of history never to be brought up again. And I, for one, will not stand for that. And whether you think that is obscene or could never be something that happens, all you have to do is take a look at what our leaders are doing, some of them, and you will realize that it's not that far fetched. And on that note, see if these words don't sound familiar to you. Quote, but when a long train of abuses and usurpations pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. Now let's make one thing perfectly clear. When the founders said that it is the duty of the people to throw off such abusive government, they obviously were not talking about the declaration. Indeed, they were referring to the type of monarchy and tyranny from which they were fleeing and had fled. So if we are experiencing today a long train of abuses, then what are we to do? Are we to throw off this government, this form of government that is found in the Constitution and that is also contained in the Declaration? No. We are to preserve this kind of government because it has lasted over two centuries, and we are to root out those who don't and will not support the Constitution and the Declaration. It's that simple. We have the government in place. We have a system in place that truly does cater to all people, not just a select few. Why would we want to get rid of that? Furthermore, ladies and gentlemen, it is something that we should be teaching, plain and simple, not trampling it under our very feet. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, I want to share with you what I think is a wonderful quote. It's by Frederick Douglass, who was speaking to his own people, but what he said applies truly to all of us. He says this quote Every day brings evidence that our elevation as a race is almost wholly dependent upon our own exertions. If we are ever elevated, our elevation will be accomplished through our own instrumentality. Nothing is more humiliating than our people's own apathy.