The Proposition Nation in Context

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00][music] >> I like to think that the first shall be the last and the last shall be the first, but I will at least be in the top three speeches you've heard in this evening or this morning.

[00:00:17]Yeah, I was up late. I was in the Hermitage last night. So, uh as sort of a prequel, I can't believe I'm standing up here first of all.

[00:00:26]That's That's the most amazing thing.

[00:00:28]Uh back in the early 2000s, probably five, six, something like that, I discovered the Abbeville Institute.

[00:00:35]And I would wait every year for the lectures to come out. I couldn't I couldn't afford to I couldn't justify that I couldn't afford to come to one of these, you know.

[00:00:44]Uh I still can't. I can write it off, though.

[00:00:47]Uh so, uh so, there you have it. So, many of you know have known uh you know, of of me uh through the conferences. I've made a lot of friends over the years, but before those days, I would wait for those lectures to come out like Christmas morning.

[00:01:03]I would wait and wait and they would come out and I would listen to them and I would listen to them and I would listen to them. I said, "I thought I had an education. Doesn't that thing on the wall say I've got at least two educations?"

[00:01:15]No, I I didn't know anything. And it was so exciting.

[00:01:19]The truth is so much more exciting than the propaganda.

[00:01:25]And so, I I consider this to be, in all honesty, one of the greatest privileges of my life.

[00:01:36]So, let me bring up a boring topic to keep things going.

[00:01:41]Uh the proposition in context, reflections on Lincoln, the Declaration, and Social Contract Theory, and luckily, uh a few things that I were not able to flesh out very well have been nicely done by my predecessors. And so, I will refer you back to them on a couple of things.

[00:02:01]>> [clears throat] >> As I was making preparations um for this talk, I made a heroic although failed attempt to watch the entire Ken Burns documentary The American Revolution.

[00:02:13]>> [laughter] >> Well, why why would I do such a thing?

[00:02:18]Well, mostly uh because I wanted to see how the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of the 13 United States of America, its real title, would be spun during this time.

[00:02:33]And of course, if you want to know what the state thinks, PBS is the best place to find it.

[00:02:39]Um so sadly, I made it through only two.

[00:02:44]Well, one one is some change.

[00:02:46]But I did uh it was it was everything I expected and more.

[00:02:52]Uh the American independence, as you would expect, is presented through the lens of Li- Lincoln's rhetorical shenanigans, particularly the Gettysburg Address, which immediately takes us away from the true story towards the invented one invented by Lincoln.

[00:03:12]There's almost un- no escaping this uh commingling of unnatural ideas.

[00:03:18]My efforts, however, uh were not entirely in vain.

[00:03:22]Uh I watched long enough to pluck a sweet plum from the cinematic pie, so to say, uh which illustrates this uh this confusion and cog- cognitive dissonance, I would say.

[00:03:35]Um quote, and this is a quote that was in the um the series.

[00:03:42]Everything we believe comes out of the revolution.

[00:03:47]Our ideas of liberty and equality.

[00:03:52]It is the moment of our history.

[00:03:55]All men are created equal.

[00:03:57]The most famous and important phrase in our history.

[00:04:01]If we don't celebrate it, we have no reason to be a people.

[00:04:08]Wait for it.

[00:04:10]Lincoln knew that.

[00:04:14]And that's why he said all honor to Jefferson. So, we could see where this thing's going.

[00:04:19]Uh This expert believes, and I have no reason doubt his sincerity, that there are the only reason we even need to exist is uh to follow the proposition, the the our mission statement. Uh to spread democracy.

[00:04:37]I treat the Gettysburg Address in great detail elsewhere, if anyone's interested and have $15 to spare.

[00:04:44]>> [laughter] >> I don't have that many of them, but we do have more in the car, so don't stampede.

[00:04:53]All right.

[00:04:54]In today's presentation, I thought it might be interesting, >> [snorts] >> and of course it may not be, to look at the philosophical ideas at play and what we call the preamble or what's been called the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.

[00:05:08]What it means in light of social contract theory, which has been addressed a little bit this morning.

[00:05:16]>> [snorts] [clears throat] >> Sorry about that. Lost my place.

[00:05:24]It happens, doesn't it?

[00:05:28]What did it mean in light of social contract theory and how it differs from both modern notions of egalitarian as well as Lincoln's use of the proposition in the Gettysburg Address.

[00:05:38]Examining the Declaration from this perspective can help us understand both the roots of Jefferson's language in the preamble.

[00:05:46]This in turn should help us better understand Lincoln's use of all men are created equal in the Gettysburg Address by showing how ironic Lincoln's proposition is, at least according to social contract theory.

[00:06:00]And how desirable how undesirable its pursuance is.

[00:06:06]This is not an argument for or against equality in the abstract, but equality is understood in a philosophical tradition.

[00:06:16]This is not an argument about what Thomas Jefferson believed or did not believe regarding the theory, whose language he adopted. I don't know. I just know it's there.

[00:06:27]And so I'm going to talk about it.

[00:06:30]So brief definition of social contract theory.

[00:06:34]In its most basic form, the social contract is a postulated agreement between individuals living in a state of nature and giving some governing power >> [snorts] >> in which some personal liberties are surrendered in exchange for the advantage of living in a well-ordered society.

[00:06:56]Although this concept can be traced back to ancient Greece, it's generally not held to be a historical event.

[00:07:04]Some There are some that do believe that there's such thing, but that's crazy.

[00:07:08]Uh It's generally not held to be a historical event, but rather a prerequisite to justify the authority of some sort of collective governance.

[00:07:20]While likely Locke is clearly the linguistic inspiration for the preamble of the Declaration, it is my [clears throat] view that one cannot fully appreciate or understand Locke's version of the so-called social contract, >> [snorts] >> especially the lingo without first knowing the version put forth by Thomas Hobbes, the father of modern social contract theory, which sets up the basic categories and assumptions of the theory later adopted by Locke.

[00:07:55]Hobbes is a very interesting fellow. Uh I always like teaching Hobbes because he's just so crazy.

[00:08:05]But, is he? I don't know. We'll We'll talk about that. Hobbes held that the justification for the state of uh is grounded in the fact the justification for the existence of a state or gov- some form of government is based in the fact that without it we would find ourselves in a state of nature, where life is less than ideal. In fact, he famously describes it as being what?

[00:08:30]Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

[00:08:35]One of One of the few memorable marks in the history of philosophy.

[00:08:41]>> [snorts] >> Hobbes does not claim that the state of nature ever existed.

[00:08:46]It's like I said, a thought experiment that leads to his adoption of the social contract.

[00:08:51]Thought experiment. You with me?

[00:08:57]What if?

[00:09:00]How does he get there?

[00:09:04]>> [clears throat] >> The fundamental premise premise for Hobbes is that all men are equal in body and in mind in the state of nature.

[00:09:17]All men are equal in body and mind in the state of nature.

[00:09:22]With regards to bodily strength, even the weakest can collude to kill the strongest.

[00:09:32]Either in collusion with others or as I like to think, you know, the sleeping somebody. If I want your cow and your lady, uh I sneak into your house, crown you on the head, bury in the backyard, and take what I want.

[00:09:54]>> [clears throat] >> Even the weakest can kill the strongest whenever he wants.

[00:10:00]If he employs various means, mental ability, Hobbes states that uh prudence is simply experience, and people spend the same amount of time on the same on something, the same amount of time on something, they will gain the same experience. Well, that's debatable, but that's what he says.

[00:10:21]So, the the fundamental premise, the fundamental problem, is that all men or people are equal.

[00:10:30]Even the as I've already said, this leads to, according to Hobbes, instability, anxiety, and fear.

[00:10:37]Again, equality in this view is something to escape, not a social or political ideal.

[00:10:46]And this is because the equality of bill out of the equality of ability comes the equality of hope in attaining one's ends.

[00:10:56]Any two people desiring the same thing which they both cannot have, therefore become rivals or enemies.

[00:11:04]This separates men who are not social creatures by nature in Hobbes' view, unlike bees and ants, for example, who who at least appear to cooperate without any external coercion.

[00:11:17]For Hobbes, therefore, the individual precedes society.

[00:11:23]The individual precedes society.

[00:11:28]And this is a great uh a from the way that mankind has traditionally been known.

[00:11:34]Uh Aristotle for existence for example uh points this out >> [snorts] >> when he says man is by nature a social animal.

[00:11:46]An individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human.

[00:11:56]Society is something that precedes the individual.

[00:11:59]Anyone who cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as to not need it and therefore does not partake of society is either a beast or a god.

[00:12:11]But he is not a human in the classical or traditional sense of man's understanding of himself.

[00:12:19]This is an important paradigm shift um in man's understanding of himself which has continued to the present. We all think of individual rights. This is not something that people normally do.

[00:12:31]Have you ever seen a What's it? 300 Spartan When when when Leonidas says he's a Spartan it means something.

[00:12:41]It means something. He is a Spartan.

[00:12:44]Spartans were there before him.

[00:12:46]He came on the scene. Spartans are after him.

[00:12:49]Sort of.

[00:12:50]Right. Not as many. Not as many.

[00:12:53]Okay.

[00:12:54]Right. Recall that Calhoun's disquisition begins with society preceding the individual. And I mention this just as a side note although one with major philosophical implications of how one views the role and purpose of government.

[00:13:14]To continue, it is because of the equality of persons and the quarrels and other inconveniences and dangers associated with living in a state of nature that man needs a common power to keep them in all or to make them behave.

[00:13:30]Right?

[00:13:32]The only quote I'll use today, "Covenants without the sword," sayeth Hobbes, "are but words and of no strength to secure man at all."

[00:13:40]Without such a irresistible power men would forever reside in a state of war, every man against every man.

[00:13:52]So, we have two categories set up, state of nature and social contract. His social contract leads to an absolutism, an absolute sovereign. He would prefer a king who was the law.

[00:14:07]And that there was no there was no such thing as independence or breaking away from that. You're we have to have this or we're going to find ourselves uh in a world where uh we are not safe in our person or property.

[00:14:25]Now, Locke's version of the social contract theory, and this is very basic, I'm not claiming to give a full account here.

[00:14:35]In Locke's version, we should recognize the elements employed by uh Thomas Hobbes.

[00:14:41]Although the clear uh Locke is clearly not as pessimistic, at least at first blush, with regards [snorts] to the state of nature in general and human nature in particular, the basic concepts, however, remained intact.

[00:14:55]Locke's description of the state of nature, unlike Hobbes, ain't that bad.

[00:15:01]One would hardly describe it as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

[00:15:10]Locke's state of nature is unstable in many respects, but is not the horribly dangerous place imagined by Hobbes.

[00:15:18]Remember, this is a thought and ladies and gentlemen.

[00:15:22]A thought experiment.

[00:15:25]The state of nature according to Locke in the state of nature according to Locke, all men are free, equal, and independent. This does not necessarily lead to a state of war as the case in Hobbes, but is mostly inconvenient.

[00:15:38]Locke's understanding of society like Hobbes is that man or the individual uh precedes society.

[00:15:47]That he is an individual among individuals.

[00:15:51]Something very much unlike uh the pre-modern Christian world.

[00:15:57]>> [clears throat] >> While there is no government in the state of nature, uh Hobbes, Locke claims that there is sort of a spontaneous political order that comes about which men are subject to the natural law.

[00:16:12]Which for Locke is synonymous with God's law.

[00:16:16]The law of God can also be called the law of reason.

[00:16:21]We learn that there is a natural law through the use of reason.

[00:16:25]For Locke.

[00:16:29]>> [clears throat] >> The laws of nature or God or reason or whatever he wants to call it are normative and not descriptive.

[00:16:36]Um talking about how he thought things ought to be, not how they are.

[00:16:47]It is rooted in the reading of his understanding of property he writes in what we might call the golden rule.

[00:16:54]Locke's use of the word property to denote lives, liberties, and estates transformed by Jefferson in the Declaration to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

[00:17:06]In Lockean state of nature, men retain two great powers. The first one is to do whatever one thinks fit for the preservation of his self and others which does not violate the law of nature.

[00:17:20]And [snorts] to do whatever he has to do to protect himself.

[00:17:23]That doesn't violate the law of nature.

[00:17:28]And the second one is the power to punish crimes against the law of nature.

[00:17:34]It is because all men >> [clears throat] >> only a It is because not all men obey the the natural law, thus making the enjoyment of one's property unsecure.

[00:17:45]So, Hobbes is not completely undone here.

[00:17:48]Um I lock my door at night. You probably do, too.

[00:17:51]>> [snorts] [clears throat] >> Because the law is often forsaken for the sake of personal interests and biases. Imagine that.

[00:18:02]That never happens.

[00:18:04]The great and chief aim therefore men uniting into commonwealths and putting themselves under a government is the preservation of their property which is in the state of nature much wanting.

[00:18:17]It's not safe. Someone might come and kill you and steal stuff from you.

[00:18:25]The principal reason people join together form societies is to protect their property.

[00:18:30]As I've said, for this reason people give up many liberties for a few well-defined securities which according to Locke should include at least these three.

[00:18:48]>> [clears throat] >> The establishment of known laws received throughout common consent.

[00:18:54]Everybody needs to be able to know what the law is.

[00:18:57]The second is the establishment of impartial judges to with the authority to determine differences according to the established laws.

[00:19:06]And finally, the ability to support and execute the the when right.

[00:19:12]These three things.

[00:19:14]When people join society, they give up some of their freedoms they had in the state of nature and hand them over to a government structure of some kind.

[00:19:23]However, this is only done to better protect themselves.

[00:19:28]Their freedom, their property, and no sensible person would choose to make their situation worse by entering to a contract with some sort of form of government, whether it's a monarch or a more democratic form such as Locke uh prefers.

[00:19:49]>> [snorts] >> The government's power should never go beyond what benefits everyone and it must safeguard each person's property by fixing the problems that made life insecure and uncomfortable without laws, known and articulated laws, not ones that we have to find by reason and then try to guess reason with other people to make them feel this I don't know how that works.

[00:20:11]>> [clears throat] >> Reason's tricky.

[00:20:17]So, the argument is made with certain restraints both fixed by the constituents of the Commonwealth and the laws of nature. So, we're bound in by two different things here.

[00:20:26]The restraints are enumerated as Locke as follows and and we've heard this a little bit earlier.

[00:20:32]Those in power must rule using clear and established laws equivalent to equally to everyone.

[00:20:41]There should be only they should be only made for the benefit of the people in the end, nothing else.

[00:20:48]The government must not increase taxes on people's property unless they themselves or their deputies authorize it.

[00:20:56]These people the people just deputized to make laws must not and cannot give this law making power to anyone else or put it anywhere else except for where the people have placed it.

[00:21:11]For example, in our Constitution, declaring war be belongs to Congress, not president.

[00:21:20]>> [snorts] >> Laws are made by the legislative branch, not the judicial branch.

[00:21:27]So, when things start shifting around, that's a violation of the contract in this theory. And clearly, it causes problems uh because you can find yourself in a war undeclared where people can't come together and get behind the effort and push it forward and win, as we've seen over and over and over again the past I don't know.

[00:21:52]>> Since 1945.

[00:21:54]>> Yeah.

[00:21:55]Since then.

[00:21:56]Thanks, Colonel.

[00:21:58]He's not manning the line.

[00:22:01]Uh So, what happens when the ruler goes over you know, they're the violates the contract, right? What happens when he violates the contract?

[00:22:11]Well, you we already heard this morning.

[00:22:14]Um >> [snorts] >> Well, if lawmakers try to take away the people's property or reduce them to abject slavery, they put themselves in a state of war with the people.

[00:22:26]A state of war.

[00:22:29]Which hearkens back to Hobbes.

[00:22:31]>> [snorts] >> In that case, people no longer have to obey them and can protect themselves as the best way that they can.

[00:22:40]In other words, they lose the right to govern and the delegated power returns to the people who can choose a new government to keep them safe and secure.

[00:22:51]Who shall be the judge of when a government is guilty of violating the contract?

[00:22:57]The Supreme Court, of course.

[00:23:02]>> [laughter] >> No, sir. It's the people. After all, they made the contract, set the conditions for political incorporation called state or commonwealth.

[00:23:19]In this view, government is merely an agent of the people created to represent their interest in certain enumerated cases.

[00:23:30]The government is the creature or product of the compact, not the originator of it.

[00:23:36]Despite what Lincoln may say.

[00:23:39]So, the proposition in context, the important reason for discussing Hobbes and his description of state of nature common in both Hobbes and Locke's philosophy and as a curiosity at least to show Hobbes' understanding of equality and how it leads to a state of war, I've also included both uh philosophers to contrast their very different conclusions uh despite the fact they both ground their argument for government legitimacy by the social contract as a means of correcting the deficiencies, inconveniences, and even dangers intended in the state of nature, which is a thought experiment.

[00:24:25]>> [snorts] >> I've also included uh da da da da da da Hobbes' solution is all powerful form of government, absolutism.

[00:24:33]Covenants without sword, you know, that sort of thing.

[00:24:37]And [snorts] Locke provides a more democratic solution, obviously.

[00:24:40]The differences are not of temperament, Hobbes the misanthropic pessimist versus Locke the Enlightenment era optimist.

[00:24:47]The question raised by these differences are more fundamental to our understanding of ourselves.

[00:24:55]What is man?

[00:24:57]Is he perfectable?

[00:24:59]Or is he fallen and debased?

[00:25:02]Can he progress towards some sort of perfection?

[00:25:05]Given the right set of circumstances.

[00:25:09]Regardless of these weighty metaphysical matters, I think we can understand why Jefferson was captivated by pieces of Locke's version of the social contract theory as a justification for independence. It fit.

[00:25:24]The narrative in certain respects.

[00:25:26]But a case for American independence did not need theoretical justification.

[00:25:33]The plain facts were enough since the issues surrounding the war for American independence concerned inherited rights and privileges of in Englishmen regardless of where they happen to reside and a king who permitted their rights and privileges to be violated.

[00:25:52]Jefferson gives a very long list of offenses.

[00:25:56]And he could have enumerated many more, I'm quite sure. I could I could start today and probably not finish until next week.

[00:26:03]Uh it just looking at what's going on now.

[00:26:07]>> [clears throat] >> All social contract theory in the declaration may have been an argument for independence may have made a stronger argument uh for independence at least rhetorically speaking.

[00:26:17]But in time it only served to confuse the people because this section is not rooted in the historical struggle to maintain their inherited rights as British subjects.

[00:26:29]Now I was going to say go look it up.

[00:26:31]But lucky for me our friend from the 10th Amendment Center Center has already made the argument for me.

[00:26:38]Thank you.

[00:26:39]>> You're welcome.

[00:26:42]>> Lincoln's rhetoric only made things worse.

[00:26:45]People now will remember the crop section for the Declaration of Independence and forget or never were never taught uh the specific reasons for independence and the actual form of government each former colony would in fact freely assume outside the British Empire.

[00:27:07]After all this stage setting >> [snorts] >> I I want to read the preamble of the Declaration of Independence inclu- which includes of course the proposition uh to which we're supposedly dedicated and other passages in light of social contract theory.

[00:27:24]By laying the assumptions of social contract theory over the language in the preamble of Declaration, we get something like this.

[00:27:33]We hold these truths to be evident self-evident that all men are created equal in a state of nature.

[00:27:39]That they are endowed by their creator in this state of nature with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

[00:27:47]That to secure these rights or a portion of them governments are instituted among men through the social contract.

[00:27:57]Driving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is who delegated a portion of their absolute liberty they had in the state of nature to be governed to a governing apparatus for specific ends, but in all cases that their life might be better and not worse.

[00:28:18]Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends as determined by the people who agreed to this the terms of the contract it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and it institute a new government which they believe it to be more likely to fulfill its ends, laying its foundations in principles and such powers in forming such as to them and not the governing apparatus who created was created by the social contract shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness.

[00:28:51]>> [snorts] >> That's what it sounds like.

[00:28:56]When you put it back in.

[00:28:58]Like I said, I'm not I don't know. I just know it's there.

[00:29:02]Um I do not believe that and I may be wrong. I'm sure I'll be told that Jefferson employed the framework of social contract theory as a metaphysical principle to be adopted universally such as people seem to think today by spreading democracy and everything we just saw from brother Ryan over there.

[00:29:26]The document was written on behalf of the colonists now united in the cause of independence made their secession from mother country final and publicly so.

[00:29:38]Nothing more, nothing less.

[00:29:43]If he did in fact believe that he was uh creating a universal apparatus that was to be exported around the world, it was a bad idea in my opinion.

[00:29:56]And Ryan I showed this again.

[00:29:58]>> [snorts] [cough] [clears throat] >> Mr. Jefferson saw what was going around him and employed the linguistic tools he had at hand and I get that.

[00:30:09]The colonies were in a state of war with the king and parliament. Clearly no longer considered co-equal subjects as they had been under the pre-parliament arrangements.

[00:30:19]The king's actions are enumerated.

[00:30:23]They were certainly not better off than they were previously as they had been generations prior to the conflict.

[00:30:29]The language of the theory fit or it seemed to.

[00:30:34]The structure of social contract justification in the preamble can be read almost entirely as Lockean social contract theory without the state of nature.

[00:30:47]It's in there.

[00:30:49]It's why governments are created among men.

[00:30:53]State of nature is in there because that's why people come together and form governments.

[00:31:02]>> [snorts] >> Without it, the argument for independence using this argument would not work.

[00:31:12]Placing the language of the theory within the context clarifies many questions regarding the meaning of the so-called self-evident truths.

[00:31:20]Not all of them, but clearer and a and a broader image does emerge which makes it more difficult to spin and justify Lincoln's myth of a new nation born on the 4th of July with a mission statement.

[00:31:34]What we all call the proposition nation.

[00:31:38]The remonstrances from the colonists from the very beginning sometimes one colony, sometimes in leagues with others, dealt almost exclusively with their inherited rights being threatened by a foreign legislator parliament.

[00:31:57]>> [snorts] >> And the king would not and probably could not stand in the breach and shield the colonists from what they viewed as encroachment upon their inherited rights.

[00:32:07]Pointing out the philosophical underpinnings proves absolutely nothing.

[00:32:12]But I hope it shows something that may be relevant then as it was now.

[00:32:17]Lincoln's selection from the declaration creates an even bigger problem and this his creates a bigger problem than his ahistorical account of the American founding or American's creation myth as I call it.

[00:32:32]Uh the very goal of being pursued by uh social justice warriors and other neo-Marxist crazies seek to obtain the very things which a social contract theory people sought to escape. Namely, absolute freedom, absolute equality, and absolute independence.

[00:32:55]A true individual cut off from society out there finding themselves having sloughed off the burden of history, tradition, and government by the consent of the governed and a well-ordered society.

[00:33:06]>> [snorts] >> If this is progress, you can just count me out.

[00:33:13]The closer the people get to obtaining equality as they define it assuming they define it erases all distinctions which they openly desire.

[00:33:24]We will find ourselves truly in something akin to a state of nature.

[00:33:29]The summer of love comes to mind.

[00:33:33]You know.

[00:33:35]The summer of love. Not that one.

[00:33:37]The one in, you know, 20 What is it? 20 20 2021.

[00:33:44]When the statues started coming down.

[00:33:49]This new state of nature, a devolution from civilization to barbarity, will not be the Lockean variety should it ever occur.

[00:33:56]It will be the Hobbesian variety.

[00:33:59]And we will live our lives most assuredly in a situation which can be easily described as solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

[00:34:15]My own observation clearly suggests that we are well on our way down this road to perdition.

[00:34:22]And it's too too too soon to know just how much damage of this misreading of the cause and purpose of the war for American independence has and will further inflict not only domestically but abroad as well, harking back to the Lee quote that the gentleman gave earlier.

[00:34:40]Because no one seems to know or care about what happened prior to the so-called revolution and American documents of secession introduced a modern theory of government to a pre-modern country.

[00:34:53]The only part that is ever read is easy to forget the states were the primaries in conflict and their sons and fathers, daughters did not fight for abstract reasons and were not abstract people.

[00:35:08]Written about in a book, they were flesh and blood just like you and I are.

[00:35:13]The colonists had been pushed to the wall and did what they had to do.

[00:35:19]The first thing was to speak truth to power.

[00:35:23]That's the first thing they did.

[00:35:24]They tried.

[00:35:26]You listen to Mom and try, right?

[00:35:30]Um The second was to make every effort to uh affect a peaceable settlement.

[00:35:40]Avoid war.

[00:35:42]And finally, um our fathers of the so-called revolutionary era as well as our fathers of the Confederate era tried to smooth things over, but in neither case would those in authority listen.

[00:35:56]The result was war.

[00:36:01]What do you think our current crop of politicians would hear our grievances today?

[00:36:07]Write your senator or legislature and find out.

[00:36:13]If you're lucky, you get a one signed with the machine.

[00:36:18]But in all cases, you'll get a letter written by their their aides.

[00:36:26]They have placed themselves in a state of war with us as well.

[00:36:31]>> [laughter] >> What does it mean?

[00:36:35]I wish I knew.

[00:36:38]History is a wonderful teacher, but lies and falsehoods that do not and cannot show us the way.

[00:36:45]The Gettysburg Address which alludes to the proposition of the declaration is a lie from top to bottom.

[00:36:51]It's Americans Nicene Creed, but it's also its Achilles' heel.

[00:36:59]Not because it isn't beautifully written or inspirational, but because it's false.

[00:37:06]A people can only survive on a diet of falsehood so long.

[00:37:11]That's why among other reasons institutes like the Abbeville Institute as it has been repeated at least a half dozen times since I've heard it are so important.

[00:37:22]The 250th anniversary of the joint signing of the Declaration of the 13 United States of America might be the best time for an organization such as the Abbeville Institute and others to reintroduce America to Americans.

[00:37:37]Reintroduce them to themselves. It's in there. It's in their DNA. It's there.

[00:37:41]That's why we get antsy and mad.

[00:37:44]We get antsy and mad because it's we know it's not right, and we know that we wouldn't choose it if we had the option.

[00:37:57]To reintroduce America to America by what by what I am such a nut. You guys would not believe how nervous I am up here.

[00:38:06]You just would not believe it. I've spoken in public hundreds of times, but I don't But this is >> We're friendly.

[00:38:12]>> Uh well.

[00:38:15]Well.

[00:38:17]>> [laughter] >> Uh we haven't heard from our friend yet.

[00:38:19]Let's see. Uh Um let's see. Let me reread this paragraph and then we'll wrap it up. The 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence might be the best time for organizations such as the Abbeville Institute to reintroduce America to Americans by exploring what is true and valuable in our lost inheritance.

[00:38:42]By the folks who fought to keep it and held on to it the longest.

[00:38:48]The South.

[00:38:49]To which I say, Deo vindice.