The current edition of Hillsdale College's newsletter, Imprimis, contains an outstanding tribute by U.S. Senator
Ted Cruz (TX) to freedom and the career of a lady who famously said, “I am not
a consensus politician. I am a conviction politician.” Hillsdale
President Larry Arnne, a confidante of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, also
remembers defining moments in the career his friend. Enjoy a few
excerpts below or click here to read the entire publication.
From remarks by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (TX)
But most importantly, freedom produces opportunity. And I would encourage each of you to embrace what I call opportunity conservatism, which means that we should look at and judge every proposed domestic policy with a laser focus on how it impacts the least among us—how it helps the most vulnerable Americans climb the economic ladder.
The political left in our country seeks to reach down the hand of government and move people up the economic ladder. This attempt is almost always driven by noble intentions. And yet it never, ever works. Conservatives, in contrast, understand from experience that the only way to help people climb the economic ladder is to provide them the opportunity to pull themselves up one rung at a time…
Fifty-five years ago, my father
fled Cuba, where he had been imprisoned and tortured—including having his teeth
kicked out—as a teenager. Today my father is a pastor in Dallas. When he landed
in Austin, Texas, in 1957, he was 18. He couldn't speak a word of English. He
had $100 sewn into his underwear. He went and got a job washing dishes and made
50 cents an hour. He worked seven days a week and paid his way through the
University of Texas, and then he got a job, and then he went on to start a
small business.
Now imagine if, at that time, the minimum wage had been two dollars an hour. He might never have had the opportunity to get that dish washing job and work his way through school and work his way up from there. I cannot tell you how many times I've thanked God that some well-meaning liberal didn't greet him when he landed in Austin and put his arm around him and say: “Let me take care of you. Let me make you dependent on government. Let me sap your self-respect—and by the way, don’t bother learning English.”
When I was a kid, my father used to say to me: “When we faced oppression in Cuba, I had a place to flee to. If we lose our freedom here, where do we go?” For my entire life, my dad has been my hero.
But what I find most incredible about his story is how commonplace it is. Every one of us here today has a story like that. We could line up at this podium and each of us tell the story of our parents or grandparents or our great, great, great grandparents. We are all children of those who risked everything for liberty.
Now imagine if, at that time, the minimum wage had been two dollars an hour. He might never have had the opportunity to get that dish washing job and work his way through school and work his way up from there. I cannot tell you how many times I've thanked God that some well-meaning liberal didn't greet him when he landed in Austin and put his arm around him and say: “Let me take care of you. Let me make you dependent on government. Let me sap your self-respect—and by the way, don’t bother learning English.”
When I was a kid, my father used to say to me: “When we faced oppression in Cuba, I had a place to flee to. If we lose our freedom here, where do we go?” For my entire life, my dad has been my hero.
But what I find most incredible about his story is how commonplace it is. Every one of us here today has a story like that. We could line up at this podium and each of us tell the story of our parents or grandparents or our great, great, great grandparents. We are all children of those who risked everything for liberty.
That’s the DNA of what it means to
be an American—to value freedom and opportunity above all. In 1976, Margaret
Thatcher delivered her “Britain Awake” speech. In it, she said: “There are
moments in our history when we have to make a fundamental choice. This is one
such moment, a moment when our choice will determine the life or death of our
kind of society and the future of our children. Let’s ensure that our children
will have cause to rejoice that we did not forsake their freedom.”
*****
From an essay by President Larry Arnne, Hillsdale College
The greatest defender and servant of this principle of liberal government that I have seen in my lifetime is Margaret Thatcher, and I pray that we will see the likes of her again, because the battle over this kind of government is upon us again. For making clear that the right way of government is to operate under a constitution, and under the control of free people, and for fighting for constitutionalism more effectively than anyone in our time, we today remember Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven.
