Toastmaster Speech #2 -- Speaking with Sincerity

Duties and Rights

What makes a great American? What is a patriot? Is it simply an allegiance to our country? Patriotism consists not in the waving of the flag, it is not short frenzied outbursts of emotion or displaying the flag on certain days, nor is it in repeating facts found in history books. But it is a since of duty, of honor, in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.  It is in knowing the history of our country, the history of freedom, the history of those who died protecting that freedom. It is in believing in the abilities of our country, of its greatness. This is the only path to being a great American, in being a patriot.

The principal threat to our country is not any of the headline-grabbing issues we hear about each day, but rather that we are not fulfilling our roles as citizens. The way for each of us to be a better citizen is to do the simple things which, when done by all of us when the opportunities arise and over a lifetime, keep our country strong and thus free.

Being a great American means having a thirst for knowing your rights and duties, and then quenching that thirst by doing those duties, by protecting those rights.

What are your rights as an American citizen? You have the right to equal protection of laws and equal justice in the courts. You have the right to be free of arbitrary search and seizure, to equal education and economic opportunity, to vote, to free speech, press, assembly, and the pursuit of happiness.

What are your duties as an American citizen? You have the duty to obey all laws. You have the duty to respect the rights of others. You have the duty to inform yourself on issues of government, to serve on a jury if called, to vote in elections, to serve and defend your country.

March 5, 2002 was Election Day in California. On that day, the bodies of three Americans, who had died in a fire fight in Afghanistan attempting to recover the body of a fallen Navy Seal, were being flown back to the U.S. for burial. They and their families had sacrificed everything.

On that same day, fewer than 30% of all eligible voters were willing to take the time from their "pursuits of happiness" to vote. It was too big a sacrifice.

I ask you today, are you willing to take on the responsibilities of citizenship to keep our country free?

(pause)

Yesterday… Yesterday, our world was a much larger place. It was a place of sprawling hillsides, unspoiled forests, and pristine skies. A place where you would have traveled only a few hundred yards from the place where you were born. A place where the name Hawaii would seem as far away as the stars. A place where your nearest neighbor might be within eyesight. And, if you squint your eye enough, you might see smoke if your neighbor’s barn was afire. Today… Today is a place of tall skyscrapers, 7-mile bridges, and mass transportation. A place where Hawaii would seem as far away as the nearest airport and a good nap. Today is a place where your nearest neighbor is within arms reach. And a place where flames can leap from your neighbors roof to your own, with no hope of putting out the destruction.

We must foster a since of community. But where do the borders of that duty lie? Being a great American means being a citizen of the world. For ours is not simply a place where we can merely stand by and watch our neighbor’s houses burn. For ours is not simply a place where we can allow brutal dictators to rape, torture, and kill its citizens. For ours is not even a place where we can live out our lives in that isolated land of yesterday, in thoughts of peace and in hopes no one will come breaking in our door.

The principal threat to our world is not any of the headline-grabbing issues we hear about each day, but rather that we are not fulfilling our roles as world citizens. The way for each of us to be a better world citizen is to do the simple things which, when done by all of us when the opportunities arise and over a lifetime, keep our world strong and thus free.

Being a great world citizen means having a thirst for knowing man kind’s rights and duties, and then quenching that thirst by doing those duties, and by protecting those rights.

But you ask, “What are man kind’s rights and duties?” I challenge each of you to determine these for yourselves. The principal aim should be identifying and protecting the essential rights of man and the creation of circumstances that will permit him to achieve spiritual and material progress and attain happiness. The essential rights of man are not derived from the fact that he is a citizen of a certain country, but are based upon attributes of his human personality.

I ask you today, are you willing to take on the responsibilities of citizenship to keep our world free?

Edmund Burke had it right when he said - "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing".