Speech

[Warpnow]

I had to write a speech for school to present at a speech competition.

Wondered what you guys thought, hated or liked(dreaming, eh?)

Jefferson’s America

I know its corny title but it is REQUIRED that it be titled.

We live in a nation conceived in liberty and founded on a belief that the primary function of any government should be to protect its citizens’ rights and liberties, and that if it fails to do so, it has failed as a government and deserves only abolition or reform. The question on many of our minds is: Who is protected by a government? Does a government exist to aid its citizens alone, banishing all others from rights and freedoms guaranteed to ever person? Are the so called unalienable rights of Jefferson’s America alienable by location of birth and cultural descent?

America is a country with a higher standard of living than many of the countries seeking to immigrate, but we often forget why. We owe our higher standard of living to a combination of two vital systems. Capitalism and immigration together have bred the strength which has come together to form the world’s greatest superpower. We are a nation comprised of the adamant and the determined. We are a country founded on hard work and dedication.

When the declaration of independence was signed into effect it guaranteed us a new nation, where fairness and justice would take dominance over social and economic profiling. This fairness and justice was the difference between our country and every other on the face of the planet. We alone defied social class. We alone defied status based upon anything but sheer effort. We were a nation conceived in hard work and determination.

It is to immigration that owe the gift of people; People who worked hard to make America such a great nation. We were given a system which would draw to us the greatest men in the world. Men came to us with nothing and worked to achieve everything they had. With the American dream as their inspiration, men grew to incredible heights.

Do we close our borders out of concern for economic balance, or is it really because we are scared? Scared that someone will come in who is willing to work harder than we are? To do more for less? To work for the standard of living we enjoy and to work harder for it? We are capitalists, and it is about time we acted like it in the one way it matters, equality. American Capitalism came about as a counter-example to European governments of the time, where social status was decided by birth, but here in the United States it was decided work ethic was more just, which is the powerhouse of capitalism and the foundation of its sucess. To each according to effort.

The inflow of immigrants brought to us by open immigration would bring a whole new spectrum of people into the country. People willing to work harder and longer for less. This would mean that current Americans would be required to adhere to the same, in order to stay to business. This is not a negative thing. The effects of bringing down the cost of labor would be many. The first would be that the average person would make less money, but there would be more jobs on the market due to Labor being cheaper. Businesses would sprout more to the more demanding market to accommodate the new workers, with less cost due to lower wages. Then comes the overall lowering of prices which comes with cheaper labor. As people begin to make less, so would the cost of living decrease with it.

I would like to thank Julian Simon for the following information:

"Study after study shows that small proportions of illegals use government services: free medical, 5 percent; unemployment insurance 4; food stamps, 1; welfare payments, 1; child schooling, 4. Illegals are afraid of being caught if they apply for welfare. Practically none receive social security, the costliest service of all, but 77 percent pay social security taxes, and 73 percent have federal taxes withheld. ... During the first five years in the United States, the average immigrant family receives $1404 (in 1975 dollars) in welfare compared to $2279 received by a native family. "

Open immigration would not crash the welfare system. Open immigration would not be a burden to our system. These are lies fed to you by the scared and lazy men and women who have been mistreated with over-indulgence by a society which condescends in its every action.

Nowadays, the American way of life, however, is nothing to be proud of. The true American way of life is the result differing opinions creating a system halted on its hinges. The largest threat to America is its own citizens, as the flaw of democracy plays hand in hand with capitalism, the children of capitalism are now using even their position as the power source of democracy to advance themselves. The flaw of democracy lies in its ease to turn to mob rule because people tend to look out for themselves and in a country where power derives from the people’s consent, the system is very easy to corrupt.

Freedom is not limited to those residing in this country. I do not believe the beliefs of the founding fathers or the original immigrants of this country would have supported closing the borders. Freedom is for every man, woman and child who wants it, no matter what country they reside in.

Quote:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

When these words were written, I for one cannot fathom there being an included modifier, limiting the unalienable rights to members of a certain country or of a certain heritage. The Declaration of independence refers to "unalienable" rights which does not mean that they are rights only for our country, our cause, but truly Unalienable, You CANNOT take them away. They are rights of every man, woman and child, in this country and all others, are the same. To have the choice to make more of yourself, to have the equal opportunity in everything you do.

Not only is it wrong to close the borders of the United States of America, but I believe it is clear grounds for political reform, because it denies those outside of this country of their necessary rights. We must remain the strongest nation in the world, and to do that we must realize that capitalism is the reason we have the strength we have.

[Chayesh]

Not a bad speech but your logic is circular.

The borders are being closed because they are being crossed illegally which is continued drain on the country's and more specifically the state's that they enter. The cause is not immigration itself, but the illegal and damaging influx of immigrants who bypass the system and the government that guarantees the rights they are coming here to enjoy.

Additionally, you are correct in stating that the inalienable rights endowed by our Creator mentioned by Jefferson know no borders. Thus, one does not have to come to America to enjoy those rights unless their nation of origin is actually suppressing those rights. Thus, closing the borders doesn't deny anyone anything except access to our nation. And again, as mentioned before, the borders are being defended against incursion illegally, not closed altogether.

Lastly, it is true that a pure democracy is essentially mob rule. Good thing the United States is not a pure democracy and never has been. America is a federal republic of states; a democratic form of government to be sure, but not a pure democracy. This form of government is actually quite hard to corrupt since a centralized government to secure individual freedoms deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed doesn't allow political influence to spread throughout the whole. A good read I would suggest for you on this very topic is Federalist #10, from the Federalist Papers. It speaks on the power of factions, or the groups we all come from that influence our thoughts, behaviors, and actions. This particular one was written by James Madison and is absolutely brilliant.

Again, it's a decent speech, but if it were for a debate, it would be fairly simple to blow big holes in your arguments.

[-red-]

Since Chayesh gave you suggestions and pointed out things in the subject matter, I'll throw in my two cents dealing with the words and composition of the speech itself.

I liked it. Its no Fidel or Ghandi but it was well written and flowed decently. That being said, there was a lot of filler. 'America is great' so on and so forth. All well and good here and there, but in my opinion there was a bit too much of it.

"We are a country founded on hard work and dedication." You use it twice to end paragraphs two and three. Tonality here in a speech might make this acceptable, but I'd find another way to end the third paragraph. Again, filler.

"Open immigration would not crash the welfare system. Open immigration would not be a burden to our system. These are lies fed to you by the scared and lazy men and women who have been mistreated with over-indulgence by a society which condescends in its every action."

An interesting passage that quite suddenly becomes badgering with no build-up. It doesn't help you speach in the least to have anything beyond 'open immigration would not crash our welfare system or be a burden on our economy.'

"I for one cannot fathom..." My opinion, the 'I for one' statement is week when presenting an argument in a speech. Use instead 'I cannot fathom' by itself. Its stronger.

"We must remain the strongest nation in the world, and to do that we must realize that capitalism is the reason we have the strength we have."

For perosonal reasons and for reasons pertaining to the speech... why? Its a rather strange comment that would certain appeal to the right-wing mentality, but honestly...

Those are my suggestions. All in all, I liked its wording, vocabulary and flow aside from that aforemention paragraph about scared and lazy people.

[Mister E]

I was surprised you did not mention education at all.

This is one of americas biggest problems right now, and it ties

into immigration also. I think when "your Jefferson quote" was made

he probably assumed that anyone who immigrated to America would

also assimiliate to american culture, at least to a certain extent.

I feel the lack of assimilation is actually detrimental to america.

Tack on the brain drain and culteral implosion, and America will not

be the worlds super power for long. Equality is paramount, but due

to affirmative action and reverse discrimination you end up with

equal outcome, which is NOT the same as equal opportunity.

IMO, China is the future, America is waining. America will never

be able to produce as much and as cheaply as the more populated

countries who are developing a middle class. If you want to make it

in the USA in the future you better be able to offer service. Labor is

on the way out. That or get your 15 minutes of fame and run with the money.

my 2 pennies

Cya

[Rairen]

The inflow of immigrants brought to us by open immigration would bring a whole new spectrum of people into the country. People willing to work harder and longer for less.

I don't know if you intended it like this, but this paragraph implies that you support the exploitation of immigrants. I know what you mean, but watch the rhetoric or you'll have people going Upton Sinclair on you.

This would mean that current Americans would be required to adhere to the same, in order to stay to business.

The same... hours and wages?

This is not a negative thing. The effects of bringing down the cost of labor would be many. The first would be that the average person would make less money, but there would be more jobs on the market due to Labor being cheaper. Businesses would sprout more to the more demanding market to accommodate the new workers, with less cost due to lower wages. Then comes the overall lowering of prices which comes with cheaper labor. As people begin to make less, so would the cost of living decrease with it.

Some things to think about before making such sweeping statements about the positive effect of immigration (and there definitely are good points, don't get me wrong, but I wonder if you haven't made things a little too cut and dry).

1. Lower wages doesn't necessarily translate into more jobs. You've already said, the immigrants would work harder. Worker productivity would increase.

2. In fact, immigration would increase the market for labor so job creation probably won't increase any faster than immigration rate, and probably slower which causes unemployment.

3. As worker productivity increases, people will be working harder for the same level of income, so incomes won't actually fall.

4. Even if they did, it would only be in generally lower, wage-paying jobs. The savings will probably be passed on elsewhere - possibly to the consumer in the form of cheaper goods, as you've said - but not necessarily. There are other options that will still keep the cost of living increasing. One not uncommon consequence would be increases in labor-saving technology, through investing the money saved on wages. Ironically, working hard and inexpensively can cost people jobs.

4. Advocating deflation isn't any better than advocating inflation.

Now, how many people will pick up on this in a speech? Not a clue but probably not many, but like Chay said, if there is any opportunity for rebuttal, there are some holes like this that are begging to be stepped through.

One last note:

I would like to thank Julian Simon for the following information:

She'll be a more credible source if you introduce her title/job in your speech.