People are waking up, but still, not enough are aware of what America (as we know it) is up against. And there just aren’t enough in Congress and the Senate able or willing to fight it: For every Michele Bachmann there are 10 big government progressives.
It’s up to you and you’ve already done so much! Do you know that Friday is the anniversary of the 9/12 Project? You are the only thing stopping health care from destroying America. But there is more work to do.
Progressives aren’t quitting. Look, I know you are busy. I know you have a life to live. I know the last thing you want to do after you clean up the dishes, put the kids to bed, clean the house is sit down and read a book on Woodrow Wilson or FDR.
But you are going to be the difference. So you must know history. We need to look back and learn because we are repeating the same mistakes from that past:
• Back in 1933, the American economy was in crisis: Unemployment peaked at 24.9 percent. Unemployment today is 9.7 percent
• Back then Europe and the global economy were completely unstable and so were the citizens. Sound familiar?
• The president declares that government is the only one who could save it:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
FORMER PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT: In our efforts for recovery we have avoided on the one hand the theory that business should and must be taken over into an all-embracing Government. We have avoided on the other hand the equally untenable theory that it is an interference with liberty to offer reasonable help when private enterprise is in need of help.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Only government can break the cycles that are crippling the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
• Both in the 1930s and now, national debt was being piled on in unprecedented levels: in 1933, national debt hit $22 billion — an historic level. Today, $12.5 trillion
• Big government entitlement programs are jammed through
Do you see how history repeats itself?
We are repeating the same experiences and mistakes that allowed a depression to turn into the Great Depression. And the economic misery that’s coming our way is only half of the danger because, while most people dread economic recessions and depressions there are others who are more opportunistic. They view this as their big chance, their window of opportunity.
During normal times the extremes — the radical ends of the political spectrum on the left and the right — are brushed aside. But as history has shown us time and time again, add fear and hunger to the mix and people will listen to anyone who says “I have the answer.”
Take Jesus and Adolf Hitler: One’s good, one’s evil. They had one thing in common: When there was fear and hunger, they said I’ll save you, follow me. When you are hungry and afraid it’s not always easy to see the difference between good and evil.
In the 1930s and today, two people said they have an answer: FDR and Barack Obama. One said happy days are here again and one said the worst is behind us.
When FDR took office, do you know how many entitlement programs there were? Zero. In 1940, government payments to individuals were $1.6 billion. Last year, we paid our more than $2 trillion in government assistance. With so many Americans unwilling or able to stand on their own two feet, when a crisis comes how will they stand up and say no to anyone who says “I have the answer”?
Remember the bald communist, Jed ? We laugh at him and dismiss him as a kook, but I believe it is a terrible mistake to do that.
Look. I hope and pray that I am wrong about the economy. I really do. It’d be wonderful if printing more money and then spending it on turtle tunnels will kick start the economy. But somehow I don’t have confidence that will work. The president is wrong: The worst is not behind us. There are tough times ahead. History has shown us you cannot spend your way to prosperity, it just doesn’t work. And that’s what we are pinning our hopes on — that and green jobs, which Spain and others are finding out the hard way doesn’t work either.
America will be presented with a choice. We have to get off this track. You simply cannot give government more power because hunger and fear are powerful ingredients. People will listen to anyone.
Ten years ago it was ridiculous to talk about stuff like this and I’m sure critics everywhere will call me all sorts of names. And that’s fine. But this isn’t the first time in history we were on the edge of making the same mistakes Europe was making. Only because of our reliance on God and the Constitution did we survive last time. But oh, how close we came.
— Watch “Glenn Beck” weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on Fox News Channel
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