American Cornerstone: A Much-Needed Endeavor
By: Ben Carson
Ben Carson is right. Americans need his wisdom now. He’s right to call out those Americans who use insulting and derogatory terms in describing other Americans. His efforts on behalf of our economic freedom, individual rights and empowerment, and religious liberty are greatly appreciated.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
We have painted our fellow Americans as “deplorable,” “stupid,” and worse. It is this type of malicious, political rhetoric fueled by opportunistic politicians and profit-driven media organizations that has roiled our deeply divided nation.
We are better than this. Words such as compromise, compassion, and civility are twisted, maligned and tainted as somehow being dirty, or have magically disappeared altogether.
We must do better than this. I miss the days when Americans fought united for freedom and justice for all -- equally. I miss when compromise, compassion, and civility were not only encouraged but celebrated, where individuals accepted the consequences of their actions, when politicians pursued the public good, not just their own good.
My time serving as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development over the last four years taught me many things, none more important than the necessity for collaboration and mutual understanding. I saw first-hand that, when we work together as one nation, the American Dream becomes attainable for all and opportunity becomes limitless.
It is for these reasons -- and many others -- that I am launching a nonprofit conservative think tank with the goal of providing common-sense solutions to some of our nation’s biggest problems. The first step in healing is to start talking to one another again.
The American Cornerstone Institute will be dedicated to creating dialogue and smart discourse. ACI will focus on promoting and preserving individual and religious liberty, helping our country’s most vulnerable find new hope, and developing methods to maximize government’s efficiency and effectiveness to best serve all our nation’s citizens.
ACI will focus on a diverse set of issues that influence important policy discussions. We will engage with local governments and work with communities to find solutions to our nation’s problems.
We must work to improve American cities. While many of the country’s large cities face similar problems — homelessness, a higher cost of living, and rising crime, to name a few — the causes of these problems, and the best ways to address them, will vary from place to place. The institute will study in detail some of America’s largest cities, identifying the key drivers of their current issues and potential solutions that take into account the unique characteristics of each urban area.
We will serve as a check on political power in Washington. ACI will actively push and remind the powers that be to allow and even empower local communities to govern their own affairs. Washington may be home to our political arena, but it is seldom a place for finding solutions; for those we must look to the American people.
For the preservation of this great nation, for ourselves, and the next generation, we will foster a renewed focus on education. If there’s one thing I know to be true, it's that education is the key to prosperity. Without it, our communities will falter and our institutions will crumble.
We are one nation, under God. We must not forget that. The United States of America is seen as a beacon of freedom and hope across the world, a place where the practice of one’s faith should be encouraged and protected, without trepidation.
ACI will promote the value of self-sufficiency and the idea of creating equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. Providing individuals with opportunities to transform and improve their lives leads to better outcomes than subsidies and welfare programs.
We are a compassionate nation, the greatest civic experiment in history, the world’s guiding light of freedom and opportunity.
The Bible says, if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. There have been many calls to heal the divide that has polarized our great nation. The American Cornerstone Institute will be a leader and part of the solution. Our goal is simple: heal, inspire, and revive America.
Dr. Ben Carson is the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development .
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Nope.
Sure. Your rights to worship are exactly the same as my rights not to worship.
Can anyone tell me when that was exactly? Was it when a new Continental Congress was hammering out the 3/5th deal? During the Trail of Tears? The mass killing of indigenous peoples as European whites settled the West? At the battle of Gettysburg maybe? When Jim Crow laws were written or when Southern Whites were burning down their own schools rather than open them to black students? Maybe in 1917 when 300 blacks were killed over the summer in fear they were taking white jobs? Was it in 1936 when the German American Bund was formed and opened 20 youth training camps and had a membership in the 10s of thousands? Was there justice during the race riots in the "Summer of Love"? Was justice for all in the Reagan Admin when they demonized the poor as black single mom "welfare queens" and dumped thousands of mental health patients into the streets? Was it when we elected our first black President where some members of Congress were publicly questioning his home of birth? Maybe it was when a bunch of white guys were walking around with torches chanting, "Jews will not replace us!" It certainly wasn't earlier this year when "patriots" violently stormed our Capital Building to protest an election they didn't like on lies they were fed by extreme sources. So really when were Americans United for Freedom AND Justice for all? Please tell me, because I can't find it in all of US history.
It's an ideal that many say they stand for, but very few ever actually practice. It was never, ever, really a "cornerstone" of America in practice. The first step of improving our country is to except we've failed at things. Be honest as to what our failings were and then identify ways to improve. "Whitewashing" or "Gaslighting" our history will never be a way to start that process.