“We believe in private enterprise, free market, and competition…So we have to make sure there is a conducive environment for people to be creative and innovate.”
“We can only have ourselves to blame for our failures. We don’t expect anyone to hand us any success or progress we hope to be making.”
“I think you tend to have more passion for freedom and for rights to exist, for you and for everyone…With that kind of life, you don’t take things for granted, you want to earn every step of your life. You want to work hard, you want to achieve, you want to reach where you have not been before.”
Believe it or not, these are the words of a politician. Which politician? Ronald Reagan? No. Margaret Thatcher? No. Thomas Jefferson, or James Madison? No to both. These are the words of Paul Kagame, the leader of the pro-freedom group who overthrew the bloodthirsty, genocidal government that preceded him in Rwanda. He is now the President of the Republic of Rwanda. His words are backed up by action and facts, not only through his courageous overthrow of the dictatorship — with only a minority of a terrified population behind him. He also refuses any foreign aid. He understands that his people must build their own economy and make their money through trade, not charity.
Keep an eye on Rwanda.
It’s ironic that advocates of freedom now must turn to places like Rwanda for examples of individual rights and capitalism. America has surely lost its way. But if a minority of freedom-lovers in Rwanda can overthrow a genocidal government and replace it with a sane and just republic, America can surely (without force) overthrow all things Obama-like and Bush-like in favor of a new beginning. All it takes are courage — and ideas.