Speeches at graduation are usually quickly forgotten. Many deserve to be forgotten. Others were of note but get lost in all the commencement activities. Senator Ted Cruz delivered the commencement address at Hillsdale College. We are fortunate the school reprinted his speech in the May/June issue of Imprimis.
He spoke about the “Miracle of Freedom” and reminded the students that in the history of mankind, freedom has been the exception. Kings and queens, dictators and tyrants have governed most of humanity that has ever lived on this planet. Power flows down from them.

The British started a revolution against this thinking with the Magna Carta. “That revolution reached full flower in Philadelphia in 1787 in a Constitution that began from two radical premises.” First, our rights do not come from kings (or even presidents) but from God. Our Creator endows us with certain unalienable rights. Second, that power comes from “We the People.” It also put together checks on government. Thomas Jefferson said they were “chains of the Constitution” that would bind the mischief of government.

Ted Cruz also talked about the American free market, calling it the “greatest engine for prosperity and opportunity that the world has ever seen.” It has provided a means to raise so many from poverty to prosperity. One statistic is worth mentioning. “Over the last two centuries, U.S. growth rates have far outpaced growth rates around the world, producing per capita incomes about six times greater than the world average and 50 percent higher than those in Europe.”

Freedom also produces opportunity. Citizens can climb the economic ladder and pull themselves up one rung at a time. You are free to use your talents, pursue your passion, and persevere until you are successful.

This truly is the miracle of freedom. Freedom works. It’s a message I encourage you to share with others.