Ronald Reagan: A Time for Choosing - Essay Example

Ronald Reagan: A Time for Choosing The speech was delivered on 27th October 1964, at Loa Angeles, CA. the speech started with an attention getting statement that got the interest of all audience, which went as “The sponsor has been identified, but unlike most television programs, the performer hasnt been provided with a script” (Michael, 1). He was addressing the issue of election that was to happen in a few weeks from then. The thesis underlying the speech is that the previous and the current governments had failed, and by extension the democrat party, and thus it was time for the people to make a change. It is apparent that he uses Ethos very well in criticizing the current government and its proponents, showing all its failures and lack of commitment to serve the interest of the common American people. He does not only attribute this to the government as an institution alone, but also draws a closer relationship of these failures to the Democrat party, which he perceives unfit for the people. This, he does in the following observations that he makes, which he believes had an alternative way out that would have seen the circumstances and occurrences become more favorable. The failure of the government was in the tax burden that was bestowed on the people that was a third of the National income; the nation had a debt amounting to one and half more than the debt of all the countries in the world combined and there were many deaths of the American soldiers in the Vietnam War. He accused the members of the current government, the president inclusive of disrespecting the American people and the Nations constitution, through speeches and utterances that were imbibed with sarcasm. He observed that the government had referred to the American people as the “Masses” and the constitution as this “Restrictive document,” only to later refer the people as the “greater society” (Michael, 3).All this was meant to show that the current government did not uphold the interest of the people at its core principle and only considered them important when they wielded the immense voting power. The disrespect of the country’s constitution was something that was tantamount to abuse of the people’s freedom and liberty that had been hard won by their forefathers in the American war of independence. He cited the inability of the government to control the economy, with an example of its involvement in farm economy, in that the cost of this farm economy program had almost doubled. He accused the opponent of Barry Goldwater, who was from the Democrat party, of having the same policies as did the current government to cause more misery to the farmers, citing some previous enactments that the government had proposed and made, such as to imprison farmers who would fail to keep books of records as prescribed by the Federal government. He applies mythos to indicate how the current government, the Democrat party and by extension the opponent of Barry Goldwater, who is a proponent of the current government policies, as having done things in the total and direct opposite way from the expectation, the beliefs and the culture of the American people (Karl, 28). There was a proposal that the government should seize and sell the farms from individuals who failed to observe these requirements. There had been another proposal that the government should eliminate 2 million people from the soil. All these, as his contestant was observed to identify with and advocate for were oppressive to the American people. The increase of the government employment in the ministry of Agriculture was ridiculed, in that there were lots of failures that increased manpower would have corrected, such as the disappearance of 66 shiploads of grain headed for Australia without a trace. The current government was accused of passing legislations that were ultimately detrimental to the country’s citizenry, such as the scrapping of the wheat program that eventually saw the fall in the farm price of wheat and an increased in the cost of bread. The government did not seem to care enough for it people and any one advocating to continue with the same policies of governance, as did his democrat opponent was an injury to the American people. He accuses the urban renewal project by the government as an assault to the poor, by oppressing the poor and benefitting the greedy rich. He refers it as a program that takes from the needy and gives to the greedy. He indentifies the demolition of a million dollar building in Cleveland Ohio, to make way for what the government referred as more compatible use of land. This is a mythological application of his ideas against the government, which has defied the whole culture and the belief of the American people. There is an application of pathos in his speech that served to make the people indentify with his ideas through the emotional touching of the events he narrated. The government had failed to address the issue of unemployment, had declared the Rice County, Kansas as depressed yet it had deposits of oils well and wealth in the banks. There has been an increase in the needs of the people each year, yet the government had been operational for 30 years, the reverse was expected. He cited an instance that was reported four years back that 17 million people went to their beds hungry. The current situation was the same, with a report that 9.3 million families were poverty stricken, earning an average of 3000 dollars annually. The government was spending 45 billion dollars for welfare program, which when divided to the poverty stricken families; each family would get 4600 dollars annually. A sharp contrast is that the families only obtained 600 dollars annually from the program, an indication that the government was not interested in alleviating the poverty conditions of its citizens. He indentified the government proposed program to reinstate the Civilian conservation Corps, where the juvenile were to undergo rehabilitation as bizarre, in that it would cost 4700 dollars to maintain each youths in the camps, yet giving them a course from Harvard would only cost 2700 dollars. His application of logos is well manifested when he makes the statement “They say were always "against" things were never "for” anything. Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that theyre ignorant; It’s just that they know so much that isnt so” (Michael, 5). In this sentiment, he identifies with his party, the republican and the voice of the common American oppressed citizen. Another apparent application of logos in his speech that indentifies him with his party and the people, not the government is the statement he makes, “You and I have the courage to say to our enemies, "There is a price we will not pay." "There is a point beyond which they must not advance” (Michael, 7). In conclusion, with the thesis that the current government and by extension the democrat party had failed, the speech catches all the elements and evidences that clearly shows the areas in which these failures occurred. The government had failed in budgeting, eventually making the American debt rise to an alarming level, the farmers issues were not addressed in a manner to resolve their problems, the government policy towards welfare program and Urban planning was poor and the bid to end poverty and create employment for the American people had remained just but a dream. He gave a meaningful closing line that Barry Goldwater; the presidential aspirant he was supporting had faith in the American people and in their right and dignity to make a decision that would determine the destiny of the American Nation (Michael, 9). His rousing speech was effective, since it served to have him persuaded to seek the governorship of California, which he won three years later (Beschloss, 175). Works Cited Beschloss, Michael. Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How they Changed America 1789–1989. Simon & Schuster, 2008. 45-180. Print. Karl, Hess. In A Cause That Will Triumph: The Goldwater Campaign and the Future of Conservatism. Memoir by Goldwaters speechwriter, 1967. 14-235. Print. Michael, Eidenmuller. Ronald Reagan: A Time for Choosing. AmericanRhetoric.com, 2008. 1-9. Print. Read More