Individual liberty, limited government the keys to upward mobility

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Impulsando la libertad y el progreso

By Ángel Merlos

Strategic Director in Colorado for The LIBRE Initiative

Haga click aquí para leer la versión en español

The holidays are a time for reflection and gratitude, and one thing that we can all be grateful for is America’s tradition of freedom that has generated so much wealth for so many in this country.

It might seem crass to focus so squarely on wealth during the holiday season, but the reality is that capital, or wealth, underlies so much of our lives. Wealth allows us not only to provide necessities, but to advance science and technology, to innovate, to create art, and to be charitable.

TABOR a model for relationship between government and governed TABOR, modelo de relación entre gobierno y gobernados

And an uncomfortable reality about this time of year is that for families to enter fully into the holiday season, they need a baseline amount of capital. Holiday meals with family, not to mention gifts and even good winter jackets, cost money.

The American cultural and political system provides an unrivaled foundation for personal advancement and upward mobility – or the ability to move up the socioeconomic ladder.

After all, we call it the American Dream for a reason! The LIBRE Institute is committed to ensuring that Hispanics, and all Americans, have access to the wealth of opportunities that America has to offer.

This is why The LIBRE Institute recently joined forces with the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank, to host an event in Denver to talk about these ideas – as well as how cultivating a deeper understanding of how families, faith communities, educational institutions, and entrepreneurial cultures weave together a moral fabric that shapes children.

My colleagues Daniel Garza and Isabel Soto were among the event’s panelists focusing on promoting social mobility and educational fulfillment.

Individual liberty

One of the recurring themes is that from the very beginning of the American experiment, this country’s founders placed individual freedom and limited government at the heart of our republic. The Declaration of Independence placed the ideals of “certain inalienable Rights” such as “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” at the heart of the country’s ethos. As a result, people living here—with that group justly expanding over time—could pursue what most captured them, creating and innovating and supplying in ways that not only pursued happiness but that generated wealth.

And this free-market system generated vast amounts of wealth, at levels unseen in history and even in other countries. California’s wealth is equivalent to all of England’s wealth. Florida’s is larger than Mexico. Half of the world’s wealthiest 1% live in the United States. And 85% of America’s millionaires earned their wealth and didn’t inherit it.

America is a land of unparalleled opportunity, but we can still do more to ensure that all who live here have access to the American Dream. This is LIBRE’s mission.

Part of that mission means defending America’s founding principles of individual freedom and free enterprise, but it also means ensuring all have access to a quality education. As President John F. Kennedy said, “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.”

For too many, our educational system is failing them. Many students are square pegs trying to fit into the round holes of our standardized educational system, and when they drop out, they end up left behind.

This is one reason why LIBRE is such a strong advocate for educational freedom. The vast majority of credible evidence shows that school choice programs improve academic outcomes for not only the program participants but also the students in public schools; save taxpayers money; and significantly raise college matriculation rates.

Individual liberty

It isn’t just students who need better opportunities, however. Latino adults face many barriers simply to entering the marketplace. A third do not have a high school diploma, and over 30% speak only Spanish. Nearly half do not have a driver’s license, millions lack citizenship or even legal status, and half of all Latino children are born out of wedlock.

The free market has provided unparalleled opportunities to millions, but to play the game you have to get into the arena, and these barriers stop millions of Hispanics at the door. LIBRE works to minimize these disadvantages by providing or promoting English classes, training for the driver’s license test and the G.E.D. exam, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship workshops.

A prosperous Latino community is required to have a prosperous America, and a prosperous America is required to have a prosperous Latino community. We are interdependent. We need each other.

But the prosperity of both Hispanics and America as a whole depends on continuing what has made America strong. That means individual liberty and free enterprise, not bureaucratic control. That means redistributing opportunity, not others’ wealth. That means empowering parents, not uniform education systems.

The LIBRE Institute is committed to seeing all access the limitless opportunities of this country.

Will you join us?

Angel Merlos is strategic director of The LIBRE Institute in Colorado.