Alan Keyes in Our Character, Our Future
On Principles & Values:
Truth & right vs. wrong underlies government & society
What sense is there in winning, in success, or even prosperity if there is not truth? We are reaching the point in this society where people are denying that there is any line to be drawn between truth and falsehood, rights and wrong. If that’s the
case, then our whole way of life can’t work any more--because it is based on the sense that there are certain self-evident truths, that those self-evident truths support a certain idea of human justice, which require respect for human rights,
that therefore you must have elections and due process, and all the other things we consider to be the hallmarks of freedom. If there is no difference between right and wrong, then none of that is true, and there is no need to respect individual rights,
there is no requirement that to be legitimate government has to be based upon consent, and the only thing that separates us from tyranny and despotism is that at the moment nobody has yet gained the upper hand.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 9
May 2, 1996
On Abortion:
Abortion issue epitomizes corruption of freedom
I talk about abortion not just because of the issue in and of itself, but because I think it epitomizes the deeper issue, which is the corruption of our idea of freedom--a corruption that is really killing us. I think abortion is a very dramatic example
of that corruption and its consequences, because obviously that has direct consequences for the heart that we need to sustain the family. If we harden our hearts against our offspring, and if we aggrandize our self-fulfillment to the extent that
we are willing to kill our offspring, that is the extreme case of the self-centered and egotistical and self-worshipping concept of freedom I think is being promoted in various ways in the society.We are not going to remain a free people if
we arrogate to ourselves the right to destroy the rights of others. And that is exactly what we are doing when we embrace the so-called “pro-choice” agenda--which is actually just the pro-abortion agenda.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 13
May 2, 1996
On Principles & Values:
The crisis of our times is a crisis of character
The moral requirements of freedom what the Founders called self-government. Self-government begins with self-control--the willingness to postpone our material gratification to the extent necessary for economic success and the discretion to limit our
passions to the extent necessary to live in peace with our fellow citizens. The real crisis of our times is therefore, a crisis of character. It is a crisis that has been caused by our inability to admit the moral requirement of freedom.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 15-6
May 2, 1996
On Civil Rights:
Gay rights aren’t like racial rights, because it’s behavior
People tell us that for purposes of discrimination, sexual orientation--or, more accurately, sexual behavior--must be treated like race. Is that at all legitimate? When I got up this morning I was a black guy. When I go to bed tonight, I will still be
a black guy. If we are going to say that sexual orientation is to be treated like race, then we’re saying that sexual orientation--read, behavior--is like race, a condition beyond the individual’s control.If we accept this kind of reasoning, why should
we expect to draw the line at sexual passion? If we’re going to have special legal protections for homosexuals, shouldn’t everybody else’s uncontrollable sexual orientations be protected? Shouldn’t adulterers, pedophiles, rapists, and other sorts of
sexual aberrants be eligible for the same benefits? If we were to accept this convoluted logic we would be left with the concept of a human person which accepts strict external regimentation: we are basically people out of control.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 18-9
May 2, 1996
On Budget & Economy:
Seeing people merely as consumers is bad for moral fiber
People are beginning to trace the sources of America’s social and economic ills to the sad disrepair of our society’s moral infrastructure. Liberals are talking about welfare reform that encourages the work ethic instead of undermining it. Economic
conservatives are acknowledging the role that moral discipline plays in wealth creation.In both cases, the key insight comes from seeing people as producers, rather than passive consumers. When economic activity seduces people into seeing
themselves primarily in the latter role, it’s just as bad for moral fiber as rampant welfare dependency.
Where consumption is the law and the prophets, self-discipline is heresy. The mass consumption economy needs full-fledged earners with
desires untrammeled by any limiting sense of obligation to others. It thrives on people who acquire the skills to earn, but who remain emotionally single and self-centered.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 24-5
May 2, 1996
On Health Care:
Abstinence, not condoms, for AIDS control
The Clinton administration [has made] condoms the instrument of choice for AIDS prevention. This represents a return to the permissiveness of the 1960s. Given the contradictory evidence on condom effectiveness against the AIDS virus, this is a
high-risk approach, tantamount to playing Russian roulette with the lives and health of millions of Americans, especially among the young. But we can’t expect teens to practice abstinence, can we? So it’s just say yes to sex, show self-control the door.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 27-8
May 2, 1996
On Crime:
External violence results from internal lawlessness
The problem [causing crime and violence] is control all right, but it’s self-control not gun control. External violence is the symptom and consequence of internal lawlessness and self-indulgence. I wonder if [liberals]
understand the intimate connection between violence on the streets and violence against unborn children? Crime and violence aren’t just social facts--they are moral realities. Moral problems can’t be addressed with external solutions such as
gun control or condom distribution. They need internal remedies. Though we shy away from the subject these days, most decent people know in their hearts that the only solution to these moral problems is moral education. The basic principle of all
moral education is respect for our moral faculty, i.e., the human capacity to act rationally, to discipline passion in order to prevent immoral consequences. Lawless ideas have lawless consequences.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 33-5
May 2, 1996
On Civil Rights:
Black heritage comes from survival in America, not Africa
Too many black Americans look to Africa to find a basis for their identity because they cannot find it in themselves to claim their true heritage with pride. They are ashamed of their slave ancestry, all the ordinary folk who simply lived as best they
could under the yoke. They apparently haven’t yet realized that the survival of black people in America, through slavery, racist assaults, and economic deprivation, is one of the greatest sagas of the human spirit the world has ever seen.
When will we stop looking for glorious empires along the Niger or the Nile, and begin to truly appreciate the more lasting monument of values, endurance, and faith that black Americans built along the Potomac and the Mississippi? That moral
legacy, not race or skin color or any other material thing, is the strong foundation of the black American identity. Isn’t it time we began to reclaim and build upon it?
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 41
May 2, 1996
On Welfare & Poverty:
Jewish support of welfare for blacks causes enmity
The tragic and violent clashes between blacks and Jews are unhappily not the product of a unique and isolated set of circumstances. I believe that, unwittingly, Jewish supporters of the government-dominated welfare state approach to the
economic and social problems of the black community helped to create the mentality that now produces anger and anti-Semitism in black neighborhoods. Welfare state socialism encourages
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 48-50
May 2, 1996
On Education:
Black education historically focused on family & church
During the immediate post-Civil War years, [blacks were] 95% illiterate; this had dropped to 30% in 1910. There was no federal funding, and Southern states refused to spend anything close to adequate amounts on education for blacks. [Blacks
accomplished the drop in illiteracy via] the black church and the black family. [Liberals] argue that black Americans have never made any progress in their history without a government initiative. This assertion is repeated like a religious mantra
by the liberals who act as budget shills for the public sector bureaucracy.
When will public policy that affects the black community begin to reflect the real facts of black history? When will we stop accepting approaches to social challenges such as
poverty or education based on the false assumptions of black incapacity? When will we begin to demand policies that reflect the strengths, the character, and the positive values that are the real heritage of black America?
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 54-6
May 2, 1996
On Welfare & Poverty:
Encourage two-parent families instead of paying baby bonus
Most taxpayers are sick to death of a costly system that encourages and perpetuates poverty. The aim [of welfare reform] is to finally correct the perverse incentive system, which seems to enforce idleness and penalize people who work hard.
Current proposals for reform don’t go far enough. They entirely neglect the damaging impact that the system has had on family structure. It discourages marriage. It promotes single-parent, female-headed households. Instead of paying what amounts
to a baby bonus to unwed mothers, we should find ways to provide a marriage bonus.
Unfortunately, present proposals merely add a work requirement to the baby bonus policy, and that’s not good enough. It’s right and necessary to
encourage work rather than idleness. But for real welfare reform, we need to do more than fix the economic illogic of the welfare system--we need to work at mending the family structure it has helped to undermine.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 57-9
May 2, 1996
On Education:
Let communities decide school rules like all-male academies
The Detroit school system wanted to try the idea of all-male academies, aimed especially at young black males. A District Judge decided that this would discriminate against the city’s young females and struck down the idea. The judge
should have shown some respect for the judgment of the people who live with the daily life-and-death crisis [of urban life]. Inner-city black males need special help and attention. Is it better to give it to them in al-male schools, or in the all-male
prisons they now populate in disproportionate numbers?
[Liberals] supported the creation of a welfare state that helped to destroy the social infrastructure of the black community. Not they want to quash community-based efforts to correct their
disastrous handiwork. This is wrong, stupid, and unfair. In Detroit and elsewhere, the dogmatic liberal judges and ideologues should get out of the way and let communities seek answers to their problems. Let the people go.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 63-5
May 2, 1996
On Tax Reform:
“Soak the rich” schemes have socialist objectives
These days politicians talk as if the money belongs to the government unless we can prove otherwise. That’s the real logic behind the demagogic “soak the rich” tax proposals. If people [with] higher incomes have no just claim to their money, on what
grounds can the rest of us lay claim to what we make? The idea of a basic individual right to property that the government must respect is tossed aside in favor of a socialist understanding of property as a collective good that the government distributes
according to its whim. The “soak the rich” tax proposals are therefore a politically shrewd way of getting the mass of our people to buy into socialist logic without having to declare socialist objectives. By following this approach, the day will come
when our paychecks won’t record our net pay; they’ll record our government allowance. In words, it’s a small difference, but in fact it’s the difference between economic slavery and economic freedom.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 73-4
May 2, 1996
On Health Care:
Focus on prevention and finance health care accordingly
Part of the health care problem arises not from the quality of medical care, but from demographic realities and bad health habits. Higher birthrates among low-income mothers mean more children at risk. Our consumption of high-fat, low-fiber diets
means greater risk of cardiovascular and intestinal ailments. And so forth. The high cost of health care in part reflects bad habits and bad socio-economic conditions. If we convert to government financing, and don’t change those realities, we simply
make our problem worse. Some of our bad habits are encouraged by the system we use to finance health care. Many existing health insurance plans make no provision for regular checkups and preventive care. We encourage people to wait
until an illness is well-advanced, and more expensive to treat, before doing anything about it. We should revamp the present system to put greater emphasis on preventive care and provide tangible incentives to people who practice good health.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 79-80
May 2, 1996
On Foreign Policy:
South Africa: Venture capital instead of foreign aid
Foreign aid is everybody’s favorite whipping boy, which makes you wonder how it has managed to survive for so long. One reason may be that we all have our exceptions to the general anti-foreign aid bias. I confess that South Africa would be high
on my list of favorite exceptions. But then I realize what a disservice we will do to South Africa’s people, particularly her black people, if we continue to think of them as victims. Standard foreign aid projects, funneling money government-to-
government through inefficient bureaucracies and political networks, will end up consuming millions while wasting South Africa’s most valuable resource. South Africa needs venture capital, the kind you get from corporations rather than
governments. The people who spent so much time and effort getting investors to pull out of South Africa [on anti-apartheid platforms] need to organize just as massively for them to go back in.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 93-5
May 2, 1996
On Technology:
Regulate “offensive violence” on TV, not all violence
Only the most obtuse libertarians would contend that broadcasters have no responsibility toward public safety and decency. There would be a problem, though. Deciding what constitutes offensive violence. The objection to offensive violence surely isn’t
an objection to the depiction of any violent act. The classic film High Noon for instance, culminates in a violent showdown. But the movie isn’t about violence; it’s about courage, and the need to stand for what is right even when threatened by
violence.TV shows that wallow in mindless materialism, and that encourage people to believe that sexual gratification, a fancy house, or a fine suit of clothes are worth more than family, friendship, or moral integrity, encourage violence. Any
system to empower parents ought to involve a ratings scheme that allows parents to deal with these things, too. The present movie rating system isn’t perfect, but it helps. The media moguls will howl, but parents who care will be grateful.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 96-8
May 2, 1996
On Technology:
Explore space to fulfill our sense of purpose
There are some people who oppose space exploration on the grounds that there are more pressing human needs to be addressed here on Earth. But I think they forget what may be the most pressing human need of all-the need for a sense of purpose
and meaning in life that goes beyond this moment, and that links us with a future larger than ourselves. As long as children dream dreams inspired by that sort of meaning, they may live in poverty, but poverty never lives in them. A commitment to space
exploration is surely not the only future-oriented project we can set for ourselves, but it’s certainly one of them. With this is mind, I hope the recently released Stafford Report will help re-energize America’s long-term commitment. The
report presents four plans, including a Mars exploration project and a human outpost on the moon. A major flaw in the report is the failure to provide cost estimates.. We should keep our hopes in the heavens but our costs down to Earth.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p.105-6
May 2, 1996
On War & Peace:
Support Israel on moral grounds, not economic nor strategic
As US Ambassador to the UN Economic & Social Council, I spent somewhere between 50% and 70% of my time dealing with our policy toward the Middle East in general and with the US-Israeli relationship in particular. It is not easy to defend our
special relationship with Israel at the practical, pragmatic, entirely material level: strategic interests; sheer economics; geopolitics; where the oil is. You can’t sustain the argument in favor of a strong partnership with Israel solely on the basis of
those considerations. The best case we can make is at the level of our moral identity. When we come face to face with the ultimate issues of war and peace, all of those geo-strategic things go by the boards. [We should] appeal to arguments that
stir the moral sentiments of this nation, and that call upon our willingness to moral commitments, to the things that we believe are right.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p.112-3
May 2, 1996
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