Here is the truth: since the fiery moment of America's birth, the darkness in this world has only receded at moments of American triumph - only when we hold our light high and inspire allies and admirers to do the same. The world will plunge into shadow if we fall.
The shadows are waiting, and they are ravenous after a long century of American ascendance. For decades the masters of darkness have laid plans to impose their will upon the world. They've seduced and infiltrated free nations, cultivating support for their nightmare ideals.
The great lie whispered from the shadows is that mankind belongs in chains - that most cannot be trusted with the freedom to speak, to act, to earn and keep. They're too selfish, shortsighted, vicious, and cruel. Only strong rule can harness the power of industry to just ends.
The forces of darkness learned not to be too bold after their bloody defeats in the 20th Century. They learned to speak the language of the elite in free nations, to play on their vanity, whispering they alone are brilliant and wise enough to use whips and chains for noble ends.
The root of arrogance is the conviction that you are the only one wise enough to wield terrible power for righteous ends. Only you can harness the fire of oppression and contain it within the forge of justice. Only you have the sacred right to be cruel.
Only in America, from the hour of its founding, has that arrogance been decisively rejected. The unique wisdom at the heart of our Constitution and Bill of Rights is the understanding that cruelty and tyranny cannot be sanctified by declaring noble ends.
Read the Bill of Rights from that perspective, and you will see how each power of darkness and every justification for using it is taken up, considered in full, and decisively rejected with no exceptions. The Founders knew no sword of tyranny can be bent into a plowshare.
That's why America is the indispensable nation, the one free people everywhere cannot do without, the only great force standing against the old evils that would overwhelm us all given the chance. Don't believe for a moment those evils were made obsolete by the march of progress.
That's the great lie of "progressivism": The old methods of tyranny have become relics of a past that should now be forgotten. In truth, tyranny has evolved - and arguably better than liberty has. Look around you and see every wonder of the 21st Century used for tyrannical ends.
That's one reason "progressives" are so eager to erase the past, revise history, tear down the statues, burn the books. They don't want anyone to see how much they resemble the old monsters, how much their methods resemble those of yesterday's tyrants and conquerors.
America has stumbled, but never fallen. We've made mistakes, and benefited from a system that prevented the mistakes from becoming eternal. No one with a full understanding of history could reasonably argue that any of its chapters since 1776 would be better without us.
And that is why the hungry shadows lurking at the edge of freedom's light want to prevent you from having a full understanding of history. For at least half a century, they have wanted nothing more. You can defeat them by remembering. Teaching history is now an act of defiance.
The world needs America more than ever. We were fooled into thinking history ended at the turn of the century, but the truth is that the greatest challenge still lies ahead. We must now defeat Tyranny 2.0, fully upgraded for the Information Age, spreading its ideas like a virus.
It's just this simple: if America does not boldly lead the fight against tyranny once again, the tyrants will win. We are indispensable. Only we can decisively reject the dark ideas that have found such a broad audience around the world, including in our classrooms.
Remember who you were, Americans, and who you are, and who you must be. There is still fire in your hands, and all mankind needs you to hold it high, so it can be seen over every horizon. You have work to do. The LAST place any of you belong is on your knees. /end
