Acceptance Speech - Against the Stream

Last month, the American Solidarity Party Twitter account posted a quote from G.K. Chesterton. It’s one I had heard before, and appreciated, but on reading it while preparing to embark on a presidential campaign, I was struck by how profound it was despite its simplicity.

Chesterton, affectionately known as the Apostle of Common Sense, is no doubt a great hero of many ASP members, along with others who advocate for Christian Democracy. It was Chesterton who, along with his contemporary, Hilaire Belloc, a century ago introduced the economic theory of distributism. Their inspiration came from Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, which is the cornerstone document of Catholic social teaching, issued in 1891.

What was it that the ASP tweeted? A well-known line from Chesterton’s 1925 work, The Everlasting Man: “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”

Simple, but profound … and … an appropriate metaphor for the American Solidarity Party.

“A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”

The ASP is at least figuratively, in several ways, going against the stream. It doesn’t enjoy the favored status of the major parties. Lauren and I are confident of ballot access in just one state so far. I’m not expecting to be on the debate stage with the Democratic and Republican candidates. I’m not holding my breath for an invitation from Meet the Press or 60 Minutes. You won’t see any campaign TV commercials, for better or for worse. My face won’t be on billboards, or in the post office I hope (Baby Boomers got the joke). My name won’t be plastered on yard signs up and down Main Street America. And … I probably won’t get a nickname from Donald Trump.

I’m being lighthearted, of course, but the circumstances are real. Despite all this, Lauren and I have a great message to share: the ASP message. All the while not forgetting, the ASP is going upstream, in many ways, against the culture.

We all know that ASP positions on life issues are largely contrary to culture – abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment – and certainly contrary to the present administration. And if not contrary to the other major party, they are often distinct from its candidates’ messages in this post-Roe era.

I’ve hitched my wagon to the pro-life plan plan authored by Charlie Camosy, Jonathan Van Maren, Eric Scheidler and Josh Brahm, among many other signatories which includes such proposals as (quoting):

• Accessible and affordable healthcare for parents and children—including expanding Medicaid funding for prenatal care, delivery, and postpartum expenses—to reduce the financial barriers to welcoming a new child;

• Expanded child tax credits that promote family formation and lift children out of poverty;

• Paid parental leave that ensures every infant can receive the close attention and nurturing care they need from their mothers and fathers in the early months of life;

• Flexible work hours to enable families to establish a tranquil home life, with predictable work schedules and better options for meaningful part-time employment;

• Affordable childcare options that support working parents, without disincentivizing the choice to raise young children at home that many families say they would prefer; 

• Fully enforce existing prenatal child support laws while seeking effective new ways to demand that all men take responsibility for children they father. (End quote).

These are positions that many in America can and do embrace, but such a collection of policies is not found among the major parties’ proposals. The ASP can advocate for them though, and challenge the status quo.

Members of the American Solidarity party are used to being different, even countercultural. And even if the ASP is not always battling cultural pushback, it can be up against prevailing thought, such as in economic theory. “Distributism” is not yet a household word, except perhaps for the aficionados of the aforementioned Mr. Chesterton. I mentioned he is known as the Apostle of Common Sense. Did I also mention he’s known as the Prince of Paradox? Those titles are more alike than different in this era. 

Clearly, Chesterton, himself, paddled upstream. He saw the propensity in human nature to “follow a path of least resistance,” or, more literally, to “go with the flow.” It’s an easy task, to “walk the well-trodden path,” – or lace your remarks with trite cliches – but doing so, despite the ease or comfort that our human nature enjoys, prompts us to surrender our wills. When we “ride with the tide,” we expend little effort. Whereas the person who swims against the stream, or the tide, has constant effort, focus and determination.

Chesterton was an ardent scholar of the social principles that gave rise to Christian Democracy and the ASP. Dorothy Day, another model for ASP members, was an ardent disciple of the same principles. We revere both, and acknowledge that the heritage of our principles, championed politically through Christian Democracy, has the same foundations.

There are seven broad principles, which I embraced before I entered the party. It was like finding the pearl of great value when I first saw them enunciated on the American Solidarity Party website.

The first principle I’ve already alluded to under the category of life issues: human dignity. Every person is an unrepeatable miracle, and no person should be maligned, abused, disregarded or killed. Think about the common public policy headings we hear regularly in the news. Each one is for the benefit of human beings: education, healthcare, national security, commerce, even environmental protection. Government crafts policies to support humans, but often fails to sustain and uphold humans. 

In his social encyclical Laudato Si, Pope Francis wrote: “Human beings too are creatures of this world, enjoying a right to life and happiness, and endowed with unique dignity. So we cannot fail to consider the effects on people’s lives of environmental deterioration, current models of development and the throwaway culture” (43).

How far we have fallen when we consider human life, like so many things we consume, disposable. But look in the headlines any day for evidence of this reality.

We spent days riveted to news accounts about five men in a tiny submersible lost at sea. The efforts and expense to save them was noble, and just. But the child in the womb, the convict on death row, the Uyghurs in a Chinese work camp, the missionary in Africa being held for ransom, the teenager being sex-trafficked, the refugee at our border fleeing violence? Do they not deserve similar concern and attention?

A second principle deals with the fact that humans are social beings, living and interacting with others in families and communities. Marriage and family are central to society, and the ASP acknowledges that fact. Doing so does not disparage others who prefer different public policy. Doing so recognizes the truth of our human nature.

I’m blessed to be joined here in Texas by my wife and six of our nine children, their spouses and significant others, and four of our six grandchildren. It’s been the first occasion for Leo and Jonah, my grandsons born in April just 11 days apart, to meet for the first time.

Having a large family is demanding but it’s a tremendous blessing. There is no way to describe the joy of family get-togethers, and the commitment of my family to gather here, even for a few days, is so edifying. I’m so grateful.

Having a big family produces a full range of life experiences, too. We’ve known joys and sorrows, including some serious health conditions, student debt, difficulty with finding housing and income-earning opportunities, relationship struggles, etc. The list goes on. I’m not sure about adding having your washing machine break down a day before you’re leaving on a trip is deserving, but it’s fresh in memory.

Life comes with low points; to that we can all attest. Having a loving family to turn to in times of anxiety is a natural thing to do. Those relationships are essential, which is why God gives them to us, I’m sure.

Back to the principles, but following up on the same one about relationships, it occurs to me there is an often overlooked facet of human interaction that I want to emphasize: the call to engage in society. We are all called to give and to receive – to participate in the common good, rather than to be observers only. 

Political engagement is a part of that, so we might be apt to check that box. I’ll add that it's easy to become politically focused merely by watching the news or social media, but in the public forum is typically where results are made. It’s not limited to running for office. Minimally, are you attending public meetings and offering your perspectives? Engage!

This segues nicely to a third principle: rights and responsibilities. Each human being has rights – rights in nature, rather than merely rights in law. Government and society do not create such rights, but define and/or codify them. Government should recognize that these natural rights exist and protect them: fundamentally, the right to life, and freedom and dignity and just treatment, from which flow, at least in our nation, access to education, labor, healthcare and beyond.

Rights are only fulfilled, however, when responsibilities are fulfilled. As ASP members we advocate for public programs that serve human rights, but we are called to be responsible givers of respect and service as well.

Which leads to a fourth principle: preference for the needy among us. “The poor you will always have with you,” we are told (in Matthew 26), and also, “The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor. … Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty” (Proverbs 22).

Justice is our goal as ASP members. We advocate for justice, in word, but we must also strive for justice, in action. I observe that messaging and concern among the major parties are often to divergent audiences – donors and voters. It can serve, however, to keep donors satisfied and generous – and voters dependent and engaged. That is NOT justice! Government officials should introduce plans to eradicate problems rather than perpetuate them.

It follows that, along with the rights of the poor, we recognize and respect the rights of workers. Human capital is a term of common parlance, but how offensive and contrary to dignity it is. Human labor is indeed responsible for the production and delivery of countless goods and services to others on an everyday basis. It must never be reduced, however, to merely equal with other factors of production, where it falls under the will of controlling powers. Rather, with distributism — or “common good capitalism” -– we acknowledge the dignity of human labor, seeking for each one’s own control and possession of the tools of production. This distribution of the means of production, to as many laborers as possible, counters the consolidation of power and resources so common in the modern business world of mergers and acquisitions. Remember: “small is beautiful,” and “less is more.”

Next, we leap to a principle to which we all should readily identify: solidarity. Beyond biological and extended families, we are one – national and international – human family, without exception for origin, racial, ethnic, religious, economic, or ideological differences. At the core of solidarity is recognition of the dignity of others and the promotion of justice and peace in a world that abounds with chaos and conflict. It means unity, and not isolation.

Finally, but by no means lastly, is respect and care for our earthly home. We may be landowners, but we are more accurately stewards. Our use and possession of land and goods are finite because we are finite, or material — mortal of body. Our human nature is governed by time, but throughout we are dependent on the earth’s resources. We must care for those resources, not only for our needs, but those of generations to come.

All these components shape ASP views for a more just society: human dignity, family and community, rights and responsibilities, concern for the poor and vulnerable, proper understanding of labor and respect for workers, solidarity and the common good, and care for the environment. Each is important in its own right, but all are complementary as well.

We know from our learning and experience that protection for human life is the standard – the ideal. If not, why were we commanded “thou shall not kill”?

If ownership were not the standard, why were we commanded, “thou shall not steal”?

If marriage and family were not the standard, why were we commanded “thou shall not commit adultery,” and “honor your father and your mother”?

And, so as to avoid bearing “false witness,” let me declare also for truth as the standard.

The upcoming presidential election cycle is not one for the American Solidarity Party to enter with anything but vigor. So as I accept the nomination of American Solidarity Party members as their candidate for President of the United States, I do so with gratitude, determination, and with hope. 

Gratitude to God for the opportunity.

Gratitude for your confidence as voters.

Gratitude for the support of my family and friends and campaign volunteers.

Gratitude for the challenge of going against the stream.

Determination to carry the message of ASP values to voters.

Determination to act with civility and respect toward others, especially in the political forum.

Determination to promote justice and peace and truth.

Determination to see the task through to its conclusion.

Hope for the ears of those frustrated by the politics du jour.

Hope for the hearts of those who are seeking a political home.

Hope for the unity and solidarity of ASP party members.

Hope, combined with prayer, for wisdom and humility.

The duopoly is out there, dismissive of third parties, and bent on keeping, or regaining, political power. Their interests are to donor and elite classes, while their messaging may be directed elsewhere. 

This must not be true of the American Solidarity Party. Our ambitions must remain large; our focus must be on the policy deficiencies and human needs of society; our expectations must be rooted in hope.

Dorothy Day often wrote metaphorically about the modest efforts of her small network of Catholic Workers to assist the needy of New York City.  She used the imagery of a small stone being tossed into a still pond, causing ripples to expand outward.

As Lauren and I begin our campaign, we do so with confidence in the ASP as the most desirable political alternative for America. Still small, but capable of making ripples across America. 

We ask for your support, and your presence here is a huge indication of that. I think I can confidently speak for Lauren by saying we ask for your prayers. There is a huge amount of personal time loss, frustration and stress that comes from running a campaign. I knew that, but I sure didn’t mention it to her before this! That’s not a plea for sympathy, but it is a plea for prayer, and solidarity. We’re a small party with a big ambition ahead of us. Let’s come together, in gratitude, determination and hope. Let’s work to grow the American Solidarity Party in size and influence. Let’s start a cultural change in America! 

So, rather than ending a talk, I’ll begin a quest, recalling the line from Jeremiah the prophet: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Let’s do this! 

Let’s be a force for good!

Let’s go against the stream!

Thank you!

God bless you!