Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., reminded Americans in his CPAC speech Friday of the foundation of freedom and why the United States is so unique in world history.
Rubio explained the unique challenge America faces, saying, “Being America is hard. And you know why being America’s so hard? It’s always been hard. It’s ’cause America’s not normal.”
“Let me tell you what I mean by that,” he continued, “Here’s what’s normal: almost every person that has ever lived on earth has had no freedom.”
Rubio explained, “If you look at it, almost everyone that’s ever walked the earth-the overwhelming majority of people that have ever lived-lived in a place where they didn’t get to pick their leaders, they didn’t have any real rights, their rights were whatever their leaders allowed them to have. That’s how most people in history have ever lived.”
“This phenomenon of what we call democracy and our republic and liberty, it’s a modern phenomenon,” Rubio continued.
The senator pointed out the significance of the American Revolution, stating, “What was revolutionary about it is it had this audacious idea that your rights come from God, not from a government, not from leaders.”
Rubio’s statement echoes most Americans’ beliefs about the foundation of Americans’ rights and freedoms. A recent poll revealed that almost three-quarters of American citizens believe their rights and freedoms come from God and not the government.
President Trump also told the United Nations in 2019, “The United States is founded on the principle that our rights do not come from government; they come from God.” He added, “This immortal truth is proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence and enshrined in the First Amendment to our Constitution’s Bill of Rights.”
“Nothing looks like it did a thousand years ago,” he continued, “Except for one thing, human nature. Human nature’s unchanged. Human nature was the same 2500 years ago as it is today.” Rubio added, “That’s why the Bible has so much wisdom in it.”
He explained the founders of the United States understood the problem of human nature. “They understood that human nature was: if you ever got power, there would always be people that would want to make everybody else live, think, say the things they wanted them to say, and do the things they wanted them to do,” said Rubio. “And they built protections against it.”
The Republican senator warned Americans against the dangers of Marxism and told Americans that for perhaps the first time, “Americans have come face to face with what it looks like when people use power to impose their will on society.”
Throughout his speech, Rubio highlighted the importance of freedom and the dangers of Marxism. As the world faces the threat of authoritarian governments like Russia, freedom is more essential and fragile than ever.
Rubio’s full speech can be seen here on RSBN.