Achieving the American Dream. By Bill O’Reilly. Video. Talking Points Memo. The O’Reilly Factor. Fox News, December 11, 2014. YouTube. Also here, here, here.
Transcript:
When I was a kid growing up in modest circumstances, my parents told me that I could succeed in life.
They
didn’t say much more than that, only that I could be successful.
From my
vantage point, the American dream meant that I would lead a happy life and
contribute to society, but each one of us has our own definition of the dream.
A
recent New York Times poll asked, “Do you think it is still possible to start
out poor in this country, work hard, and become rich?”
Sixty-four
percent of Americans say it is possible.
Thirty-three
percent say it is not.
Three
percent don’t know.
Second
question, “Do you think the economic system in the U.S. is basically fair?”
Fifty-two
percent say it is.
Forty-five
percent say it is unfair.
Four
percent have no opinion.
For
this poll, money was the basic theme, and for this memo we will stay on that
subject.
As
someone who started out with little – I was flat broke when I began my first
broadcast job in Scranton, Pennsylvania – I know that you can become wealthy in
America.
So the
33% who say it's not possible are wrong.
You are looking at the proof.
But
there are things that you have to do to succeed economically.
Number
one, you must get educated unless your athletic or music skills are so enormous
that you can make a living that way.
Number
two, you must be willing to work hard and conform to levels of performance.
That
means you have to learn how to speak properly, you have to learn how to groom
yourself ... you can’t have a face covered with tattoos unless you can punch
like Mike Tyson.
Basically,
succeeding economically is about being smart, working hard, and presenting
yourself in a way that leads to making money.
That’s
it.
Now
some Americans work very hard, are smart, and don’t succeed economically.
That’s
why life is not fair; you never know how it’s going to shake down.
But
remember the poll question was, is it possible to start out poor and become
wealthy?
Now
here are some things that you cannot do.
First,
if you feel America is a rotten, awful country, you will not succeed.
And
that is what is being peddled by the far left:
On
MSNBC on Dec. 10:
MICHAEL
ERIC DYSON, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: “What’s the next institution that you think
needs to be isolated and then challenged?”
ROSA
CLEMENTE, HIP HOP ACTIVIST: “The economy.
Capitalism, I think that’s the institution that’s all over this country,
right? It is really what is the
oppressive force. And the police are
actually, we have a lot of theory I think that proves this, are that force that
are keeping us, as particularly working class people, from achieving this idea
of, you know, economic justice.”
Ms.
Clemente will never succeed in this country because her concept of economic
justice is basically communism, and we are not going to convert to that.
If you
want communism Ms. Clemente, Fidel and Raul Castro are just 90 miles from
Florida.
Two,
you cannot walk around with a sense of entitlement, that people owe you things.
In our
system, nobody owes you anything.
Three,
if you want to succeed, you cannot portray yourself as a victim of white
privilege, of slavery, or of any other historical injustice.
It may
be wrong, but the free market place doesn’t want to hear it.
And
finally, if you behave badly; if you are disrespectful; if you act foolishly on
a consistent basis; if you refuse to develop your talent; if you have three
children by the time you are 20; if you abuse drugs and alcohol or do other
self-destructive things, you will never succeed.
Talking
Points laments that our leaders will not tell you the things I am saying right
now.
Our
political parties do not level with the folks; instead both Democrats and
Republicans pander to them.
Capitalism
is tough, very competitive, but the American dream is still achievable.
And I
know what I’m talking about.
And
that’s the memo.
