A Message to Francis Scott Key, In Regard to his Question:

The answer, sir, is no. It waves now over a land of slaves who do not even realize their captivity because they have forgotten a past of such freedom as they have never known. They have lost their heritage in the mists of history, sir, stolen from them by men of business, of industry. They have lost their free souls.

We live now in a land where the likes of Franklin and Edison could never be, a land where our childhood is not stolen from us but rather extended far beyond its usefulness. Our maturity is held captive, held in check till it suits the captains of industry to allow us to take our place among their work-force. Gone are the days of the true human, the free man, the self-made man. Gone are the days of true liberty and individual sovereignty.