"It is a great truth that industry, commerce and security are the surest roads to the happiness and prosperity of a people" -Thomas Jefferson

What makes up the wealth of a nation? How would you measure wealth? I don’t think that you could go wrong if you considered "wealth" as an accumulation of possessions and articles of value. You could probably quite easily catalogue your own personal or family wealth, but what about the wealth of your country?

Most of us would start with the obvious to describe the wealth of a nation; wealth equates to the strength of the economy. Some of us might talk about our nation’s wealth in terms of our great natural resources, the land, water, and many resources that the country has claim to. Yet many nation’s have a strong economy, and many more have natural resources that rival this nations, but the wealth of our nation is exceptional beyond expectations of our situation in the world.

The wealth of our nation is not the direct product of industry or manufacture, but is built on a free people, confident in their independence and individuality, and on their abilities to create industry to the benefit of all. The American people understand deeply the role they play in the making of this nation. They understand intuitively that liberty gives them a unique opportunity to pursue their happiness and their livelihood as they see fit. It is the belief of the American people that their efforts, their dedication, and their creativity and innovation will reward the object of their labor, their nation, and themselves.

The measure of that belief is in the clear exposition that the wealth of this nation is demonstrated by the wealth of our people. For over 200 years of our history it has been a guiding principle of this nation to build a strong middle class, to share the wealth of a nation with the people that developed that wealth. No people in history have been as successful as are the American people in creating and ensuring a greater opportunity for wealth among such an extensive segment of its population.

What conclusion may we draw from this shared wealth of the American nation? That there are more than material possessions that prescribe and promote the wealth of a nation. We can conclude that there are foundational principles and beliefs that lead a people and a nation to wealth. And that it has been the highest principle of our forefathers to pass on those foundational principles from generation to generation so that all may enjoy the pursuit of their happiness.

"…the question whether, by the laws of nature, one generation of men can, by any act of theirs, bind those which are to follow them? I say, by the laws of nature, there being between generation and generation, as between nation and nation, no other obligatory law." - Thomas Jefferson

"We may consider each generation as a distinct nation, with a right, by the will of its majority, to bind themselves, but none to bind the succeeding generation, more than the inhabitants of another country." – Thomas Jefferson

Tragically there has arisen in this nation a new aristocracy, aided by the elected representatives of the people, that finds its need for short-term financial gain to outweigh the traditional strengths and foundations of the people. This new aristocracy, inheriting the reins of control of industry and nation, is attempting the greatest transfer of wealth in human history by removing the wealth of this nation from its rightful owners – the American people - and to give it away to a world that had contributed nothing to its creation. The sole reason for the actions of this aristocracy is to garner to itself a mere financial gain and a more secure position of power. Yes, pure and simple greed fuels the aristocracy’s betrayal of the American people and American foundations.

The President of the United States proposes a billion-dollar program to combat AIDS on the African continent, using American tax dollars. The President’s administration is completing plans to provide Social Security and Medicaid benefits to Mexican immigrants, millions of whom have illegally entered the country and have not contributed one cent to Social Security.

The "Captains" of industry invest Billions in new state of the art facilities in Third World nations like India, China, Pakistan, and the Philippines to house their new reservations of cheap labor that are to take the place of the American worker. This new bitter pill of wealth transfer is following on the heels of the ongoing transfer of our nation's manufacture and factory infrastructure to those same country’s and their reservations of cheap labor.

In their own country American workers are made to train foreign nationals in the technical aspects of their jobs, and then the Americans are laid-off in a "cost-cutting" move. Industry lobbyist spend millions to create the perception of labor shortages, just as laid-off Americans are losing their livelihoods and homes to corporate "contractions." Guest workers on non-immigrant visas flood the nation, others enter in a flood of illegality, and the American worker is faced with the loss of job, income and position.

Generations of Americans have shown the way to build the wealth of a nation; this generation is watching a new aristocracy squander their inheritance.