by Zig Ziglar
The full-grown bald eagle is a majestic sight as he soars far and wide in search of food. His vision is such that at 5,000 feet he can look directly at the sun and in the next instant spot a field mouse nearly a mile below. The eagle is the only creature who flies directly toward the light (the sun) when he is attacked by a number of smaller birds. What a lesson that is for our parents and teachers to teach. Namely, that when we develop character and live with integrity, when we are unfairly attacked we can stand in the light of truth and defeat our foes. To me, this is the epitome of the America we have always been and must continue to be: Powerful enough to look the strongest nations in the eye and yet compassionate enough to look down at those small nations in need and extend either the helping hand or the covering umbrella, as the situation dictates. To remain that kind of America, we must teach our strength and heritage to our youth throughout their entire lifetime.
What is being taught in our schools? A recent history course taught in California produced these incredible conclusions on the part of the students. Abraham Lincoln was a “racist” and the Japanese were completely justified in their attack on Pearl Harbor. It goes without saying that when our history books teach these young people to be ashamed of their country, they (the young people) will not respect or cooperate with an “establishment” they consider “racist” (it produced Lincoln) or a warmonger (it “instigated” the Pearl Harbor attack).
We need to teach our kids to salute the flag and respect the American creed every single day. Remember when we went through the Winston, Duz, Pepsi Cola, etc., routine to show that what is planted in our minds becomes a part of us? I’m suggesting we plant love of, and loyalty to, country through the daily Pledge of Allegiance and the American Creed. These steps will imbed Americanism in the minds of our youth, and they will stand tall and be proud they are Americans.
AMERICA SPEAKS
To show you the America I love, I’d like to invite you to take a trip with me in your imagination as we travel via the big jet, which in many ways symbolizes America. I’d like to familiarize you with this great and beautiful country and some of its outstanding people.
From Dallas we head westward across the plains, rich with cattle and oil, that contribute so much to the prosperity of America. We fly over El Paso, home of Lee Trevino, the “Merry Mex” and former golf caddy who was chased off some prestigious golf courses before his rise to prominence as one of America’s premier golfers and outstanding personalities. We veer northward and take a long sweeping glance at the natural beauty of the Grand Canyon, make a fast stop at Carlsbad Caverns, and look down on the uniqueness of the Mojave Desert before we come to the lush, irrigated fruit and vegetable farms of California. Here we will meet Richard Cessna, Jr., Karl Karcher, and Robert Patchen.
Richard Cessna, Jr., is the president of Kidco, Inc., which has been in business slightly over a year, but they are already grossing as much a $3,000 per month. The owners started with a contract to sweep the six main streets of San Diego Country Estates for $150 per month. They branched out by contracting with their father, the supervisor of the estates’ 110 horse stalls, to remove the manure and wood shavings which they use to make compost. They sell the compost to landscapers and local golf courses at prices lower than commercial suppliers. Incidentally, Richard Cessna, Jr., is 12 years old. His vice president is his sister, age 9. The secretary of the company is another sister, age 11, and the treasurer is a half-sister who is 14. Now that is America. That is free enterprise.
Karl Karcher, a gentle giant of Midwestern stock who has an unshakable faith in Almighty God, is in the restaurant business. His financial success started when he bet on himself and free enterprise by pledging his financial net worth to get the capital investment necessary to become an entrepreneur. (That, my friends, means he hocked his 1941 Plymouth for 326 bucks to buy a hot dog stand.) From that modest start this 8th grade dropout has expanded until today “Carl’s Jr. Restaurants” is a tremendous success across the nation. It’s refreshing—but not surprising—to learn that Carl is an old-fashioned guy who built a successful life (12 beautiful kids and a storybook 40-year marriage to the former Margaret Heinz) and a successful business on faith, love, character, honesty, loyalty, and integrity.
The next free enterprise and flag-waving American we meet is Robert Patchen, who sells real estate in San Mateo, California. Bob earns a marvelous income and has for many, many years. No, he’s not the highest paid realtor in the business, but Bob has never seen a house he has sold, so it’s obviously quite an accomplishment. Because he lives and works in the free enterprise system that is America, Bob Patchen is not only able to pay his own way, but makes a contribution as well. Question: If a 12year old, an 8th grade drop-out, and a blind man can “make” it in America, don’t you believe that you can make it even bigger? Shouldn’t we make certain that stories like these reach everyone in America?
LISTEN—TO SOME BUSINESSMEN
Back aboard the jet, let’s do a little sight-seeing as we fly up the coast. Look down on the forests of giant sequoias and redwoods before we turn right and cross the awe-inspiring Rockies. Now we get a bird’s-eye view of the corn and wheat fields of Kansas, Nebraska, and Illinois, which have helped make America the bread basket of the world. We fly over Chicago, the home of a former newspaper boy named Clement Stone, a free enterpriser who conceived a better idea to merchandise insurance and built a personal fortune, still rated at roughly a third of a billion dollars, despite the fact that he has contributed over 100 million dollars to worthwhile causes. Today Mr. Stone shares his success secrets through his books, lectures, and recordings.
Continuing our trip, we turn northeast across Lake Michigan and in a matter of minutes come to Ada, Michigan, the home of Rich De Vos and Jay Van Andel, two of the most successful and vocal exponents of the free enterprise system in America today. Their belief in the system is founded on personal experience. In 1957, they acquired a converted service station and started Amway, which is a contraction of the American Way. Their capital was limited and their problems were numerous, but an unlimited faith in God and country, combined with an enormous capacity for work, prevailed. Today the Amway Corporation distributes its products throughout the world—as a matter of fact, we can say with poetic accuracy that the sun never sets on an Amway distributor.
LISTEN—TO THE IMMIGRANTS
Next stop—Detroit, Michigan, the home of Ilona Zimmersman, a Hungarian refugee who, living on roots and berries, escaped from her Communist captors by walking across her native land at night. I met Mrs. Zimmersman at an awards banquet where she was recognized as the outstanding real estate sales person in Detroit. As I talked with her, I had to listen very carefully because she speaks with a guttural accent which is difficult to understand. As she talked, however, the reason for her success was apparent. She doesn’t sell a house on a lot. She sells a home on a little piece of America, the greatest land on the face of the earth. I wish you could meet Ilona Zimmersman and some other refugees, including Sam Moore of Nashville, Tennessee. They would really give you a sales talk on the way America compares to other lands. Sam emigrated to America from Lebanon and with tears in his eyes and gratitude in his heart, he urges one and all to support the land that permitted him to move from floor scrubber in a grocery store to Board Chairman of the Thomas Nelson Publishing Company.
LISTEN—TO WHAT “ONE” DID
From Detroit, we fly south across the beautiful grasslands of Kentucky and the hills of Tennessee. We fly over the steel mills of Birmingham, Alabama, on our way to Montgomery, where we land to meet a lady with sore feet. Not too many years ago Rosa Parks sat down in the wrong part of the bus. The bus driver told her to move to the back of the bus, which she refused to do. Since that date—because one lady, a seamstress with sore feet, refused to stand up and move back—an entire people stood up and moved forward. It was here that the haunting eloquence of Martin Luther King, who took up Rosa Park’s banner, captured the imagination of the American people
and set a million feet to marching for the Civil Rights of the black man.
We leave Montgomery, Alabama, and head to Alcaniz Street in Pensacola, Florida, the boyhood home of Daniel James. Daniel’s mother, a high school graduate with a lot of spunk and ambition for her family, was not content with the black schools in Pensacola. She opened her own school, which attracted as many as sixty students at a nickel a day—when the students could come up with the nickel. This did not qualify the James’ for membership in the Country Club set, but as Daniel James said, “We never had to go on charity, we were able to support ourselves, we held our heads up.”
Mrs. James repeatedly told her family that if the door of opportunity ever opened for them, they were never to say, “Wait a minute, let me get my bags and then I’ll go through.” Mrs. James said, “You have your bags ready, you have your dedication, you have your objectives, you have your purpose. You be ready to go.” There is an eleventh commandment she taught Daniel, “Thou shalt not quit”—and “Make certain that your children get a better education than you do.”
You might not recognize the name Daniel James but you undoubtedly will recognize the name “Chappie” James, Four-Star General, U.S. Air Force, Head of the Air Defense Command for North America.
You can’t do everything at once, but you can do something at once. The April 1974 issue of Guideposts magazine tells the story of Rita Warren, an Italian immigrant who finished the 5th grade. When Rita’s daughter transferred from a parochial school to the public school where prayer was forbidden, she asked Rita a question. “Mom, if one woman who doesn’t believe in prayer (Madalyn Murry O’Hair) can take prayer out of school, why couldn’t one woman (you, Mom) who believes in prayer put it back in school?” At that point Rita went to war against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and whipped them—hands down. It’s a long but beautiful story that started in the city library and involved learning the legal procedure to follow. There were lots of trials and heartaches, including a veto by the Governor, but thanks to Rita Warren, for a while there was a one-minute prayer time in Massachusetts.
Think about what you just read. One woman changed history and benefited mankind. You are one person. One person (vote) kept Aaron Burr from being President of the U.S. One person (vote) kept Andrew Johnson from being impeached. General Motors, Ford, DuPont, A.T. & T., all started in the mind of one person. I repeat, you are one person. No wonder Bach was moved to write, “There are three great things in this world—an ocean, a mountain, and a dedicated man—woman.” Just one Rita Warren in every state could move mountains and solve many of our problems. To paraphrase Rita’s daughter, if one woman who believes in prayer can put prayer back in the schools of Massachusetts, surely 200 million people who also believe in prayer can put it back in the rest of the States.
If you’re still hesitant or wondering about what to do and where to start, read this:
God said to build a better world and I said how?
The world is such a cold, dark place and so complicated now.
And I’m so young and useless there is nothing I can do.
But God, in all His wisdom said, “Just build a better you.”
Building a better you is the first step to building a better America.
The solution starts with you and, “If everyone became a part of the solution—America would have few problems.”
LISTEN—TO OUR HEROES AND THE HANDICAPPED
From Pensacola, we go west across the plantation area of the Deep South, which is known as the Bible Belt. We look down on New Orleans where Andrew Jackson and his coonskin heroes from Tennessee wrote a stirring chapter in American History. They stood behind some cotton bales and decisively defeated the British to give our fledgling nation its first respectability among European powers. From New Orleans we go to San Antonio and stroll around the historic grounds of the Alamo. It will help all of us to stand on the very spot where Travis, Fuentes, Crockett, Bowie, Guerrero, and the dedicated few made their historic stand. They set an example in their fight against tyranny that will live forever in the minds of men who want to be free.
Finally, let’s stop in Waco, Texas, to look in on James Brazelton Walker. “Braz” Walker, like David Lofchick from Winnipeg, Canada, so completely epitomizes the principles we’ve been discussing that I wanted his story to be the final one in See You at the Top. “Braz” has gained international recognition as an author writing about tropical fish. His photography has graced the covers of several national publications. In 1968, he received the distinguished service award of the Waco Jaycees and was recognized as one of the Outstanding Young Men of America. He enjoys his career as author, speaker, and photographer—which provides him with a handsome income.
Does that sound like a typical American success story? It isn’t. At age 19, “Braz” contracted polio, which affected his lungs, muscles, and nerves to such a degree that he is paralyzed from the neck down and is completely dependent on a mechanical breathing device. He types his own manuscripts with the aid of an instrument designed for him by General Electric that he holds in his mouth.
Obviously, “Braz” has had a lot of help and encouragement from many people, including his loving and devoted parents. He believes life is a gift with no guarantees, and that he lives in the only nation in the world, at the only time in history, where and when he could have survived. He does-n’t have much to use (or does he?), but he does not let what he does not have keep him from using what he does have. No “Loser’s Limp” for him.
WE MUST SELL EVERYBODY
I could tell you a thousand other stories about people who prove the free enterprise system is the most effective economic system ever devised by man. It’s a system that works so effectively that even our relief recipients are in the upper 4% of the income brackets of the world. This means that over six billion people on the face of this earth aren’t living as well as our relief recipients live in America.
Despite all the advantages of the free enterprise system, the most serious mistake we can make is to assume too much. We erroneously assume that we don’t have to sell our youth and fellow citizens on the obvious advantages and benefits associated with America and the free enterprise system. Results have been disturbing and disappointing, to say the least. This attitude has bred revolt, rebellion, discord, and such acts and comments that would have our founding fathers turning in their graves.
The irony of it all is that we don’t have to sell the American free enterprise system to those who come from other countries. Take the Cuban refugee as an example. Many of them waited for years to trade everything they owned for a ticket from Havana to Miami and the free enterprise system that is America. Look at the Hungarian refugees who saw their countrymen literally throw themselves in front of Russian tanks because they preferred death to slavery. They don’t have to be sold on the merits of America. Nor did we have to sell America to the occupants of East Berlin who, before the wall came down, could look over it into West Germany and see the difference.
It has become crystal clear, however, that we do have to sell America and the free enterprise system to our children, because only one generation stands between us and all the “isms” in the world. It’s equally clear that we need to sell the free enterprise system to those teachers, professors, and cynics who often belittle the very system that sustains them. We need to sell labor leaders and union members on the concept that a laborer should be free to work as hard and as enthusiastically as he wishes for the benefit of everyone. That is free enterprise. That is the American way.
We need to tell more of our citizens—some of whom are theoretically responsible—that their screaming about our “problems” is drowning out the steady hum of the very system that has made us the most productive and affluent land on earth.
We also need to sell government employees and officials on the fact that government doesn’t produce income or prosperity. Instead, it exists and survives because free people working in a free land support the government. We need to sell el
ected officials on the simple fact that the right to work and produce without undue government restraint is not only our right but our source of strength. One good look at any socialistic country will convince any clear thinker that free enterprise is the only way to go.
IN LOVE WITH AMERICA
If I sound like a sentimentalist who is in love with America, I plead guilty—but with cause. I’ve been in many other countries, but I’ve never seen one that even comes close to America. We’re the only country that has a long line of immigrants waiting to get in and no barriers to keep anyone in who wants to leave. The America and the Americans I love voluntarily gave over $7.6 billion to the top twenty charities alone in 1998. The America I love is so compassionate it responds generously when there’s a famine in Africa, an earthquake in Chile, or a typhoon in Korea. The America I love is so understanding that our conquered enemies, like Japan, Germany, and Italy, received billions of American dollars for the rebuilding of their devastated countries.
The America I love spends untold millions of dollars on the development of drugs and treatment that will benefit mankind throughout the globe. The America I love developed the cure for polio, found a way to send men to the moon, and is working every day on cures for cancer and other terminal diseases. The America I love is an understanding, compassionate one. It’s so structured that even when we have our Watergates, any fair-minded citizen recognizes that individuals are responsible and not the government or the free enterprise system.
As a matter of fact, Watergate and the impeachment process completely vindicated our system of government and free enterprise. For the first time in our history the President and Vice President of our country (Nixon and Agnew), who had been overwhelmingly elected, resigned from office in unrelated scandals. Despite this fact, the transition to our new leadership never missed a step. There were no riots, strikes, demonstrations, or loss of momentum. Bill Clinton, however, despite his guilt, was allowed to stay in office.