Richard Nixons Critic of Liberalism (Essay Sample)

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Richard Nixon’s critic of liberalism
On 3rd September 1972, Richard Nixon's Labor Day message was about the decision the Americans had to make in choosing to embrace either work ethic or welfare ethic (Nixon 1). During this time, America was basically a liberal state. However, he felt that the American was not free at all, and his message was a critique to liberalism. He argued that even though more Americans had jobs and earned better in the 1960s, the worker was still affected by the violation of the values that built the government. Back then Americans believed that; an able-bodied person should earn and keep most of their earnings; it was unfair for someone on welfare to receive more than those who worked.Also, a person's ambition ability should determine their income that should not be redistributed by the government and that by the government tampering with the lives of individuals, it destroys the private sector on which the worker’s welfare depend. Unfortunately, the government in a way did not respect those beliefs.
Nixon noted that those in the 'liberal' government who were advocating for welfare ethic were misleading the Americans and that their ideas were based on selfish gains. He said that while work ethic called for hard work and striving to earn a just reward, those advocating for welfare ethic in the ‘liberal’ government meant what a hardworking American earned was redistributed to others. He challenged that a worker’s freedom must be respected if the government was after all liberal. He challenged American workers that in choosing work ethic, they would build character and self-sustenance. On the contrary, choosing welfare ...